For such a simple tool, the white cane has been incredibly enduring. With all of the technological advances that have been made over the past century, we haven’t come up with much better than a stick with a metal tip for helping the visually impaired get around. Though researchers at MIT have been working on a wearable solution designed to augment and, hopefully, one day replace the cane. The system features a 3D camera with an on-board computer hung around the neck at chest level. The camera senses the location of objects, converting the signals into pulsing haptic vibrations that alert the wearer to the location of an object. The on-board motors vibrate with a variety of patterns and frequencies to signify different things, like the distance of an object. READ MORE: MIT develops a vibrating wearable to help people with visual impairments navigate | TechCrunch
Category Archives: Technology
Your next trip to the library could include an Oculus Rift | engadget #VR #libraries #gadgets #tech
Oculus, the Facebook-owned virtual reality company, is taking it upon themselves to enhance public libraries with its own educational initiative that will place 100 VR head-mounted displays in 90 California libraries. READ MORE: Your next trip to the library could include an Oculus Rift | engadget
Google’s AI Invents Sounds Humans Have Never Heard Before | WIRED #music #audio #innovation #tech #AI #artists
Engel and Resnick are part of Google Magenta—a small team of AI researchers inside the internet giant building computer systems that can make their own art—and this is their latest project. It’s called NSynth, and the team will publicly demonstrate the technology later this week at Moogfest, the annual art, music, and technology festival, held this year in Durham, North Carolina.
The idea is that NSynth, which Google first discussed in a blog post last month, will provide musicians with an entirely new range of tools for making music. READ MORE: Google’s AI Invents Sounds Humans Have Never Heard Before | WIRED
BlindPAD’s tablet makes visual information tactile for the vision-impaired | TechCrunch #disabilities #devices #interactive #access #visualization #vision #spatial
It’s truly amazing, the wealth of information we all have at our fingertips — that is, of course, unless your fingertips are how you have to access that information. An innovative new tablet that uses magnetically configurable bumps may prove to be a powerful tool for translating information like maps and other imagery to a modality more easily accessed by the visually impaired.The tablet, unnamed as yet, has evolved and improved over the past few years as part of Europe’s BlindPAD project, which aims to create a cheap, portable alternative to touchscreen devices. READ MORE: BlindPAD’s tablet makes visual information tactile for the vision-impaired | TechCrunch
This experimental e-book gets edited every time it changes hands | engadget #ebooks #editors #sharing #tech
A Universe Explodes is an unusual e-book in a variety of ways. Best viewed on a mobile device, it’s about 20 pages long and has 128 words per page. Only 100 people “own” the original version, though the book itself is free and can be read by anyone at any time. Each copy can be shared with up to 100 others, but first each owner must personalize it by removing two words and adding one to every page. Since each copy is subtly different, they are all considered “limited editions.” Owners are required to share the book with a friend once they’re done editing it — and each time the e-book is passed on, more and more words disappear until there’s only one left per page. READ MORE: This experimental e-book gets edited every time it changes hands | engadget
Samsung develops emoji-based chat app for people with language disorders | Ars Technica #emoji #language #disabilities #apps #tech #communication
You may know someone who sends messages with more emojis than words, but chances are they don’t need those symbols to communicate. For some with language disorders such as aphasia, a disorder that can make it difficult to read, talk, or write, emojis can be an ideal way for those with the disorder to communicate with others around them. Samsung Electronics Italia, the company’s Italian subsidiary, just came out with a new app called Wemogee that helps those with language disorders talk to others by using emoji-based messages. READ MORE: Samsung develops emoji-based chat app for people with language disorders | Ars Technica
Discover “Unpaywall,” a New (and Legal) Browser Extension That Lets You Read Millions of Science Articles…Behind Paywalls | Open Culture #research #publications #openaccess #science #academics
While many science publishers put a paywall in front of scientific articles, it’s often the case that these articles have been published elsewhere in an open format. “More and more funders and universities are requiring authors to upload copies of their papers to [open] repositories. This has created a deep resource of legal open access papers…” And that’s what Unpaywall draws on. READ MORE: Discover “Unpaywall,” a New (and Legal) Browser Extension That Lets You Read Millions of Science Articles Normally Locked Up Behind Paywalls | Open Culture
We Need More Alternatives to Facebook | MIT Tech Review #socialmedia #news #business #intellectualfreedom #communication #community #privacy #society
Chastened by the negative effects of social media, Mark Zuckerberg says he will tweak his service and upgrade society in the process. Should any company be that powerful? READ MORE: We Need More Alternatives to Facebook – MIT Technology Review
Neon is an experimental web browser that’s filled with glorious content bubbles | Mashable #webbrowsers #content #search #discovery
Image Source: Mashable/Opera
Opera, which released its first browser in 1995, has quietly been innovating its products over the last two decades with features like built in ad-blocking and VPN. Now, the company has launched Neon, a new concept browser. Â REDA MORE: Neon is an experimental web browser that’s filled with glorious content bubbles
Library Extension Finds Books At Your Local Library While You Shop On Amazon | Lifehacker #books #libraries #tech #discovery #webbrowsers
Image Source: Lifehacker
Amazon may be convenient, but nothing beats free. So, when you’re shopping for books on the site, [Google Chrome] Library Extension will find those same books at your local library. You can even drive to pick them up faster than Amazon can ship them. READ MORE: Library Extension Finds Books At Your Local Library While You Shop On Amazon | Lifehacker
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