5 ms·

Any reason for the blind to use this over earbuds paired with Siri, Alexa, or any other voice-based interface?

deleted 10y ago
[deleted]
joelcollinsdc 10y ago
The made the mistake of asking this to my gf who is a teacher for visually impaired kids. Braille is reading, and listening to earbuds is not reading. We teach our sighted kids to read even though they could just all have audiobooks, just like we should teach children Braille even though they can still listen. Another good argument she made was it's about multiplexing. What if someone wanted to learn the time while listening to an engaging conversation, they wouldn't want to stop listening just to check the time.
- gravypod 10y ago
  What kind of logic is "people need to do something more difficult because it's easier for people who aren't the same as me"? Also, who's to say that people shouldn't be encouraged to use audiobooks rather then read text-based liturature? When listening to an audio book I can do many other things like study for an exam or program. I can't read a book via text and write software at the same time. I don't think we should handicap people by making them feel like it's "better" to do something that's harder for them for some reason. Blind or not. > Another good argument she made was it's about multiplexing. What if someone wanted to learn the time while listening to an engaging conversation, they wouldn't want to stop listening just to check the time. Most people don't wear watches and it's usualy considered rude to pull out your phone mid-convorsation. I always wear a watch and so people just say "do you have the time"? If you can't ask Siri you can just ask whoever you're talking to. Also, if you express you want to know the time and they say "I don't know" you can then just ask Siri and tell them. It works out nicely. Any other examples?
  - smhost 10y ago
    Is Braille actually harder to learn/use than normal writing systems? > When listening to an audio book I can do many other things like study for an exam or program. Why don't you just study for your exam and write code in audio?
    - gravypod 10y ago
      > Why don't you just study for your exam and write code in audio? I see no reason why, given enough work, a sufficient audio-interfaced IDE cannot be created. I think that is the way we should go. A real AI tied to a speach processor and a polog-like system would be the best UX for programming possible. Think of Star Trek, "Computer, do X, Y, Z and then run that program". I definetly don't think text is the best interface with a computer or any system for that matter. That's why I'm saying what I'm saying. And for now, we're talking about telling the time, not expressing a perfect proof for infinitly complex ideas. I think Siri is good enough for that query as it stands.
  - captnasia 10y ago
    > Most people don't wear watches and it's usualy considered rude to pull out your phone mid-convorsation. I always wear a watch and so people just say "do you have the time"? > If you can't ask Siri you can just ask whoever you're talking to. Also, if you express you want to know the time and they say "I don't know" you can then just ask Siri and tell them. It works out nicely. The point is that people _can_ look at their watch or smartphone while still listening in on the conversation. It's hard to hear and pay attention to two different things at the same time.
Raphmedia 10y ago
The same reason we prefer to read our texts over having Siri read them outloud in public.
Loic 10y ago
I have been working for the past 7 years with a blind programmer. With a "tactile" watch, he can quickly know what time is it without minimal interaction with the hardware (open the lid, touch the watch, close the lid) and without disturbing the current course of action with other people. The same way you quickly check your watch. What I see as really good if it can hit the market at that price is that it will help push down the price of braille strips. At the moment a strip costs about 100€ per cell. If you want a 80 cell strip to do some programming, it costs new about 8000€...
- LoSboccacc 10y ago
  Wouldn't that be better served by a notch on the ring that rotates as time goes? An inner ring could do minutes and small/large bumps can help identify the time down to the closest 5 minute increment The machinery to translate scalar time into discrete bump movement is going to be complicate, fragile and costly, while rotating a ring instead of the single arms is feasible, has been done already and only need tactile feedback for feeling the relative positioning. Edit: there http://www.perkinsproducts.org/store/748-thickbox_default/bradley-classic-mesh-watch.jpg http://www.perkinsproducts.org/store/748-thickbox_default/br... Just add a second ring and you're basically done.
  - dagw 10y ago
    There is a second ring on the watch the runs along the edge. If you look at the 2 o'clock position you'll see the second ball.
  - kruffin 10y ago
    What you've said can and does work for telling time, but from watching a few of their videos it looks like the watch part of this device is a secondary function. It connects to your phone and will display the caller's name or text messages like other smart watches, but in braille. I can't read braille, so don't know how effective that is with the limited space. It would be interesting to hear from a blind person what their current state of electronic connectedness is since this type of device is supposed to improve the parity between blind and non-blind individuals. One of the cooler things mentioned in one of the videos (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmpl81WmFSo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmpl81WmFSo) was that they developed their own magnetic actuators that are a 10th of the cost (if you believe the marketing) of existing ones. I haven't verified any of those claims, but if true does mean their braille tablet could be an affordable reality.
dennisjung 10y ago
Something to think about.. would you rather read your private messages or have your speaker say it out loud for everyone to hear..

deleted 10y ago

[deleted]

The made the mistake of asking this to my gf who is a teacher for visually impaired kids. Braille is reading, and listening to earbuds is not reading. We teach our sighted kids to read even though they could just all have audiobooks, just like we should teach children Braille even though they can still listen. Another good argument she made was it's about multiplexing. What if someone wanted to learn the time while listening to an engaging conversation, they wouldn't want to stop listening just to check the time.

gravypod 10y ago
What kind of logic is "people need to do something more difficult because it's easier for people who aren't the same as me"? Also, who's to say that people shouldn't be encouraged to use audiobooks rather then read text-based liturature? When listening to an audio book I can do many other things like study for an exam or program. I can't read a book via text and write software at the same time. I don't think we should handicap people by making them feel like it's "better" to do something that's harder for them for some reason. Blind or not. > Another good argument she made was it's about multiplexing. What if someone wanted to learn the time while listening to an engaging conversation, they wouldn't want to stop listening just to check the time. Most people don't wear watches and it's usualy considered rude to pull out your phone mid-convorsation. I always wear a watch and so people just say "do you have the time"? If you can't ask Siri you can just ask whoever you're talking to. Also, if you express you want to know the time and they say "I don't know" you can then just ask Siri and tell them. It works out nicely. Any other examples?
- smhost 10y ago
  Is Braille actually harder to learn/use than normal writing systems? > When listening to an audio book I can do many other things like study for an exam or program. Why don't you just study for your exam and write code in audio?
  - gravypod 10y ago
    > Why don't you just study for your exam and write code in audio? I see no reason why, given enough work, a sufficient audio-interfaced IDE cannot be created. I think that is the way we should go. A real AI tied to a speach processor and a polog-like system would be the best UX for programming possible. Think of Star Trek, "Computer, do X, Y, Z and then run that program". I definetly don't think text is the best interface with a computer or any system for that matter. That's why I'm saying what I'm saying. And for now, we're talking about telling the time, not expressing a perfect proof for infinitly complex ideas. I think Siri is good enough for that query as it stands.
- captnasia 10y ago
  > Most people don't wear watches and it's usualy considered rude to pull out your phone mid-convorsation. I always wear a watch and so people just say "do you have the time"? > If you can't ask Siri you can just ask whoever you're talking to. Also, if you express you want to know the time and they say "I don't know" you can then just ask Siri and tell them. It works out nicely. The point is that people _can_ look at their watch or smartphone while still listening in on the conversation. It's hard to hear and pay attention to two different things at the same time.

Raphmedia 10y ago

The same reason we prefer to read our texts over having Siri read them outloud in public.

Loic 10y ago

I have been working for the past 7 years with a blind programmer. With a "tactile" watch, he can quickly know what time is it without minimal interaction with the hardware (open the lid, touch the watch, close the lid) and without disturbing the current course of action with other people. The same way you quickly check your watch. What I see as really good if it can hit the market at that price is that it will help push down the price of braille strips. At the moment a strip costs about 100€ per cell. If you want a 80 cell strip to do some programming, it costs new about 8000€...

LoSboccacc 10y ago
Wouldn't that be better served by a notch on the ring that rotates as time goes? An inner ring could do minutes and small/large bumps can help identify the time down to the closest 5 minute increment The machinery to translate scalar time into discrete bump movement is going to be complicate, fragile and costly, while rotating a ring instead of the single arms is feasible, has been done already and only need tactile feedback for feeling the relative positioning. Edit: there http://www.perkinsproducts.org/store/748-thickbox_default/bradley-classic-mesh-watch.jpg http://www.perkinsproducts.org/store/748-thickbox_default/br... Just add a second ring and you're basically done.
- dagw 10y ago
  There is a second ring on the watch the runs along the edge. If you look at the 2 o'clock position you'll see the second ball.
- kruffin 10y ago
  What you've said can and does work for telling time, but from watching a few of their videos it looks like the watch part of this device is a secondary function. It connects to your phone and will display the caller's name or text messages like other smart watches, but in braille. I can't read braille, so don't know how effective that is with the limited space. It would be interesting to hear from a blind person what their current state of electronic connectedness is since this type of device is supposed to improve the parity between blind and non-blind individuals. One of the cooler things mentioned in one of the videos (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmpl81WmFSo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmpl81WmFSo) was that they developed their own magnetic actuators that are a 10th of the cost (if you believe the marketing) of existing ones. I haven't verified any of those claims, but if true does mean their braille tablet could be an affordable reality.

dennisjung 10y ago

Something to think about.. would you rather read your private messages or have your speaker say it out loud for everyone to hear..