I still have problems with this approach because someone who has trouble understanding how to hold and use a camera will surely not benefit from this and many blind people cannot grasp this intuitively so would require a lot of coaching. The best to hope for is a good interface between the support person and the computer and a verbal explanation to questions of the physical situation. I do think though that the camera could be a part of this. On Wed, 12 Apr 2000, Martin Tibor wrote: _The main benefit of the webcam that I see is that is a continuous flow of _information. Moving video just has so much more information over a still _image. You can move the camera around while talking with the other person on _the phone. For example you could point the camera at the back of your _computer and move it up and down to determine if the cabling looked correct. _If you bang yourself you can use the video camera to ask someone over the _internet what the injury looks like interactively. Although video banding _when viewing a monitor is evident the problem is not so great that one would _have much difficulty reading text with a webcam over the internet for a _quick tech support issue. The neat thing about the webcam is that it _provides a constant stream of data that the individual on the other side of _the telephone can direct. The still camera is still a video camera and has _many of the same issues as the webcam however it grabs only a single image. _Improved resolution and progressive scanning are clear benefits of a digital _camera. I have a feeling that a webcam can open up a lot of possibilities _for moving sight into areas of darkness. They are cheap and you can get the _benefits of someone's vision remotely and without much of an intrusion or _inconvenience on either parties part. _ _Marty Tibor _Synapse _Speech Recognition and Adaptive Technology _3095 Kerner Blvd., Suite S, San Rafael, CA 94901 _toll-free 888-285-9988 _http://www.synapseadaptive.com _------- _40 page accessible text formatted catalog _http://www.synapseadaptive.com/txt/synapse1999.txt _------- _40 page Adobe Acrobat format catalog _http://www.synapseadaptive.com/pdf/Synapse40p.pdf (requires Adobe Acrobat _Reader ver. 4) _------- _http://www.naturalspeak.com _Providers of adaptive and assistive technology solutions. _------- _http://www.unixspeech.com _UNIX, mainframe and Mac speech recognition _------- _Speech recognition technical assistance _Synapse hosts the Dragon NaturallySpeaking Unofficial Information Pages _http://www.synapseadaptive.com/joel/default.htm _ _-----Original Message----- _From: VICUG-L: Visually Impaired Computer Users' Group List _[mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of Peter Meijer _Sent: Tuesday, April 04, 2000 4:01 AM _To: [log in to unmask] _Subject: Re: Webcam offers cheap eyes over the internet _ _ _Yes Marty, what you propose will more or less work. However, _in pointing the camera to the screen there will be the issue _of low video resolution, possible video banding due to camera _and screen not running synchronized, and there is the issue _of setting lens focus properly. _ _Of course there is much more that a blind person can nowadays _do with a PC camera, as described in detail on the web page _ _ Seeing with Sound - The vOICe Learning Edition _ http://www.seeingwithsound.com/winvoice.htm _ _The software as described there makes it very easy for blind _users to send a snapshot from their camera as a binary e-mail _attachment, by simply pointing the PC camera to anything of _interest and pressing Control M to enter the e-mail address _of the recipient in the pop-up dialog. The e-mail with the _snapshot attachments (a BMP image file plus a WAV soundscape _file) is then created automatically. This procedure is indeed _less interactive than using something like Netmeeting, but it _is also much less of a hassle to set up and use in combination _with a regular screen reader. _ _To send a downsized snapshot of your overall screen content, _you do not even need a camera: in using The vOICe Learning _Edition software, just press Shift F9 for full screen capture, _and then continue with the above procedure using Control M _to enter the desired recipient and optionally add a small _note. This will also avoid the above-mentioned problems with _video banding and lens focus. If a detailed snapshot with _some readable bitmap text would be needed by a sighted _recipient, the mouse area capture option under function key _F9 may be useful. Again, one can now send this small area of _the screen, positioned around the mouse pointer, via the _Control M procedure. Mouse pointer position in this mode can _be controlled with the arrow keys. Further support in this _area is planned for future software releases. _ _Best wishes, _ _Peter Meijer _ _ _The vOICe Mail - Send live camera snapshots to your (blind) friends _http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/Peter_Meijer/voicemail.htm _ _Seeing with Sound - The vOICe _http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/Peter_Meijer/ _= _ _ _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 _ _ _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 _ _ -- Hands-On-Technolog(eye)s touching the internet voice: 1-(301) 949-7599 [log in to unmask] ftp://ftp.clark.net/pub/poehlman http://www.clark.net/pub/poehlman Dynamic solutions Inc. Best of service for your Small Business network Needs Http://www.dnsolutions.com 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