Research Task 2 (07/27/15 - 08/09/15)

Greetings! Great to see you make a substantial progresses! Some of you may have started learning Android Studio & Java or XCode & Swift. In order to proceed to the next milestone and focus your learning, the second task will be a series of programming assignments which will move you to the next step.

The assignments consist of a series of tactile experiments, which we are going to conduct on subjects. Since you have not installed the Senseg SDK and you don’t even have the Senseg tablet, you won’t be able to get any tactile feedback. However, you can still start programming and rendering the graphic images on the screen.

You will create an app with several views, and the subjects will be able to perform tests on each view to evaluate the tactile feedback. The attached diagram illustrates the tests described in the following. The subject will be able to select and rank them based on the vividness of their tactile feedback.

·      Test 1: Create a series of line segments with different widths.

·      Test 2: Create a series of line segment groups with different spatial intervals. The width of the lines can be the highest-ranked in Test 1.

·      Test 3: Create a series of dash line segments with different lengths/spaces of the dash lines. The width of the lines can be the highest-ranked in Test 1.

·      Test 4: Create a series of triangles with different interiors or edges: (1) solid, (2) interior filled with stripes, (3) solid edges only, and (4) dashed-edge only. The width of the lines can be the highest-ranked in Test 1. The interval of the stripes can be the highest-ranked in Test 2. The dashed edge can be based on the outcome of Test 3.

·      Test 5: Create a series of different shapes including (1) triangle, (2) circle, (3) square, and (4) pentagon. The edge/interior effect can be based on the outcome of Test 4.

Since you can not rank them based on the tactile feedback yet, you should make your program easy to change, i.e., parametrize your program such that buy changing a few definitions, you can change the graphs easily on the screen. This kind of flexibility is very useful when there are lots of experiments need to be done and when there are many tunable parameters.

* Whenever you come across good papers/websites/tutorials, don't forget to add them to the "Project Resource" page.

* Please take electronic notes while you are studying the materials, watching the videos, or browsing through the web.

* Make PowerPoint presentations based on your notes. We will start presentation at the beginning of the year.

Task 1 Results

App Name	Performance	Platform	Functions	Company	Price	Website
Tap, Tap, See	Takes picture, then tells the person what the picture is of.	The app aims to make objects recognizable to the visually impaired, in which they can differ such objects from one another.	- organize   - closet   - fridge   - anything - identifying something - a sense of where someone is	Image Searcher	- Free to download - new users get 100 pic free - after have to start paying for the # of pics ($4.99 - $24.99)	http://www.taptapseeapp.com
KNFB Reader	Allows iphone camera to take a picture of print and then a synthesized voice will read the print to you	The app is to provide the visually impaired with the ability to comprehend documents, signs and so forth in which they encounter on a day to day basis.	Reads quick, simple print Can save documents or open them on Pages or Word OCR software Features tilt guidance, field of view report, different languages and speeds	KNFB Technology	$99.00 (one of the more expensive apps) Alternatives that are cheaper: Pocket Reader, Text Detective, and Prismo	http://www.knfbreader.com
LookTel Money Reader	Instantly identifies currency	The app allows the visually impaired  to remain involved in consumerism and the economy as a whole, by keeping track of their own currency.	Tells you what the bill is (1, 5, 10 etc.) Used to organize money	NantWorks LLC	$10.00	http://www.looktel.com/moneyreader
Eye Note	identifies currency	The app allows the visually impaired to remain involved in consumerism and the economy as a whole, by identifying which bills they particularly own.	tells you the bill and whether it is facing front or back use to organize money	U.S. department of Treasury	free	http://www.eyenote.gov
eye blink Radio	Provides access to global radio stations, podcasts, and reading services to the visually impaired	Allows the visually impaired to stay in tact with world occurrences in which they’d normally read out of a newspaper or magazine or hear over a radio.	provides users with information on how to use different devices if they are blind can read whenever they want have a bunch of podcasts at your fingertips (blind resources) basically takes everything that the blind use and put it into one app	serotek	Free	http://www.serotek.com/iblink
dropbox	stores thinks on the iphone without taking up too much storage	A place in which a variety of types of files can be saved and accessed universally, device wise.	stores anything that is needed to be stored can act like a computer	Dropbox	free	www.dropbox.com
dropvox	records	The audio recording is saved automatically, saving users from having to remember to manually save their recordings.	records and then saves directly to dropbox	Irradiated Software	$1.99	http://www.irradiatedsoftware.com/dropvox/
Light Detector	Tells you how close you are to light	Detecting light with you sense of hearing rather than your sense of sight.	Tone gets louder as you get closer to the light	EveryWare Technologies	$1.99	http://www.everywaretechnologies.com/apps/lightdetector
Talking Calculator	A calculator that speaks	The calculator is designed to simplify the steps of using a calculator through the use of large buttons and answers provided through recordings that can be heard aloud.	Does the regular calculator functions and even some graphing	Adam Croser	$1.99	http://www.adamcroser.com.au/iPhone___iPad_Apps/Pages/Talking_Calculator.html
Color ID	tells what color something is	Allows users to identify colors via sound as opposed to sight.	identify the color of really anything	GreenGar Studios	free	http://greengar.com/category/color-id-free/
blind bargain	show blinds where the bargains are as well as has the latest news	A central place selling products for the visually impaired.	gives different bargains can sell things mostly interested in with things that have to do with blindness	A T Guys, LLC.	free	https://blindbargains.com
VO starter	trains the visually impaired on how to locate specified parts on an ios device	Learning the ios layout rather than having to work with a specially designed software.	help blind people learn to use voice	look tell	free	http://www.iaccessibility.net/vo-starter/
blind square	locate what is around and finding different locations that would be interesting to go	A gps software bringing navigation to the visually impaired through speech rather than through sight.	helps find different places 1 to 24 miles away can track route create a route (car or walking) show on map gives address, phone number	MIPsoft	$29.99	http://blindsquare.com
flesky vo	touch typing	Allowing the visually impaired to type on common devices (such as iphones).	helps blind people type swipe left to delete two finger swipe up allows you to move the text to somewhere you want it to go	Flesky	free	http://fleksy.com

Interview with Ms. Dorrie Rush - main points

• accessible technology instead of assistive technology: inclusion not exclusion
• assistive technology is extremely expensive
• VoiceOver (on the IPhone and Apple products specifically) is the biggest tool nowadays → includes the visually impaired in the tech world
• she wants to make mainstream technologies accessible for visually impaired people
• people with vision loss want technologies that would benefit them as much as they benefit other people
• websites are usually too “busy” and hard to follow
• zooming is a big tool for people with vision loss
• different android models make the accessible technologies less consistent
• consistency is key
• first tactile technologies were not extremely useful and required braille knowledge
• Apple: she can use any device, because of consistency of software and platform
• Be My Eyes: Danish app that has volunteers who tell the visually impaired person what is in front of them through pictures
• Tap Tap See: similar app to Be My Eyes
• Cam Finder: shopping app → through pictures too
• many apps are set the same way (e.g. back button on the upper left hand corner) but it is always a struggle to find the small buttons mainly when surfing the web (back, refresh, forward buttons)
• GPS

google mapping internal world

• wants to be able to know surroundings in a new location
• airport, train (not being able to read, able to navigate on their own)
• a dot tells the user where they are and could have a route planned out
• textile maps
• hard to figure things out if they are not used to the different textures
• have audio in addition with the different textile
• graphs
• It’s not about making apps specifically for the visually impaired, but rather finding a way in which the visually impaired can navigate on common apps any other person would use on a daily basis.(for example… voice over is commonly used by those who are not visually impaired, though it also very beneficial to those who are)
• The visually impaired want to access the world through manners in which those who are not visually impaired do so.

Brainstorming (propose four apps topics to work on initially. Two of them should utilize the FeelScreen technology. We will discuss those topics in our upcoming summer meeting.

• app for mapping subways
• have the user pick a line and then that line would have a specific texture so the person could feel around and make a route so they know where they need to go to catch the train they need. Once the route is complete have the route have instructions that could be read to the user.
• GPS for inside a building
• so for a blind or hard of seeing person to have instructions to tell them where they need to go within a new building. The route could be a certain texture and once the route is complete have audio attached to it.
• Barcode reading app
• Currently, there are apps present that allow the visually impaired to count their currency. This app though, would have the ability to read aloud barcodes in which the visually impaired cannot read while shopping. A picture will be taken, with the price of such object being read aloud.
• A map of the world
• so the water would have a different texture than land
• the user would pick a point on the map and when touched the user would hear what they have touched
• mountains and different physical features would also have different textures
• Graphs for maths
• Typing using the FeelScreen technology
• In the video, the man had a tough time at first using fleksy vo. So the keys can have different textures so that the person using will know what key is what.