It is my own perception of dependency whether remote or immediate with
which I have struggled.  To be sure when I think about the situation
objectively, the perception is misplaced.  We all have to get comfortable
with the idea of delegating some tasks if we are to accomplish anything,
any good administrator must, and as blind people we must develop
administrative skills early so that we can learn to delegate the visual
tasks effectively.  Viewed from that perspective "the televisor" would
appear to have some inherent efficiencies.

----------
> From: Peter Seymour <[log in to unmask]>
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: tech: seeing eye software
> Date: Monday, December 28, 1998 8:08 PM
>
> On Sun, 27 Dec 1998, LAMENDEZ wrote:
>
> > How would the "televisor" concept differ from taking a friend,
volunteer or
> > paid reader/describer along?
>
> In the case of using prisoners, they are not allowed to come along with
> you. As for others, I don't have a stable of people who are at my
disposal
> to accompany me. Further, a televisor could be sitting in front of a bank
> of screens and guide the person who needs help at any moment that he
needs
> it. Besides prisoners, people who are bound to home, bed or a wheelchair
> might find that this is a great way of accompanying a blind person
without
> the requirement of mibility.
>
>  One would still have to rely on the eyes of
> > another without the immediacy or even warmth of personal contact.
>
> Some personal warmth could come from a televisor, though being arm-in-arm
> with a person could be nicer. If you have any people willing to escort me
> at my will, please forward their numbers.
>
>  Still, I > have to admit that I look forward to the development of
> artificial > intelligence based technologies capable of generating
> accurate description.
> >  For me, one of the real challenges of being blind has been having to
> > accept the necessity of relying on someone else's eyes to accomplish
some
> > tasks..
> >
> Now it sounds like you are willing to rely on someone else's eyes. With a
> televisor, you would only be relying on his eyes and voice. He can keep
> his body wherever is convenient for him.
>
> Peter Seymour > ----------
> > > From: Peter Seymour <[log in to unmask]>
> > > To: [log in to unmask]
> > > Subject: Re: tech: seeing eye software
> > > Date: Friday, December 25, 1998 4:47 AM
> > >
> > > This technology sounds interesting. It seems that the goal is to
> > represent
> > > visual data in an aural form. I would like to be in on the
development
> > > because I have always represented aural information in visual images
and
> > > words.
> > >
> > > Sound often borrows the vocabulary of analogy. For instance, pitches
are
> > > called high or low, when they are neither. They are faster or slower
> > > frequencies. Tambres are called bright or dark. Tempos are called
fast or
> > > slow, when they are not moving at all. Distorted sounds are called
fuzzy
> > > and other sounds are smooth or clear. The piano has a soto voce, or
soft
> > > voice, pedal to make it quieter, and a damper pedal to make the sound
> > > sustain - and how is that making it wet?
> > >
> > > I could go on and on, but my point is that we are very used to
> > > representing the quality of sound in tactile and visual terms, and
sheet
> > > music is a graphical or spatial representation of sound, described
with
> > > Italian words for "dry," "walking," "stolen," and "cheerful," which
> > > relates a tempo to a mood.
> > >
> > > I think it is about time to try the opposite: to find aural
> > > representations of tactile and visual elements. Bats spray their
> > > surroundings with variously pitched tones, and the map that they
> > construct
> > > based on the reflections is so accurate that they pluck insects out
of
> > the
> > > pitch black night sky. If we could do one fiftieth as well, it would
be
> > > quite useful.
> > >
> > > That being said, I prefer my earlier solution: wearing a miniature
camera
> > > and speaking to a person at a monitor who seeing the world from a
blind
> > > person's lapel.
> > >
> > > My brother told me that coverage of baseball games now show the pitch
> > from
> > > the catcher's point of view. He has a very small camera mounted on
his
> > > mask, and it obviously doesn't have a wire or heavy transmitter
attached
> > > to it.
> > >
> > > I would like to walk around my neighborhood with such a camera on my
> > lapel
> > > and an earphone and microphone. The person watching my monitor could
> > > describe the Christmas windows, guide me down the right aisle in the
> > > supermarket and even read the ingredients on a can to me. I could
browse
> > > at Barnes and Noble, sit down at a table with my coffee and turn the
> > pages
> > > in front of the lens as my monitor reads to me. The freedom that it
would
> > > give to me would be the next best thing to seeing.
> > >
> > > I even know a good source of willing and free "televisors."
> > > People in prisons could be required to serve as part of their
sentence,
> > or
> > > they could do so to get community service or good behavior credit.
They
> > > might also volunteer so that they can vicariously walk around like a
free
> > > man.
> > >
> > > As with selecting guide dogs, a visually impaired person could be
matched
> > > up with a narrator/translator who suits him or her best. The
> > possibilities
> > > of a televisor for describing movies without disturbing my neighbor,
to
> > > help me find where I misplaced something, or even to recognize the
faces
> > > of people I know at a party are exciting.
> > >
> > > I recently went to a party where I knew about a fifth of the people
> > there.
> > > The host wanted to take my cane because I knew her apartment and
could
> > get
> > > around without it. But I kept it in order to signal to the strangers
that
> > > I can't see them, which could facilitate our encounter. There was a
> > buffet
> > > table that I couldn't handle with grace and, as a vegetarian, I won't
> > grab
> > > whatever is there. A televisor could have given me a fluency in that
> > > setting that would have made me feel like I can see again, and no
> > > technology could ever come close.
> > >
> > > Equally important, the necessary technology (miniature cameras,
> > > microphones and earphones, a connection via cell phone technology,
and an
> > > interactive monitor with audio) is already here. Further, the
training
> > > time to use it would be less than hour.
> > >
> > > I don't know how many of you this appeals to, but I'd like to get
some
> > > feed-back.
> > >
> > > Sorry about the long posting, and have a great Christmas.
> > >
> > >  Peter Seymour
> > >
> > > On Mon, 21 Dec 1998, John Mattioli wrote:
> > >
> > > > Greetings,
> > > >
> > > >         Two interesting things about this posting...
> > > >
> > > > 1. The software is free for download: really, from where?  I'd love
to
> > see
> > > > it.
> > > >
> > > > 2. A built in color identifier?  Really?  You mean I can download
this
> > > > software, purchase a camera and have a color identifier?  Cool!
> > > >
> > > > John
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > > -----Original Message-----
> > > > > From: VICUG-L: Visually Impaired Computer Users' Group List
> > > > > [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of Kelly Pierce
> > > > > Sent: Saturday, December 19, 1998 6:38 AM
> > > > > To: [log in to unmask]
> > > > > Subject: tech: seeing eye software
> > > > >
> > > > >
> > > > > For those without mail readers that offer clickable url's,
> > > > > such as Pine
> > > > > 4.0 or greater, here's Peter Meijer's article about the
> > > > > software that he
> > > > > talked about in a post a few weeks ago.
> > > > >
> > > > > kelly=20
> > > > >
> > > > > from Wired News
> > > > >
> > > > >   =20
> > > > >    Seeing-Eye Software
> > > > >    by Kristen Philipkoski=20
> > > > >    3:00 a.m.  24.Nov.98.PST
> > > > >    A new software program aims to help people see with their
ears.
> > > > >   =20
> > > > >    Peter Meijer, of the Philips Research Laboratories in the
> > > > > Netherlands,
> > > > >    built Voice Learning Edition software to translate video into
> > > > >    high-definition stereo sound in close to real time.
> > > > >   =20
> > > > >    Voice requires the user to learn a whole new language of
subtle
> > > > >    sounds. Noises change pitch and resonance if a color is bright
or
> > a
> > > > >    building is close, so the user must be able to distinguish
between
> > > > >    nuances of sound.
> > > > >   =20
> > > > >    Meijer set up an online program for the blind to help him
evaluate
> > > > >    Voice. He also gets feedback from an evaluation project at the
> > > > >    Institute for Innovative Blind Navigation.
> > > > >   =20
> > > > >    "Talking to blind users directly is very valuable [in
> > > > > order] to guide
> > > > >    further technical progress," he said. But the Internet
> > > > > offered Meijer
> > > > >    a whole new approach to testing tools for the blind.
> > > > >   =20
> > > > >    "In the past, we first had to convince institutions for
> > > > > the blind that
> > > > >    the proposed approach could be interesting, which often led
only
> > to
> > > > >    discussing opinions about what needs and interests the blind
may
> > > > >    have," he said. "Today, we can communicate directly with
potential
> > > > >    blind users, and let them decide ... whether they are
interested."
> > > > >   =20
> > > > >    Based on the feedback, Meijer said he continuously
> > > > > improves the system
> > > > >    and is now working to help users understand Voice's language.
> > > > >   =20
> > > > >    Nolan Crabb, a spokesman for the American Council of the
> > > > > Blind, said
> > > > >    he believes Voice is well-intended, but he isn't convinced of
its
> > > > >    practicality.
> > > > >   =20
> > > > >    "This would be better for people who lose their sight than
> > > > > for people
> > > > >    who were blind always," said Crabb, who was born blind. He
> > > > > added that
> > > > >    walking around with headphones could be dangerous for blind
> > people.
> > > > >   =20
> > > > >    "You still need a lot of your hearing to know what the
> > > > > world is doing
> > > > >    around you, to hear things like traffic, construction," he
said.
> > > > >   =20
> > > > >    In 1993, Meijer came out with the prototype for Voice -- a
> > > > >    helmet-like, mono-sound piece of hardware. It never went into
> > > > >    production.
> > > > >   =20
> > > > >    The latest version, released in January, functions on Windows
and
> > > > >    requires a PC camera, a Pentium processor, and stereo
headphones.
> > > > >    While the accessories may seem prohibitive, the software is
free
> > to
> > > > >    download.
> > > > >    In March, Meijer added color identification to the system,
which
> > > > >    already featured zoom, inverse video, and slow and fast
motion. An
> > > > >    open interface for third-party developers was developed in
> > > > > September.
> > > > >   =20
> > > > >    It remains to be seen how functional Voice is for most people.
> > > > >   =20
> > > > >    "There could be important bottlenecks in hearing, brain
> > processing,
> > > > >    and brain plasticity, but also in motivation during
> > > > > training, Meijer
> > > > >    said. "Results may depend on whether one is congenitally blind
or
> > > > >    became blind later in life," he said. "But sometimes simple
things
> > > > >    like color detection or finding a bright window may turn out
to be
> > > > >    useful. It doesn't have to be full-fledged vision to have
> > > > > some merit."
> > > > >   =20
> > > > >    Crabb said, "The day we can use talking or brailled
information
> > and
> > > > >    GPS [Global Positioning Satellite] to give us an idea of
> > > > > where we are,
> > > > >    then we will have achieved some incredible steps
> > > > > forward.... Any kind
> > > > >    of increased mobility can be a good thing."
> > > > >
> > > > >    Copyright =A9 1994-98 Wired Digital Inc. All rights reserved.
> > > > >
> > > > >
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>
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VICUG-L is the Visually Impaired Computer User Group List.
To join or leave the list, send a message to
[log in to unmask]  In the body of the message, simply type
"subscribe vicug-l" or "unsubscribe vicug-l" without the quotations.
 VICUG-L is archived on the World Wide Web at
http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/vicug-l.html