Harris Communications Offers Personal Sound Amplifiers Ranging Between $139 and $399 For Those With Hearing Loss

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With the average hearing aid costing $3,000 for just one ear, those with hearing loss often suffer in silence, unaware of the many affordable personal sound amplification products (PSAPs) available at a fraction of the cost. To increase awareness and help people hear better, Harris Communications has published a new brochure highlighting its wide range of PSAPs.

Personal sound amplifiers help those with hearing loss hear better in a variety of settings, including loud restaurants, around the dinner table, at the doctor or pharmacist, in the car and at worship. They can even amplify music and the TV.

Harris Communications offers a wide selection of personal amplifiers, including models that can be worn in the ear, clipped to a lapel, worn in a pocket, or set on a table. Ranging in price from $139 to $399, personal amplifiers can be used with headphones or earbuds, or with a neckloop to supplement t-coil equipped hearing aids. Many personal amplifiers also have a built-in t-coil that can receive signals in looped environments.

Celebrating 35 years of helping the hard of hearing and deaf live life to its fullest, Harris Communications provides more than 2,000 solutions for all levels of hearing loss. Learn more at www.harriscomm.com, or call 952-388-2152 (video phone) or 877-539-7445 (voice) to speak with a hearing loss expert and request a free brochure. A digital copy of the brochure is available at http://ift.tt/2t9obQd.

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Scewo Wheelchair Has The Ability To Climb Up Stairs

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Can wheelchairs climb stairs? Well, not today, but it is definitely a possibility in the future! Scewo, a prototype wheelchair still in active development, has the ability to not only go over curbs and other smaller obstacles, but also climb up stairs. In addition to big wheels to take care of obstacles, it has rubber tracks for a smoother ride. Going up stairs is made possible by these tracks too, and provide rigidity and stability while the wheelchair is in motion.

Scewo can be maneuvered by either its joystick or just by the person’s shifting body weight, and comes with several modes besides stair and driving mode. Track mode is for slippery surfaces and steep inclines, and elevated mode raises the seat up for eye to eye communication and to reach objects at a height.

According to the FAQ section on its website, Scewo should be ready for the market by late 2018, and its cost should be comparable to other power wheelchairs.

Watch the video below, and visit Scewo’s website to learn more about this new power wheelchair!

Scewo website

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“Tactile” Converts Text To Braille In Real Time (For Books, Magazines, Food Menus..)

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If a blind person wants to read a book, they either have to get a braille version of it, or get it converted to audio so they could start listening to its content. Wouldn’t it be nice if they could just grab a book, and a braille accessory could start converting the book’s text to braille there and then?

A team of women at MIT, who are all engineering undergraduates, have created a prototype of a device that does just that. Named Tactile, this device displays six characters in braille at a time. This is how it works: a blind user places Tactile on a page that has English text. Tactile, which has a built in camera, takes a photo of the words, and using Microsoft’s ComputerVision API and OCR identifies the characters on the page. Right after that, Tactile’s software converts these characters into braille, and also initiates the mechanical system in the box that pushes the pins up and down in order to display braille characters.

This device can be helpful not just to read books but also in various other scenarios. A lot of text available to us in our surroundings is not available in electronic format or braille. Think about restaurant menus, flyers, brochures, business cards, and several documents that are just handed to us on the go.

Currently, the team is figuring out a better way to raise and lower the pins. Current braille devices use piezoelectronics to operate pins which is an expensive method. The team hopes that they can come up with a cheaper method to keep the cost of the final product down. They eventually hope to sell a much compact version Tactile for no more than $200, and expect it to hit the market in the next two years.

Watch the video below to learn more about the enthusiastic Tactile team, and hit the source link for more details.

Source: Smithsonian

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“Tactile” Converts Text To Braille In Real Time (For Books, Magazines, Food Menus..)

via Assistive Technology Blog http://ift.tt/2svADtw

If a blind person wants to read a book, they either have to get a braille version of it, or get it converted to audio so they could start listening to its content. Wouldn’t it be nice if they could just grab a book, and a braille accessory could start converting the book’s text to braille there and then?

A team of women at MIT, who are all engineering undergraduates, have created a prototype of a device that does just that. Named Tactile, this device displays six characters in braille at a time. This is how it works: a blind user places Tactile on a page that has English text. Tactile, which has a built in camera, takes a photo of the words, and using Microsoft’s ComputerVision API and OCR identifies the characters on the page. Right after that, Tactile’s software converts these characters into braille, and also initiates the mechanical system in the box that pushes the pins up and down in order to display braille characters.

This device can be helpful not just to read books but also in various other scenarios. A lot of text available to us in our surroundings is not available in electronic format or braille. Think about restaurant menus, flyers, brochures, business cards, and several documents that are just handed to us on the go.

Currently, the team is figuring out a better way to raise and lower the pins. Current braille devices use piezoelectronics to operate pins which is an expensive method. The team hopes that they can come up with a cheaper method to keep the cost of the final product down. They eventually hope to sell a much compact version Tactile for no more than $200, and expect it to hit the market in the next two years.

Watch the video below to learn more about the enthusiastic Tactile team, and hit the source link for more details.

Source: Smithsonian

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Microsoft’s Training Video Is A Great Introductory Guide To Disability & Accessibility

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When it comes to disability etiquette, there is a long list of dos and don’ts that we all need to be aware of. For those of us who are just starting to get familiar with them, Microsoft has created a great introductory video that tells us some of the very basics. This video was recently used by Microsoft to train its employees, and shares not just some very important etiquettes but also highlights some tools that its own employees with disabilities use on daily basis to get their work done easily.

The first part of this video, narrated by Microsoft’s Chief Accessibility Officer Jenny Lay-Flurrie, highlights some important principles –
put the person first, avoid outdated terms, don’t face and speak to the interpreter while talking to a someone who is deaf, let a blind person know you are around them, and don’t distract a service dog.
It then switches to a different mode, and tells the stories of six Microsoft employees with various disabilities who use tools like OneNote, PowerPoint, Skype, Cortana, and other tools to perform their daily job duties.

Microsoft is dedicated to inclusive hiring, and to make the workplace, products and content accessible. Learn more about the company’s inclusive culture, and hiring program for  candidates on the Autism spectrum.

Here’s a comprehensive list of disability etiquette you may find handy.

Go here for all Microsoft related posts.

 

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Hyper Directional Sound Technology Aims To Help Blind Athletes Run On Their Own

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Oscar Widegren, from Stockholm, who has been blind since he was 5, is an athlete. For him, and other blind runners, running is not really possible without another person running next to them who act as a guide. Recently, Oscar was the subject of a project called “The Impossible Run” which aims to defy the fact that blind runners cannot run without a guide.

The Impossible Run is a project created by a Swedish company Lexter, and the aim of the project is to guide blind runners using sound. The company uses a technology called hyper directional sound technology, and created state of the art speakers that emits sound in extremely narrow beams. This sound is emitted in sharp lines and is audible to only those it is pointed at, and guides them from their start to finish by creating a sound tunnel.

Picture this: Oscar Widegren is at the starting point, and he is about to race. On the other end, where he is supposed to finish are a set of two speakers. One speaker, to Oscar’s right, produces the “bip” sound. The other, to his left, produces the “boop” sound. The sounds travel in a straight line, and form a sort of sound wall, all the way to Oscar’s starting point, and they alternate. So, what Oscar hears is “bip, boop, bip, boop”, and he knows which sound is on which side. As he starts running through this virtual “sound tunnel”, the alternating sounds guide him, to the finish line, where a third speaker is set with a different sound, telling him to slow down and stop.

Why is this technology necessary? Because as it is, blind runners have to put a lot of effort into the sport, and depend on others to succeed. In Oscar and other runners’ case, if the guide falls sick, for example, they simply cannot go out running. This technology can provide them the independence they need to practice and participate in the sport without relying on others.

Oscar ran in front of an audience on March 17, proving that this technology works. Now, this technology is being made available to other athletes so they could participate in various upcoming events.

Watch the video below to find out more about hyper directional sound technology, and Oscar’s participation in The Impossible Run.

Source: The Next Web

Website: The Impossible Run

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Artists With Developmental Disabilities Can Sell Their Art At Stay Smiling

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This post was written by David Drake, founder of Stay Smiling.

During my undergrad, I stumbled across a store that was run by individuals with developmental disabilities.  I loved the concept as a way to teach life-skills to those with challenges. The participants were involved in a number of tasks from cleaning, to preparing products to social interaction. What made this program unique was its potential to generate income. Since my brother Chris has Down Syndrome, I was well aware of how expensive conventional methods of teaching these skills could be. I helped setup a similar storefront in my home-town where Chris now serves ice-cream and sells art.

 Many of you probably don’t live near my brother. You can’t buy ice cream from him or buy his artwork. Fundamentally, a store has to be supported by the local community. An online platform has no limit on its reach. As I worked on this concept I realized the challenges faced by my brother and their support groups include: difficulties learning technology, managing social media, making products and shipping them. With my tech background I was able to quickly put together a platform that manages these needs so that his work can be translated into a number of products from prints to baby burp clothes and everything in between! (link to http://ift.tt/2rqAcQA).

 The current platform was launched in April and can be accessed here (link to http://ift.tt/2qQMSmW). It tells the story of our organization, provides a hub for information, promotes some sample works and allows you to purchase products that use our artists work. A key point to note is that our goal is to help our artists earn a living. This is why we offer an 80% guarantee. This is our promise that 80% of the profits from sales through the platform return to the artist who made the work.

 We are actively looking to scale. If you are an organization that works with individuals with developmental disabilities or if you know an artist who could benefit from our work feel free to send us an email at info@staysmilingpartners.com.

Check out some of the work by three artists from Stay Smiling.

 

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