April 1, 2025 • 14 mins
News of the imminent release of Apple software updates.
Then from his CSUN discoveries, Damo’s account of:
- two new distance camera low vision aids, the Magnibot from Trisight and the Snowpad from Zoomax;
- A new braille display technology being developed by New Haptics;
- An AI mobility aid from Make Sense;
Finally, we hear of Innosearch AI assisted shopping.
To access the program, presented each week by Stephen Jolley and Damo McMorrow you can go to varadio.org/talkingtech
To write to the show use damo.mcmorrow@visionaustralia.org
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
S1 (00:08):
Hello everyone. Welcome to Talking Tech. This edition available from
April the 1st, 2025. I'm Stephen Jolly. Great to have
you with us listening maybe through Vision Australia Radio, associated
stations of the Radio Reading Network or the Community Radio Network.
There is also the podcast. To catch that, all you
need to do is search for the two words talking tech.
(00:29):
And Danica will come usually on a Tuesday afternoon just
after it's been produced. Another option is to ask your
Siri device or smart speaker to play. Vision Australia radio
talking tech podcast. Vision Australia radio talking tech podcast with me.
Vision Australia's national access technology manager Damien McMorrow. Damo, are
(00:51):
you just about settled back to normal now after your
Sea sun adventure?
S2 (00:55):
I think so. I'm still excited about a lot of
the people that I met and the things that I saw,
but I'm over the jet lag now, so that's that's nice.
I'm starting to feel vaguely human again.
S1 (01:06):
So it's not quite a distant memory yet.
S2 (01:09):
Not yet. No, no.
S3 (01:12):
Well, let's talk.
S1 (01:13):
About more of what you discovered later in the program.
But to start, just to alert everyone to the fact
that Apple are releasing another batch of their software updates
this week, some of you may already have it. So
we're the iOS 18.4 and the corresponding increments for their
(01:35):
other devices, including Mac OS and demo. We're not going
to see the enhancements to Siri that people were anticipating,
because Apple said they'd be bringing them to us. The
AI enhancements, which certainly will come maybe next year sometime.
There have been a lot of improvements in Siri, though
(01:56):
over recent months, haven't there?
S2 (01:58):
Yeah there have. Yeah. It's a shame that they've sort of, um,
delayed further rollouts of that, but it's definitely a big
improvement on what it was.
S1 (02:07):
Um, I believe that, uh, with the 18.4, Siri will
be available from more areas, such as the lock screen
and the control center. So look out for those and
play around a bit, and you might find some useful improvements. Uh,
also an interesting feature for prioritizing notifications is going to
(02:31):
be refined a bit more, so that'll be good.
S2 (02:34):
Definitely, definitely. There's nothing more annoying than being bombarded by those.
S1 (02:38):
So that's iOS 18.4 and other Apple software coming to
your machine sometime this week. Now demo. Let's go back
to see son. And you did see some interesting stuff
in the area of low vision. And I guess a
way to describe it would be distance cameras. Tell us
(02:58):
about that.
S2 (02:59):
Yes. So there was a couple of devices that interested me.
One was a device called the Magnebot. If anyone remembers
the old bot Ebert that hymns used to make. It's
kind of a similar idea, but a lot smaller. So
the idea of this one is it's a motorized camera,
so you can tilt it up and down left and right,
(03:23):
and it connects wirelessly to a tablet. So something like
an iPad. And the idea is that you could put
it in a place where it's got a good view
of what's happening. So, you know, for example, in a
classroom situation, you might sit it on the teacher's desk
looking straight at the board. The student can then sit
wherever they want to or need to in the room,
(03:43):
and they can drive the camera from their iPad so
they get the image on the screen and they can
zoom in and out and all of that sort of thing,
but they can also pan it around. So if the
teacher was doing something on the board and then, you know,
let's say, for example, if it was a science lesson
and they were doing a practical demonstration, you could direct
the camera to what was happening at the front of
(04:03):
the room and be able to observe that. So that
was one of them. The other one was the snow pad,
which is a similar idea, but it's a manually operated camera.
So the student would have the camera next to them
and they can sort of move it around. But it's
a good distance camera, and it's nice to see a
couple of options in that space, because it's something that's
(04:25):
been missing for a while. I think in the education
area is having a good distance solution. You know, there
are things like the CCTV type magnifiers where the camera
on an arm. So, you know, I'm thinking things like
the Onix from Vespero, the Acrobat, those sorts of devices,
but they're not really portable for a high school student.
(04:48):
They're okay for early primary where you want something that
just fires up and works, and there aren't too many
buttons for little hands to fiddle with. But, you know,
they are like carrying a heavy monitor around so they
don't lend themselves to someone who needs to move from
room to room. Whereas both of these devices would allow
you to have your distance magnification solution in your backpack.
S1 (05:10):
We have moved a long way from the kid that
can't see very well, having to sit right up the
front of the room and stress and strain to find
out what's on the board.
S2 (05:20):
That's right. Yeah. And which is really good to see.
And a lot of these things, you have the ability to,
to capture photos and do OCR and that sort of thing.
As I've said before, it's really important, I think these
days because we have so many options. It's so important
for kids to have that concept of the technology toolbox
and having a couple of different tools at your disposal
(05:42):
so that when your eyes aren't cooperating or something's hard
to see, you've got other ways of accessing it. And
I think we're we're getting there in that way.
S1 (05:50):
So just remind us again of these devices, the magnebot.
S2 (05:53):
The magnebot is one of them and the other is
the snow pad from Zmax.
S1 (06:00):
They're both from Zmax.
S2 (06:02):
Oh, no. Sorry. The Magnebot is from Tri-City.
S1 (06:05):
Right. So we'll do that again.
S2 (06:06):
Yeah.
S1 (06:07):
So just remind us of those two devices again. The magnebot?
S2 (06:11):
Yeah. The magnebot from try site and the snow pad
from Sumacs.
S1 (06:16):
Okay, now let's move into the area of Braille displays.
We talked about those last week, and there's a new
kind of, uh, haptic technology.
S2 (06:29):
Yes, there's a company called New Haptics, and they've developed
a braille display which operates, uh, using air to operate
the pins, the Braille cells. So normally your traditional braille
cell is operated with a sort of a piezoelectric type arrangement.
I'm not exactly sure the ink cells that are used
in the dot pad and the monarch, they are a
(06:52):
different technology again, but this one, it's a fairly large
sort of multi-line display. So it's a desktop device rather
than something portable. It comes with a little air pump
that sits under the table and that operates the pins.
It's interesting that we're starting to see, I think, different
ways of producing multi-line braille. You know, it'll be interesting
to see kind of which technology wins out. But the
(07:15):
problem with the the piezo electric cells and a lot
of the others is the high cost. And I think
this particular device, it's it is still I think prototype.
But it's nice that people are trying to find more
affordable ways of producing multi-line braille and experimenting with different technologies.
S1 (07:34):
Yes. And you just wonder what there's going to be in, say,
five years time, don't you?
S2 (07:37):
Oh, you absolutely do. Yeah. As I said, this device
is a, um, a desktop type unit. I think they're
sort of targeting perhaps the developer slash coder market or
someone that doesn't need to carry their braille display around.
It's an interesting concept, and the Braille itself actually feels
very nice.
S1 (07:57):
So this one's on the way. It's still at prototype stage.
S2 (08:00):
That's right. Yes.
S1 (08:01):
From new haptics.
S2 (08:03):
New haptics. Yep.
S1 (08:04):
Let's go back to getting around or orientation and mobility.
As they say in the trade a product from. Make sense?
S2 (08:13):
Yes. This one was an interesting one to experiment with.
The product consists of a chest harness in which you
install your iPhone, and then there are two variants of
the other component. One is sort of a little handheld
wand type thing, and the other is one that attaches
to a long cane. And the idea is that the
(08:38):
camera in your phone detects obstacles, but it also uses
the GPS in your phone to record routes and those
kinds of things. And the little wand device, essentially like
a cylinder that you hold in your hand. And there's
a little groove that you put one finger into and
that groove kind of pivots. So the idea is that
(09:02):
when you need to make a turn, the little indicator
that your finger sits in pivots around and tells you
how much you need to turn. So, you know, whether
it's a, you know, a hard left or whether it's
just a gradual kind of Via what it also does
though if you record a route, it will let you
(09:22):
know if you're veering on a, say, a road crossing.
So if you start to veer to the left, the
little indicator under your finger will sort of push to
the right to tell you which way you need to
go and by how much in order to correct your course.
And there is another version of it that attaches to
the grip of a a long cane. In that instance,
(09:43):
your thumb sits in the groove and you can then
receive the the feedback from the the application that way.
So good for pre-recording routes but also good for obstacle
avoidance and that type of thing. So it was quite
an interesting one. And and the little trial that I
had with it was actually quite impressive.
S1 (10:03):
What stage is it at?
S2 (10:05):
Uh, I think this one still also at prototype. They
are still kind of refining it, but I think they're
hoping to have it available sometime in the next couple
of months. I don't think it's far off.
S1 (10:15):
Um, it's very interesting, isn't it, that we're seeing a
number of these devices that are what I think of
as guidance devices, sort of nudging you in the right direction.
S2 (10:25):
And it is interesting. I mean, I think that there's
still no substitute for good orientation and mobility skills, but
I think having some of these secondary aides available, perhaps,
you know, for some people it gives them a little
more confidence or it helps them to if if something
has gone wrong, helps them to sort of troubleshoot and,
(10:45):
and correct course and that kind of thing. So, uh,
you know, I think it's, it's going to be an
interesting space to watch over the next couple of years.
S1 (10:54):
The AI world moves quickly along, and there's an interesting
web based product in a search. Tell us about that one.
S2 (11:04):
Yes. So this is designed to provide an accessible shopping experience.
It essentially makes its money, I think, by the online
retailers that work with the platform paying to use it.
So there's no cost to the end user if you like,
but the idea is that it uses AI to guide
(11:24):
you to particular products. So it has a couple of
ways you can do it. You can do it through
a web browser, and it's all nice and accessible, but
it also has a phone based option as well where
you can talk to essentially an AI robot type thing
and say, you know, I'm interested in headphones and it
will give you some options or ask you some questions
(11:44):
to narrow down your search, and then it will allow
you to go right through to the sort of checkout process.
So for people who maybe don't want to or can't
get out and about and go shopping with a support worker,
but there may be a little bit nervous about using
things like eBay or Amazon and then finding, you know,
(12:06):
going to an online store and finding that it's all
great until you get to the checkout and then it
becomes inaccessible. This gives people a couple of different ways
to accessibly shop. And for someone who's non-technical, having that
phone sort of voice guided way of doing it as well,
I think is actually pretty impressive.
S1 (12:25):
I suspect there are more situations than we realize where
we ring up and have an interaction with a being
at the end of the phone who is not actually
a human, but an AI tool.
S2 (12:36):
Yeah, I think it's getting that way. Definitely. The thing
is that it's the quality of the speech now is
so good that it does almost sound like you're dealing
with a person, doesn't it?
S1 (12:46):
Mhm. It certainly does. So this one is called Inner Search.
Um and it's available in Australia, the UK, the United
States and Canada.
S2 (12:56):
The other thing interesting thing about Inner Search is that
I think over time things like flights and accommodation and
those sorts of things will be added to it as well.
S1 (13:05):
That will be really good. And uh, particularly if they
can for us. I think of when you book travel
and you need to include an assistance dog, a guide
dog or whatever, to be able to do that sort
of automatically would be very good too, because that seems
to really slow up the process.
S2 (13:24):
Oh it does. It's so tedious. Uh, and you and you,
you invariably get the silly questions. I think my favorite
was why you want to travel with this dog. I
didn't really know what to say, so I said, because
it's got lovely fluffy ears.
S1 (13:38):
An excellent answer. Before we go, let's remind everyone that
you can find details of this and previous editions of
the program by going to VA. Radio.com. Radio.com. And to
write to the program.
S2 (13:56):
You can email me.
S1 (14:06):
At. This has been talking tech with me has been
Vision Australia's national access technology manager Damien McMorrow. I'm Stephen Jolley.
Stay safe and we'll talk more tech next week.
S4 (14:18):
See you.
Hello everyone. Welcome to Talking Tech. This edition available from
April the 1st, 2025. I'm Stephen Jolly. Great to have
you with us listening maybe through Vision Australia Radio, associated
stations of the Radio Reading Network or the Community Radio Network.
There is also the podcast. To catch that, all you
need to do is search for the two words talking tech.
(00:29):
And Danica will come usually on a Tuesday afternoon just
after it's been produced. Another option is to ask your
Siri device or smart speaker to play. Vision Australia radio
talking tech podcast. Vision Australia radio talking tech podcast with me.
Vision Australia's national access technology manager Damien McMorrow. Damo, are
(00:51):
you just about settled back to normal now after your
Sea sun adventure?
S2 (00:55):
I think so. I'm still excited about a lot of
the people that I met and the things that I saw,
but I'm over the jet lag now, so that's that's nice.
I'm starting to feel vaguely human again.
S1 (01:06):
So it's not quite a distant memory yet.
S2 (01:09):
Not yet. No, no.
S3 (01:12):
Well, let's talk.
S1 (01:13):
About more of what you discovered later in the program.
But to start, just to alert everyone to the fact
that Apple are releasing another batch of their software updates
this week, some of you may already have it. So
we're the iOS 18.4 and the corresponding increments for their
(01:35):
other devices, including Mac OS and demo. We're not going
to see the enhancements to Siri that people were anticipating,
because Apple said they'd be bringing them to us. The
AI enhancements, which certainly will come maybe next year sometime.
There have been a lot of improvements in Siri, though
(01:56):
over recent months, haven't there?
S2 (01:58):
Yeah there have. Yeah. It's a shame that they've sort of, um,
delayed further rollouts of that, but it's definitely a big
improvement on what it was.
S1 (02:07):
Um, I believe that, uh, with the 18.4, Siri will
be available from more areas, such as the lock screen
and the control center. So look out for those and
play around a bit, and you might find some useful improvements. Uh,
also an interesting feature for prioritizing notifications is going to
(02:31):
be refined a bit more, so that'll be good.
S2 (02:34):
Definitely, definitely. There's nothing more annoying than being bombarded by those.
S1 (02:38):
So that's iOS 18.4 and other Apple software coming to
your machine sometime this week. Now demo. Let's go back
to see son. And you did see some interesting stuff
in the area of low vision. And I guess a
way to describe it would be distance cameras. Tell us
(02:58):
about that.
S2 (02:59):
Yes. So there was a couple of devices that interested me.
One was a device called the Magnebot. If anyone remembers
the old bot Ebert that hymns used to make. It's
kind of a similar idea, but a lot smaller. So
the idea of this one is it's a motorized camera,
so you can tilt it up and down left and right,
(03:23):
and it connects wirelessly to a tablet. So something like
an iPad. And the idea is that you could put
it in a place where it's got a good view
of what's happening. So, you know, for example, in a
classroom situation, you might sit it on the teacher's desk
looking straight at the board. The student can then sit
wherever they want to or need to in the room,
(03:43):
and they can drive the camera from their iPad so
they get the image on the screen and they can
zoom in and out and all of that sort of thing,
but they can also pan it around. So if the
teacher was doing something on the board and then, you know,
let's say, for example, if it was a science lesson
and they were doing a practical demonstration, you could direct
the camera to what was happening at the front of
(04:03):
the room and be able to observe that. So that
was one of them. The other one was the snow pad,
which is a similar idea, but it's a manually operated camera.
So the student would have the camera next to them
and they can sort of move it around. But it's
a good distance camera, and it's nice to see a
couple of options in that space, because it's something that's
(04:25):
been missing for a while. I think in the education
area is having a good distance solution. You know, there
are things like the CCTV type magnifiers where the camera
on an arm. So, you know, I'm thinking things like
the Onix from Vespero, the Acrobat, those sorts of devices,
but they're not really portable for a high school student.
(04:48):
They're okay for early primary where you want something that
just fires up and works, and there aren't too many
buttons for little hands to fiddle with. But, you know,
they are like carrying a heavy monitor around so they
don't lend themselves to someone who needs to move from
room to room. Whereas both of these devices would allow
you to have your distance magnification solution in your backpack.
S1 (05:10):
We have moved a long way from the kid that
can't see very well, having to sit right up the
front of the room and stress and strain to find
out what's on the board.
S2 (05:20):
That's right. Yeah. And which is really good to see.
And a lot of these things, you have the ability to,
to capture photos and do OCR and that sort of thing.
As I've said before, it's really important, I think these
days because we have so many options. It's so important
for kids to have that concept of the technology toolbox
and having a couple of different tools at your disposal
(05:42):
so that when your eyes aren't cooperating or something's hard
to see, you've got other ways of accessing it. And
I think we're we're getting there in that way.
S1 (05:50):
So just remind us again of these devices, the magnebot.
S2 (05:53):
The magnebot is one of them and the other is
the snow pad from Zmax.
S1 (06:00):
They're both from Zmax.
S2 (06:02):
Oh, no. Sorry. The Magnebot is from Tri-City.
S1 (06:05):
Right. So we'll do that again.
S2 (06:06):
Yeah.
S1 (06:07):
So just remind us of those two devices again. The magnebot?
S2 (06:11):
Yeah. The magnebot from try site and the snow pad
from Sumacs.
S1 (06:16):
Okay, now let's move into the area of Braille displays.
We talked about those last week, and there's a new
kind of, uh, haptic technology.
S2 (06:29):
Yes, there's a company called New Haptics, and they've developed
a braille display which operates, uh, using air to operate
the pins, the Braille cells. So normally your traditional braille
cell is operated with a sort of a piezoelectric type arrangement.
I'm not exactly sure the ink cells that are used
in the dot pad and the monarch, they are a
(06:52):
different technology again, but this one, it's a fairly large
sort of multi-line display. So it's a desktop device rather
than something portable. It comes with a little air pump
that sits under the table and that operates the pins.
It's interesting that we're starting to see, I think, different
ways of producing multi-line braille. You know, it'll be interesting
to see kind of which technology wins out. But the
(07:15):
problem with the the piezo electric cells and a lot
of the others is the high cost. And I think
this particular device, it's it is still I think prototype.
But it's nice that people are trying to find more
affordable ways of producing multi-line braille and experimenting with different technologies.
S1 (07:34):
Yes. And you just wonder what there's going to be in, say,
five years time, don't you?
S2 (07:37):
Oh, you absolutely do. Yeah. As I said, this device
is a, um, a desktop type unit. I think they're
sort of targeting perhaps the developer slash coder market or
someone that doesn't need to carry their braille display around.
It's an interesting concept, and the Braille itself actually feels
very nice.
S1 (07:57):
So this one's on the way. It's still at prototype stage.
S2 (08:00):
That's right. Yes.
S1 (08:01):
From new haptics.
S2 (08:03):
New haptics. Yep.
S1 (08:04):
Let's go back to getting around or orientation and mobility.
As they say in the trade a product from. Make sense?
S2 (08:13):
Yes. This one was an interesting one to experiment with.
The product consists of a chest harness in which you
install your iPhone, and then there are two variants of
the other component. One is sort of a little handheld
wand type thing, and the other is one that attaches
to a long cane. And the idea is that the
(08:38):
camera in your phone detects obstacles, but it also uses
the GPS in your phone to record routes and those
kinds of things. And the little wand device, essentially like
a cylinder that you hold in your hand. And there's
a little groove that you put one finger into and
that groove kind of pivots. So the idea is that
(09:02):
when you need to make a turn, the little indicator
that your finger sits in pivots around and tells you
how much you need to turn. So, you know, whether
it's a, you know, a hard left or whether it's
just a gradual kind of Via what it also does
though if you record a route, it will let you
(09:22):
know if you're veering on a, say, a road crossing.
So if you start to veer to the left, the
little indicator under your finger will sort of push to
the right to tell you which way you need to
go and by how much in order to correct your course.
And there is another version of it that attaches to
the grip of a a long cane. In that instance,
(09:43):
your thumb sits in the groove and you can then
receive the the feedback from the the application that way.
So good for pre-recording routes but also good for obstacle
avoidance and that type of thing. So it was quite
an interesting one. And and the little trial that I
had with it was actually quite impressive.
S1 (10:03):
What stage is it at?
S2 (10:05):
Uh, I think this one still also at prototype. They
are still kind of refining it, but I think they're
hoping to have it available sometime in the next couple
of months. I don't think it's far off.
S1 (10:15):
Um, it's very interesting, isn't it, that we're seeing a
number of these devices that are what I think of
as guidance devices, sort of nudging you in the right direction.
S2 (10:25):
And it is interesting. I mean, I think that there's
still no substitute for good orientation and mobility skills, but
I think having some of these secondary aides available, perhaps,
you know, for some people it gives them a little
more confidence or it helps them to if if something
has gone wrong, helps them to sort of troubleshoot and,
(10:45):
and correct course and that kind of thing. So, uh,
you know, I think it's, it's going to be an
interesting space to watch over the next couple of years.
S1 (10:54):
The AI world moves quickly along, and there's an interesting
web based product in a search. Tell us about that one.
S2 (11:04):
Yes. So this is designed to provide an accessible shopping experience.
It essentially makes its money, I think, by the online
retailers that work with the platform paying to use it.
So there's no cost to the end user if you like,
but the idea is that it uses AI to guide
(11:24):
you to particular products. So it has a couple of
ways you can do it. You can do it through
a web browser, and it's all nice and accessible, but
it also has a phone based option as well where
you can talk to essentially an AI robot type thing
and say, you know, I'm interested in headphones and it
will give you some options or ask you some questions
(11:44):
to narrow down your search, and then it will allow
you to go right through to the sort of checkout process.
So for people who maybe don't want to or can't
get out and about and go shopping with a support worker,
but there may be a little bit nervous about using
things like eBay or Amazon and then finding, you know,
(12:06):
going to an online store and finding that it's all
great until you get to the checkout and then it
becomes inaccessible. This gives people a couple of different ways
to accessibly shop. And for someone who's non-technical, having that
phone sort of voice guided way of doing it as well,
I think is actually pretty impressive.
S1 (12:25):
I suspect there are more situations than we realize where
we ring up and have an interaction with a being
at the end of the phone who is not actually
a human, but an AI tool.
S2 (12:36):
Yeah, I think it's getting that way. Definitely. The thing
is that it's the quality of the speech now is
so good that it does almost sound like you're dealing
with a person, doesn't it?
S1 (12:46):
Mhm. It certainly does. So this one is called Inner Search.
Um and it's available in Australia, the UK, the United
States and Canada.
S2 (12:56):
The other thing interesting thing about Inner Search is that
I think over time things like flights and accommodation and
those sorts of things will be added to it as well.
S1 (13:05):
That will be really good. And uh, particularly if they
can for us. I think of when you book travel
and you need to include an assistance dog, a guide
dog or whatever, to be able to do that sort
of automatically would be very good too, because that seems
to really slow up the process.
S2 (13:24):
Oh it does. It's so tedious. Uh, and you and you,
you invariably get the silly questions. I think my favorite
was why you want to travel with this dog. I
didn't really know what to say, so I said, because
it's got lovely fluffy ears.
S1 (13:38):
An excellent answer. Before we go, let's remind everyone that
you can find details of this and previous editions of
the program by going to VA. Radio.com. Radio.com. And to
write to the program.
S2 (13:56):
You can email me.
S1 (14:06):
At. This has been talking tech with me has been
Vision Australia's national access technology manager Damien McMorrow. I'm Stephen Jolley.
Stay safe and we'll talk more tech next week.
S4 (14:18):
See you.
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