29th
Annual International Technology Conference for Persons with Disabilities
Date: March 17-22, 2014
Place: Manchester Grand
Hyatt Hotel, San Diego, California
Event Address:
CSUN Center on
Disabilities
18111 Nordhoff Street
Bayramian Hall 110,
Center on Disabilities
Northridge, CA
91330-8340
818-677-2578 (W)
818-677-4929 (W) (Fax)
AFB: Darren Burton and William Herschel showcased some items
from their booth:
·
Access
Note
·
Fleksy
which is an additional format to Access Note and it contains a Bluetooth QWERTY
keyboard
·
Fleksy
Ease is used with Apple iOS products
AlexandraVision Ltd. = located in Switzerland = a Swiss
watch-based co. selling vibrating watches for the blind
·
Co.
has been creating an unique form of stone for our watch
·
It’s
handheld with only three buttons: one button for hours; one button for minutes
(you only have to change this button twice per yr. w/ Daylight Savings Time);
and one button to set your meal time (which is set by vibrations)
·
It’s
not an atomic watch
·
It
fits in your pocket very easily
·
Battery
life = lasts up to 5 yrs.
·
Some
of the vibrating watches are made more for female; some watches are made out of
sherry wood with wooden pendants, therefore, the female vibrating watches =
well-liked b/c they are both fashionable and functional
·
These
vibrating watches are being sold mainly to: the deaf-blind community
·
To
purchase vibrating watches, please contact: A T Guys and visit their website
for more ordering information
Robert J.: American Thermoform Corp.
· 3D printer (deposits from layer to
layer)
· Additional feature in 3D printer:
added fabrication
· Paper feeds out of the printer like a
fishing line
· Contains a thick-jet pointer head
· Produces 3D objects and the finishing
touch is called= 3D printer
· For Example, 3D object he used to
showcase the item = handmade model of Lincoln donated to their co. by the
Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC
Dr. Bob Stepp from Computer Applications Specialties Co.
·
Available:
Braille translation software containing six-key Braille editing, pages of
virtual Braille paper and simulating dots on the screen; Braille = spoken by
JAWS and is in print notation
·
You
can utilize your knowledge of a clipboard and any info. that holds data on a
clipboard = then it has the same spatial
representation as Braille
·
It
is available in both Braille and Print
·
It
contains a Braille transcriber for proofreading and the print view shows the
page boundaries are centered on a page and it also has a spell-checker for
Braille
·
Used
with Windows software versions Windows 95 to Windows 8.1
·
Contains
62 GB of space and is portable
·
You
have to purchase the laptop with a license and you can also install any of its
software on more than one computer
·
If
you purchase the new Braille transcribing software and if you are both a
customer and a purchaser of the software and you are dissatisfied or if at any
time you feel dissatisfied, just simply click Complete Undo at the top right-hand
corner of the software webpage and it will automatically delete all of the
downloaded software from your computer for you
·
Please
visit http://www.braille2000.com/ for further information.
·
You
can purchase the software document process either of three different ways:
·
1. $26.00 per premium license with free
lifetime updates and upgrades that which costs $949.00
·
2. You can buy the license and pay for the
license and software at a one-time fee, where you do not get the license but
still get free additional updates of the software and that costs $749.00
·
3. It can start at a price of $389 you can
fill in the price value and you get the Basic Edition at $10.00 per download of
their software
Barry Greenblatt from Maxi Aids:
Now they sell specialty switches
Project RAY has been a very successful product for their co.
= a Smartphone designed specifically for the visually impaired; you can change
it to your own voice and record your own voice on it
·
There
were numerous products that the company was showcasing at their booth this year
at CSUN and they were as follows:
·
1. A Large Print Talking Calculator
·
2.
CCTV’s (together Maxi-Aids has partnered with another co. called Nordica to
sell CCTV’s)
·
3.
Talking Clock
·
4.
Talking Weight Scale (w/ Braille)
·
5.
Horizon Kitchen Scale (w/ Braille)
Douglas CEO from Tactalis and Invici Technologies, Inc. from
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
The company Tactalis HCI has created and developed tablet
computers where you can feel graphics/images/symbols on a touch screen
·
You
can scan a single page or magazine
·
It’s
not static
·
You
can zoom in on one particular area of focus
·
It’s
very interactive
·
You
can download/create/share/exchange files
·
You
can request information as to where you are going i.e. e.g. to get from Point A
to Point B, where is that office located?
·
User
experience = very clean
·
It
works on some Windows platforms
·
There
also options for iOS devices and/or Android devices/apps
·
It
sits on top of a computer
·
As
of right now, this product isn’t shipping; it’s still in the manufacturing
stage; the company doesn’t take pre-orders; the product will not be available
to sometime later in 2014
Marie Huetz de Lemps, M.M. from Telorion UK
From London, United Kingdom
Smartphones for the blind and visually impaired
There is a keypad overlay on the screen
There is a touch(ing) interface
Hardware ONLY
Galaxy phones
Free
Photos
You can switch to Android if you need to by removing the
overlay
Price of product is 360.oo euros or you can purchase the
entire package as a bundle for 700.00 euros
There is a screen icon on their website for more information,
please visit http://www.telorion.com/ or find them on FB or Twitter
Jeff Bazer from Dolphin Computer Access
There are two central themes that the co. Dolphin is working
on:
·
Read
what you want how you want
·
A
huge platform for SuperNova and Guide
·
The
company Dolphin is creating screen magnification software for both SuperNova
and Guide
·
The
co. has also partnered with BookShare and major libraries to make accessible
e-book readers for blind and visually impaired users
·
The
co. has also added a new item to their product line called = BookShelf
·
With
the usage of OCR technology in the form of image/pdf files you can move content
to more than one device; it’s portable
·
The
co. has recently added touch screen capability and beta software to both of
their products: SuperNova and Guide
·
These
products are available on 8”-11” tablets, 15” laptop, and 27” touch displays
·
Some
of Dolphin’s new products: 1. Producer; 2. Creator; 3. Dolphin Publisher (with
the usage of DAISY books and DAISY book formats); 4. ePod and ePubs
·
Some
of their digital books are now available with text-to-speech capabilities
·
The
co. has gone an extra step by adding more books in DAISY book format
·
COMING
SOON!: one more product line: Braille embossers and a brand new version of
EasyReader
·
Download
free 30-day trials of Dolphin’s products or view free demonstrations of their
products and find out more info. about Dolphin’s product lines, please visit http://www.yourdolphin.com/ (Note:
Dolphin also sold away a free Windows 8 Dell Tablet at the 2014 CSUN Conference)
Matthew Janasuauskas (Product Manager
for Digital Books at HumanWare)
HumanWare has added a very new
version of Victor Reader Stream: version 4.3 which adds new features: such as
wireless capabilities as well as use the device ON THE GO! (Without a PC) or
listen on Internet Radio (the co. has partnered with oo Tunes) (Cost: $36.00)
The co. has created a new iOS app for
Apple users with new Search features and different browsing functions, e.g. you
can use Internet Radio and the new Search feature to search for your favorite
genre/station as well as read National Library Service (NLS) Books
You can also now use: this is a new feature:
the introduction of HumanWare Playlist (where you can create your own listening
playlist)
(Hint: sometimes if some Federal Gov’t.
employees are using Internet Radio they may be listening to NPR Radio (National
Public Radio) and not Internet Radio)
You can listen to either commercial
radio or even the SeroTalk Podcast Network (SPN) on Victor Reader Stream
You can customize your own favorite
radio station
There are no separate playlists
(there is a misconfiguration page)
You can access .pdf files and .txt
files as well as use Wiktionary (Online Wikipedia Dictionary)
You can refine your Search
e.g. if you’re looking for a book or
article you might want to consider reading, it will narrow down your search and
it will give you a synopsis of a book or article that you are trying to find
Hit play to go back to boot up the
search menus; confirm usage
There is a separate section under
Bookshelf called References where you can view Wikipedia articles or other
references
It will share English and all
languages; if you have to view a different language and you find a dictionary
in that language it will turn it into another language and you will be able to
view that dictionary in another language
For BookShare and all of its users
they’re releasing a new Notes page
The co. HumanWare has enhanced to a
new version of Victor Reader Stream and its release of a new version: Version
4.3 with other various new features:
BookShare
Lists: most recently added Lists:
Characterization of categories:
Sort the catalog or list by
category/subject/or titles
Confirm to download to add a book to
BookShelf
These features are very convenient
for both the customer and the user of the product(s)/Service(s)
Battery life: very good
Victor Reader stream: (stream) =
heavier use of Wi-Fi: speed control = best
Stream costs $369.00 with free
shipping if you order from the website
Greg Stilson (Job Title: Product
Manager for Braille Division)
He hopes that in 2014 different tasks
will be accomplished
In December 2013: key highlights for
the co. and their products: software updates; for both Braille and Print
translation software; you can printout a copy in Braille; you can write it on
your Perkins Brailler and if you are taking a math course you can have it speak
back to you in Braille with mathematical contractions/symbols
It enables the user to get better
feedback from both teachers and students can use it more easily with classroom
assignments and homework assignments
It works well with PowerPoint
presentations; for versions of Microsoft Office 2007 or above (when using t5his
PowerPoint with BrailleNote Apex for example, you can view any bullets/slide
numbers; the slide layout in Braille and you can see all
headings/footers/bullets, etc.)
What is new from HumanWare at 2014
CSUN Conference?
They have updated some of the features
in their products: they have also formed a partnership with Sendero Group to
make GPS and its features more accessible to the blind by creating a new user
interface: PSoft = a new Braille user interface
They have also created KeyMaps
application (by partnership with Sendero Group) e.g. if you wanted to visit or
look at a particular hotel you want to be able to travel to: the hotel is def.
located on Google Maps, you would be able to see or look at the street view of
the hotel and where the hotel is located on Google Maps; You can download any
map in any country by using Key Maps
Other Examples of daily travel
activities with use of this new application:
The map would or could tell you where
you could walk to get cups of coffee (if desired) in and around the particular
hotel destination; it could also be used to find a route to the nearest
restaurant location(s), etc.
When buying this new application: Key
Maps: it is available for purchase as a GPS package
Before the initial cost was over
$1,100.00, now they have reduced the initial price to just $599.00
For each GPS user, this GPS package
contains an update to KeySoft Micro 1.1. (outside):
You can request a license: you can
call Customer Service from HumanWare and they will be happy to assist you.
BrailleNote Apex can now be used with
any iDevice i.e. e.g. iPod, iPad, iPhone, etc. on same network; you can narrow
it down to directly to the iPad or any iDevice, etc.; when you buy the package,
you will also subscribe or get help to KeySoft 1.1/orientation help along with
any free updates; you will always have free upgrades; for the co.: HumanWare,
they will plan to follow through or push forth for these updates to their
products as their initial plan in the release schedule and this is a large
investment for computer hardware for their co.
For more information, please visit
http://www.HumanWare.com/ or contact Customer Svc. @ 1-800-722-3393
