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EBU Access Cast


Nov 20, 2018

Welcome to the newest and fifth episode of the Ebu Access Cast. After one month period of silence during October due to a few technical problems and the Jakobs trip to Amazonian forests, we are back to bring you the newest content from around the globe from the assistive industry, and boy boy, we have a lot of interesting things to say this time. If you stay with us until the end of the news announcements, you will be able to hear our surprise demonstration about the new product, which is hitting our blindness, and sight impaired community like a storm these days. We received our first contribution from one of our listeners from Denmark which means that our podcast is being listened and followed, so we'd like to say once more thank you, Keep sending us your feedback, we are looking to expand our podcast even more in the future.

 

In the news section, first Jakob informs us about new software update for the Orcam, which brings new voice commands, new language support and Bluetooth connectivity. If you would like to know more about the Orcam follow the next link.

 

GE and Alexa Work Together to Create a Voice-Controlled Microwave with Scan to Cook Technology, and Mario tells us a bit more about it

 

Beginning of November started with the newest updates for Jaws 2019 as well as Fusion and Zoomtext. To read what's new for Jaws users follow this link: Mario and Jakob are also mentioning why it is important to keep our screen readers up to date, and why new Jaws 2019 is much faster than the previous versions on the web as well as in the Office applications.

 

Good independence in orientation and mobility is very important for blind or visually impaired person. However, when new GPS technological solutions are used properly with the aids such as white Cane or a guide dog, our independence can be increased even further. Therefore, Mario informs our listeners what's new for the last few weeks in the Lazarillo application, available for the iOS and Android platform, and why the application works much better now when used in the walking mode, which is used for the pedestrian navigation.

 

The last thing for the end of this episode is the demonstration, which we received from Jesper Holten who is accessibility consultant for the Danish association of the blind. The demonstration talks about the Sunu band. Using radar and augmented reality, Sunu Band enables people who are low vision and blind to travel with confidence. Advanced haptic feedback guides your way around any obstacle, and navigation sensors connect you to the world that’s around you. Designed for when you can’t easily use sight or due to a vision impairment, Sunu Band enables you to walk and travel with confidence. Sunu Band is the only smart-band that guides your way around obstacles. It uses sonar or echolocation to detect objects up to 16 feet or 5.5 meters away. Then haptic vibration feedback informs how close (or far away) you are to obstacles. Sunu Band compliments the white cane, guide dog or low vision. This smart-band augments your personal awareness, and reduces accidents to the body, chest, arms and head. Sunu Band is the only intelligent travel aid with more built-in sensors than any other device in the market. Explore and navigate unfamiliar places with Sunu Band’s haptic compass, place finder/explorer and GPS navigation app. Now you can enjoy the personal freedom of always knowing where you are, what’s around you, and how to get there with Sunu Band.

 

As always, we love to get your feedback, so if you have anything to say to us, send us an e-mail to ebu@euroblind.org or give us a tweet on our EBUaccesscast twitter account.