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 

from Wired News

   
   Seeing-Eye Software
   by Kristen Philipkoski 
   3:00 a.m.  24.Nov.98.PST
   A new software program aims to help people see with their ears.
   
   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.
   
   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.
   
   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.
   
   "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.
   
   "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."
   
   Based on the feedback, Meijer said he continuously improves the system
   and is now working to help users understand Voice's language.
   
   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.
   
   "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.
   
   "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.
   
   In 1993, Meijer came out with the prototype for Voice -- a
   helmet-like, mono-sound piece of hardware. It never went into
   production.
   
   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.
   
   It remains to be seen how functional Voice is for most people.
   
   "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."
   
   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 © 1994-98 Wired Digital Inc. All rights reserved.


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