May 6, 2025 • 15 mins
In the final edition of this 13 year long weekly program:
- Damo reflects on his eleven and a half years with Vision Australia and explains his new role with the Commonwealth’s Administrative Review Tribunal;
- He demonstrates his recently acquired fully accessible Air Hover X1 drone; and
- He explains the Ray-Ban Meta Glasses app change from Meta View to Meta AI.
To access Talking Tech, 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
May 6th, 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
(00:29):
tech and it can all come. 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 Damo McMorrow. Hey, Damo.
S2 (00:49):
G'day, Stephen.
S1 (00:50):
Well, you are the Vision Australia national Access Technology manager,
but not for much longer.
S2 (00:56):
That's right. After 11.5 years, I am moving on from
Vision Australia and taking up a position as assistant director
of accessibility and User centered design for the Administrative Review Tribunal.
S1 (01:11):
So just tell us quickly what the Administrative Review Tribunal is.
S2 (01:16):
So that's the body that you would go to if
you wanted to appeal a federal government decision. So a
lot of people think it's just, um, ndia but it's not.
It covers a whole range of things, including things like
immigration decisions, child support, Centrelink, um, taxation, you know, all
(01:37):
of those sorts of, uh, federal government type matters. Um,
and the idea is that it gives people an opportunity to, um,
have the decision reviewed independently and to put their case
and that sort of thing. So my role will be
around making sure that the processes are fully accessible. Uh,
(01:58):
it is a new organisation. It used to be called
the Administrative Appeals Tribunal, but it was, uh, sort of
disbanded and set up as a new organization and, um,
you know, to make sure also that people's chance of
a fair hearing is not impaired or impacted by, you know,
accessibility barriers, whether that be because of disability, ethnicity or
(02:22):
any number of other things.
S1 (02:23):
Quite a responsible role there. Congratulations.
S2 (02:26):
Thank you. It feels a little, little bit scary after
I say 11.5 years with Vision Australia. But you can't
stay static. You have to sort of keep developing your
skills and those sorts of things. And this will give me, uh,
some different challenges to the ones that I've had at
Vision Australia, but it's still accessibility related, which is something
(02:47):
that has been extremely close to my heart, you know,
particularly over the last 11 years. I wanted to stay
in that that space, if you like. So, um, yeah,
new challenges, but, uh, hopefully exciting ones.
S1 (02:59):
Just briefly reflect on some of your special memories from
being at Vision Australia are.
S2 (03:05):
There are so many. I mean, I guess probably the
highlight has always been being able to help other people, uh,
being able to sort of make a difference or show
someone that's maybe, um, losing their vision that, you know, hey,
there's all this great technology out there that means you
can still lead a full and independent and fulfilling life
(03:26):
if you want to. You know, I love working with kids.
I've worked with children all over the country out in,
you know, the Northern Territory, in communities like Yuendumu and
Wugularr and so on, as well as in, in Darwin
and Alice Springs, uh, work with children in Tasmania, all
over Queensland. Um, and I've worked with people in their,
(03:48):
in their 90s who, you know, want to, want to
learn how to use technology to stay connected and that
sort of thing. So, um, done a lot of work
with job access, doing workplace assessments, and that's something that
I've always found very satisfying. And also, I think just
training other people, supporting our access technology specialists out in
(04:09):
the field and teaching them about access technology so that
they can make a difference to our community as well.
You know, it really has been an extremely rewarding, uh,
time and probably the, the happiest, uh, of my career.
S1 (04:26):
So Damo is leaving Vision Australia, and I'm sure many
people listening are thinking, what about talking tech? Talking Tech's
been running for 13 years, and we've decided for a
range of reasons, that it's probably appropriate now to call
time on talking tech. Uh, that doesn't mean there won't
(04:47):
be technology covered in the future, and we might come
back in some other form in the future. Damo.
S2 (04:54):
Yes, and it's something I've really enjoyed working with you
over the last 7 or 8 months. Um, and uh,
it was always sort of a bit of a highlight
of the week, uh, sitting down and, uh, recording next
week's show. So, um, I will definitely miss that. And
I'll miss the, the interaction, the emails and so on
from our listeners as well. So thank you everyone for
your support and thanks for having me over the last
(05:15):
few months.
S1 (05:16):
I just want to reflect on the 13 years of
the history of blindness and low vision access technology that
we've been covering in this program. Uh, it's been quite
a change from the early days of the iPhone and
the iOS and the Apple world, and then the Android
world and lots of other things. And there are people
(05:38):
who have been key to the success of the program.
I think of my partner in crime, David Woodbridge, who
for over 12 years drove the content and explained it
so well on this program. David has made and continues
to make an enormous contribution to access technology across Australia
and around the world. He's with Humanware these days, making
(06:02):
a difference for very many people behind the scenes. We've
had people like Mark Ridout for many years at Vision
Australia Radio. Nick Thompson now looking after the show, terrific
support from Vision Australia radio manager Conrad Brown. I'd also
like to acknowledge the the great support and encouragement from
(06:25):
various radio stations across the Vision Australia Radio Network, the
Radio Reading Network and the Community Radio Network. Without you
connecting us with our vast audience, uh, we just wouldn't
have been able to get as far as we have got.
And to all of you who have been tuning in
through various modern radio devices, uh, downloading the program. Daimyo,
(06:51):
it's been really important to us, hasn't it? The appreciation
and encouragement from our audience.
S2 (06:57):
It absolutely has. Um, and I'm, you know, I'm so
glad that, um, you know, people have found the content
helpful and, uh, enjoyed it. Uh, hopefully it's made you
think or helped you learn along the way. And, uh, yeah,
we certainly have enjoyed bringing it to you each week.
So thank you, everyone for your support. It really does
mean a lot to both of us.
S1 (07:17):
Another form of technology program will come to air in
the near future. Keep an eye out for news of
that over the coming months. In the meantime, things are happening.
And Daiso. You bought another toy the other day?
S2 (07:31):
I did, yeah, I can't help myself. Um, the. I've
always had a bit of an interest in drones, but
I'd always dismissed it as something that wasn't particularly useful
or that I wouldn't be able to, uh, play around
with until the other day. And I was chatting to
my brother about the idea of using a drone, uh,
as part of the filming for my YouTube channel. So
(07:53):
to have something that can hover in front of me.
Track me as I move around, just as an alternative
to using my phone on a gimbal. And I know
we've talked about that in a previous program. So I
came across a device called the Hover Air X1. It's
probably about the size of your hand. And the idea
(08:15):
of it, it has a camera on the front that
can swivel and move up and down and that sort
of thing. The I suppose you would call them wings
where the the rotors are unfold from the main body
of the drone. So you can, you can fold it
away for, for transporting. And uh, there's a couple of
little buttons on the top of the device, and it
(08:36):
has a number of different modes. So you can, for example,
have it hover in front of you. And if you
move to the left or right, it will turn and
track you. You can have it follow behind you. So
for example, if I was, uh, wanted to film something
while riding my tandem or while out in my boat,
I could have it follow me. It'll do up to
25km an hour.
S1 (08:56):
And it's very small. You said, isn't it?
S2 (08:58):
Yeah. It's about the size of your hand and you
can have it also do things like a bird's eye
view so it can go up about 5 or 10m
and sort of look down at you while you're doing something.
S1 (09:09):
And very accessible.
S2 (09:10):
It is. This was the cool thing about it. The
device has spoken prompts so you can cycle through the
various modes and it will say, you know, hover mode,
bird's eye mode or whatever. And then if you hold
the mode button down, you can adjust the parameters for
that mode. So if you want it to hover for
(09:31):
30s or hover for a minute or hover continuously, you
can adjust those parameters for each mode. You then point
the camera towards you. You press the take off button
and it'll beep for a few seconds and the camera
will focus on on you. Then it will just lift
off your hand and do what you've you've set it
to do. And then when you want it to come
(09:52):
back to you, just put your hands out and the
drone will land in your hands and switch off the propellers.
S1 (09:59):
Sounds like an obedient budgie. Remember as a kid you
have a budgie land on your hand?
S2 (10:04):
Yes. Yeah. Uh, the other the other nifty thing, though,
is that you can record audio because the AI that's
built into the iPhone app, which is also very accessible,
actually cancels out the whine of the propellers. So the
thing with drones is that people often use it for
sort of B-roll footage or visual footage. But with this,
(10:24):
because of that feature, you can also record the audio
using your phone's microphone. Um, so yeah, it was really
impressed with how accessible it was. It comes with a
couple of batteries. Um, and as I said, lots of
spoken prompts. The app is nice and accessible, and you
can then download the footage from the drone, uh, to
(10:46):
your phone so you can then edit it or post
it or do whatever you want to do.
S1 (10:50):
You're very good at finding Mainstream devices that are fully accessible.
How much does this one cost?
S2 (10:57):
So the price ranges from 4.99 to 6.49, depending on
where you get it from. Uh, so you can get
it off Amazon. But it's also available from places like
JB Hi-Fi as well. Um, so uh, and you can
get it in a couple of different colors. You can
get black or white, and I think you can get
(11:18):
it as a combo with, um, two batteries and a
little carry bag, which is what I got. And it
has the, the sort of a drop in charger for
the battery. So you can charge both batteries at once.
S1 (11:29):
And what's it called.
S2 (11:30):
It's called a hover air X1. There is also an
X1 Pro and an X1 Pro Max. Um, the main
difference is just being the quality of the footage, uh,
like the resolution that it can shoot and also the
speed that it can travel. So for example, the X1
will do 25km an hour, whereas the X1 Pro Max,
(11:54):
I think can do about 42 and it can cope
with higher winds and things, whereas mine you probably wouldn't
want to use it on a really windy day outside. Um,
but you know, for what I want to do with it, um,
it was really just a bit of an experiment. I
kind of wanted a drone, but I also wanted a
flying camera. Um, you know, it's perfectly fine for the
stuff that I'm using it for.
S1 (12:16):
The hover air x1. Now, tell us about meta. I
it's hard to keep up with this meta app.
S2 (12:25):
It is, isn't it? So people who already have the glasses, um,
will know that the app that you currently use to
control them is called Meta View. It's now been rebranded
as meta AI, and, um, it sort of serves as
the means for controlling your meta glasses, but you can
(12:45):
also use it as sort of a an alternative to
things like ChatGPT and so on. So you can, um,
you know, fire I. Request at it from your phone
as well. And I think it sort of gives them
a new platform from which they can launch things like the, um,
meta live AI feature when that's released and some of
(13:06):
the other things. There is now a translation language translation option, um,
and a couple of other things. The look and feel,
you know, if you can, if you know your way
around meta view, you won't have any problem with meta AI.
And when you do your app updates, it will just
automatically replace your meta view app with the meta AI app.
So you don't need to do anything. All your settings
(13:27):
and everything come across. Um, but it does have a
new name.
S1 (13:31):
So that brings us to the end of talking tech
for this week. And it brings us to the end
of a 13 year run of talking tech. For details
of what we've been talking about in this and previous
editions of the program, you can go to Varadero. Slash
talking tech VA radio.com. Now to right to the program demo.
S2 (13:55):
People can still email me demo. At Vision Australia. And
that address will stay current until about the 16th of May.
After that, people are welcome to contact me on Facebook
or LinkedIn if they would like to stay in touch,
(14:16):
and if they'd like to hear about sort of what
I'm up to and what we might come back with
in the future.
S1 (14:22):
Damo McMorrow at Vision Australia. And you could chase me
down on Facebook too, if you'd like to do that.
Thank you Damo, it's terrific working with you. This has
been talking tech with me has been Vision Australia's national
access technology manager, Damo McMorrow. I'm Stephen Jolly. Take care.
We'll talk more tech sometime. See you.
Hello everyone. Welcome to Talking Tech. This edition available from
May 6th, 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
(00:29):
tech and it can all come. 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 Damo McMorrow. Hey, Damo.
S2 (00:49):
G'day, Stephen.
S1 (00:50):
Well, you are the Vision Australia national Access Technology manager,
but not for much longer.
S2 (00:56):
That's right. After 11.5 years, I am moving on from
Vision Australia and taking up a position as assistant director
of accessibility and User centered design for the Administrative Review Tribunal.
S1 (01:11):
So just tell us quickly what the Administrative Review Tribunal is.
S2 (01:16):
So that's the body that you would go to if
you wanted to appeal a federal government decision. So a
lot of people think it's just, um, ndia but it's not.
It covers a whole range of things, including things like
immigration decisions, child support, Centrelink, um, taxation, you know, all
(01:37):
of those sorts of, uh, federal government type matters. Um,
and the idea is that it gives people an opportunity to, um,
have the decision reviewed independently and to put their case
and that sort of thing. So my role will be
around making sure that the processes are fully accessible. Uh,
(01:58):
it is a new organisation. It used to be called
the Administrative Appeals Tribunal, but it was, uh, sort of
disbanded and set up as a new organization and, um,
you know, to make sure also that people's chance of
a fair hearing is not impaired or impacted by, you know,
accessibility barriers, whether that be because of disability, ethnicity or
(02:22):
any number of other things.
S1 (02:23):
Quite a responsible role there. Congratulations.
S2 (02:26):
Thank you. It feels a little, little bit scary after
I say 11.5 years with Vision Australia. But you can't
stay static. You have to sort of keep developing your
skills and those sorts of things. And this will give me, uh,
some different challenges to the ones that I've had at
Vision Australia, but it's still accessibility related, which is something
(02:47):
that has been extremely close to my heart, you know,
particularly over the last 11 years. I wanted to stay
in that that space, if you like. So, um, yeah,
new challenges, but, uh, hopefully exciting ones.
S1 (02:59):
Just briefly reflect on some of your special memories from
being at Vision Australia are.
S2 (03:05):
There are so many. I mean, I guess probably the
highlight has always been being able to help other people, uh,
being able to sort of make a difference or show
someone that's maybe, um, losing their vision that, you know, hey,
there's all this great technology out there that means you
can still lead a full and independent and fulfilling life
(03:26):
if you want to. You know, I love working with kids.
I've worked with children all over the country out in,
you know, the Northern Territory, in communities like Yuendumu and
Wugularr and so on, as well as in, in Darwin
and Alice Springs, uh, work with children in Tasmania, all
over Queensland. Um, and I've worked with people in their,
(03:48):
in their 90s who, you know, want to, want to
learn how to use technology to stay connected and that
sort of thing. So, um, done a lot of work
with job access, doing workplace assessments, and that's something that
I've always found very satisfying. And also, I think just
training other people, supporting our access technology specialists out in
(04:09):
the field and teaching them about access technology so that
they can make a difference to our community as well.
You know, it really has been an extremely rewarding, uh,
time and probably the, the happiest, uh, of my career.
S1 (04:26):
So Damo is leaving Vision Australia, and I'm sure many
people listening are thinking, what about talking tech? Talking Tech's
been running for 13 years, and we've decided for a
range of reasons, that it's probably appropriate now to call
time on talking tech. Uh, that doesn't mean there won't
(04:47):
be technology covered in the future, and we might come
back in some other form in the future. Damo.
S2 (04:54):
Yes, and it's something I've really enjoyed working with you
over the last 7 or 8 months. Um, and uh,
it was always sort of a bit of a highlight
of the week, uh, sitting down and, uh, recording next
week's show. So, um, I will definitely miss that. And
I'll miss the, the interaction, the emails and so on
from our listeners as well. So thank you everyone for
your support and thanks for having me over the last
(05:15):
few months.
S1 (05:16):
I just want to reflect on the 13 years of
the history of blindness and low vision access technology that
we've been covering in this program. Uh, it's been quite
a change from the early days of the iPhone and
the iOS and the Apple world, and then the Android
world and lots of other things. And there are people
(05:38):
who have been key to the success of the program.
I think of my partner in crime, David Woodbridge, who
for over 12 years drove the content and explained it
so well on this program. David has made and continues
to make an enormous contribution to access technology across Australia
and around the world. He's with Humanware these days, making
(06:02):
a difference for very many people behind the scenes. We've
had people like Mark Ridout for many years at Vision
Australia Radio. Nick Thompson now looking after the show, terrific
support from Vision Australia radio manager Conrad Brown. I'd also
like to acknowledge the the great support and encouragement from
(06:25):
various radio stations across the Vision Australia Radio Network, the
Radio Reading Network and the Community Radio Network. Without you
connecting us with our vast audience, uh, we just wouldn't
have been able to get as far as we have got.
And to all of you who have been tuning in
through various modern radio devices, uh, downloading the program. Daimyo,
(06:51):
it's been really important to us, hasn't it? The appreciation
and encouragement from our audience.
S2 (06:57):
It absolutely has. Um, and I'm, you know, I'm so
glad that, um, you know, people have found the content
helpful and, uh, enjoyed it. Uh, hopefully it's made you
think or helped you learn along the way. And, uh, yeah,
we certainly have enjoyed bringing it to you each week.
So thank you, everyone for your support. It really does
mean a lot to both of us.
S1 (07:17):
Another form of technology program will come to air in
the near future. Keep an eye out for news of
that over the coming months. In the meantime, things are happening.
And Daiso. You bought another toy the other day?
S2 (07:31):
I did, yeah, I can't help myself. Um, the. I've
always had a bit of an interest in drones, but
I'd always dismissed it as something that wasn't particularly useful
or that I wouldn't be able to, uh, play around
with until the other day. And I was chatting to
my brother about the idea of using a drone, uh,
as part of the filming for my YouTube channel. So
(07:53):
to have something that can hover in front of me.
Track me as I move around, just as an alternative
to using my phone on a gimbal. And I know
we've talked about that in a previous program. So I
came across a device called the Hover Air X1. It's
probably about the size of your hand. And the idea
(08:15):
of it, it has a camera on the front that
can swivel and move up and down and that sort
of thing. The I suppose you would call them wings
where the the rotors are unfold from the main body
of the drone. So you can, you can fold it
away for, for transporting. And uh, there's a couple of
little buttons on the top of the device, and it
(08:36):
has a number of different modes. So you can, for example,
have it hover in front of you. And if you
move to the left or right, it will turn and
track you. You can have it follow behind you. So
for example, if I was, uh, wanted to film something
while riding my tandem or while out in my boat,
I could have it follow me. It'll do up to
25km an hour.
S1 (08:56):
And it's very small. You said, isn't it?
S2 (08:58):
Yeah. It's about the size of your hand and you
can have it also do things like a bird's eye
view so it can go up about 5 or 10m
and sort of look down at you while you're doing something.
S1 (09:09):
And very accessible.
S2 (09:10):
It is. This was the cool thing about it. The
device has spoken prompts so you can cycle through the
various modes and it will say, you know, hover mode,
bird's eye mode or whatever. And then if you hold
the mode button down, you can adjust the parameters for
that mode. So if you want it to hover for
(09:31):
30s or hover for a minute or hover continuously, you
can adjust those parameters for each mode. You then point
the camera towards you. You press the take off button
and it'll beep for a few seconds and the camera
will focus on on you. Then it will just lift
off your hand and do what you've you've set it
to do. And then when you want it to come
(09:52):
back to you, just put your hands out and the
drone will land in your hands and switch off the propellers.
S1 (09:59):
Sounds like an obedient budgie. Remember as a kid you
have a budgie land on your hand?
S2 (10:04):
Yes. Yeah. Uh, the other the other nifty thing, though,
is that you can record audio because the AI that's
built into the iPhone app, which is also very accessible,
actually cancels out the whine of the propellers. So the
thing with drones is that people often use it for
sort of B-roll footage or visual footage. But with this,
(10:24):
because of that feature, you can also record the audio
using your phone's microphone. Um, so yeah, it was really
impressed with how accessible it was. It comes with a
couple of batteries. Um, and as I said, lots of
spoken prompts. The app is nice and accessible, and you
can then download the footage from the drone, uh, to
(10:46):
your phone so you can then edit it or post
it or do whatever you want to do.
S1 (10:50):
You're very good at finding Mainstream devices that are fully accessible.
How much does this one cost?
S2 (10:57):
So the price ranges from 4.99 to 6.49, depending on
where you get it from. Uh, so you can get
it off Amazon. But it's also available from places like
JB Hi-Fi as well. Um, so uh, and you can
get it in a couple of different colors. You can
get black or white, and I think you can get
(11:18):
it as a combo with, um, two batteries and a
little carry bag, which is what I got. And it
has the, the sort of a drop in charger for
the battery. So you can charge both batteries at once.
S1 (11:29):
And what's it called.
S2 (11:30):
It's called a hover air X1. There is also an
X1 Pro and an X1 Pro Max. Um, the main
difference is just being the quality of the footage, uh,
like the resolution that it can shoot and also the
speed that it can travel. So for example, the X1
will do 25km an hour, whereas the X1 Pro Max,
(11:54):
I think can do about 42 and it can cope
with higher winds and things, whereas mine you probably wouldn't
want to use it on a really windy day outside. Um,
but you know, for what I want to do with it, um,
it was really just a bit of an experiment. I
kind of wanted a drone, but I also wanted a
flying camera. Um, you know, it's perfectly fine for the
stuff that I'm using it for.
S1 (12:16):
The hover air x1. Now, tell us about meta. I
it's hard to keep up with this meta app.
S2 (12:25):
It is, isn't it? So people who already have the glasses, um,
will know that the app that you currently use to
control them is called Meta View. It's now been rebranded
as meta AI, and, um, it sort of serves as
the means for controlling your meta glasses, but you can
(12:45):
also use it as sort of a an alternative to
things like ChatGPT and so on. So you can, um,
you know, fire I. Request at it from your phone
as well. And I think it sort of gives them
a new platform from which they can launch things like the, um,
meta live AI feature when that's released and some of
(13:06):
the other things. There is now a translation language translation option, um,
and a couple of other things. The look and feel,
you know, if you can, if you know your way
around meta view, you won't have any problem with meta AI.
And when you do your app updates, it will just
automatically replace your meta view app with the meta AI app.
So you don't need to do anything. All your settings
(13:27):
and everything come across. Um, but it does have a
new name.
S1 (13:31):
So that brings us to the end of talking tech
for this week. And it brings us to the end
of a 13 year run of talking tech. For details
of what we've been talking about in this and previous
editions of the program, you can go to Varadero. Slash
talking tech VA radio.com. Now to right to the program demo.
S2 (13:55):
People can still email me demo. At Vision Australia. And
that address will stay current until about the 16th of May.
After that, people are welcome to contact me on Facebook
or LinkedIn if they would like to stay in touch,
(14:16):
and if they'd like to hear about sort of what
I'm up to and what we might come back with
in the future.
S1 (14:22):
Damo McMorrow at Vision Australia. And you could chase me
down on Facebook too, if you'd like to do that.
Thank you Damo, it's terrific working with you. This has
been talking tech with me has been Vision Australia's national
access technology manager, Damo McMorrow. I'm Stephen Jolly. Take care.
We'll talk more tech sometime. See you.
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