In this Tech Abilities podcast we talk with Monte from Orcam. The maker of the MyEye 2which reads text, recognizes faces, identifies products and more.

Monte tells us about how Israel equipped  polling booths with the Orcam MyEye 2 during the elections to assist Blind and Visually Impaired voters cast their vote independently.

Monte gives us a brief demo of the MyEye 2 and talks about the uses and multiple features packed into this wearable device. Read the paper with OCR built right into the MyEye 2 without the need for internet or data. Recognize faces, products with a simple gesture or voice command.

You can find out more about Orcam on the web at www.Orcam.com

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In this Tech Abilities podcast we talk with Timothy from Eschenbach.

There are many opportunities in our everyday life when a vision aid can be beneficial and help improve one’s quality of life.

 When you’re reading a newspaper or a bill or watching television or at an outdoor event, do you often find that the object being viewed is too small or difficult to see? If so, Eschenbach can help!

In this Tech Abilities podcast, I met up with Timothy from Eschenbach at the NCSAB conference in Washington D.C. If you are a teacher of the Blind/Visually Impaired or Counselor or Tech Specialist  at an agency, then Eschenbach may have the Low Vision solution you have been looking for. Read more

In this Tech Abilities podcast, I met up with Sprint Outreach Specialists Diane and Rob during the NCSAB conference. Sprint will provide Bills in Braille and large print, a discount on a plan and help BVI customers maximize the accessibility of their smart phone.

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In this Tech Abilities podcast we are talking to Charles from Patriot Vision Industries. Charles gives us an overview of the Low vision line of patriot products. The patriot ViewPoint, a wearable viewer that enhances ones existing vision to bright and clear magnification from across the room.

This device fits over the eyes like goggles and you may be surprised at the clarity and color that jumps to life. Charles also shows us the Patriot Pro 12.9, a portable viewer which utilizes an iPad Pro and a stand that creates like a CCTV experience and text to speech all in one. Toss it in your backpack and with it weighing in at only 8 pounds, it’s going where ever you need to go.  

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In this Tech Abilities podcast we are talking to VisperoRepresentative Douglas Gerry. Douglas gives us an over view of the Low Vision and Braille devices as well as some breaking news on the ElBraillecoming out this summer.

Join Douglas as he talks about the importance of learning the tools that will bring you success in the workplace and how starting to learn these devices early may help you succeed.

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Taking a Bad Day and transferring that into the launching of a new company, Erin and Bob, a daughter and son team, tell us why they wanted to start White Cane Coffee and how they want to impact others with the opportunity through the affiliate program coming soon.

You can check out the line of White Cane Coffee on the web at www.WhiteCaneCoffee.comand find the coffee that best suits you. 

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In this episode Serina and Jeff talk about Reasonable Accommodations for the workplace. What is a Reasonable Accommodation? What is a Hardship? What can we bring to the table when Accommodations are being investigated and what solutions you may already have.

Sometimes creativity and innovations can bring about a solution and some of the common apps we use on a daily basis can be a tool for the workplace/ It’s not always a major purchase that is needed when considering accommodations.

While the word, “Reasonable” and “Hardship” can be defined from so many different perspectives and from company to company, Serina and Jeff explore solutions and encourage one to contact and work with their State Services, Voc-Rehab specialist and their company to find the best solution.

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Envision Co-Founder, Karthik, joins Jeff Thompson in the studio to talk about the EnvisionAI app. This is an OCR (Optical Character Recognition), Object Recognition and Magnifier for Low-Vision users.

The EnvisionAI app is one of the fastest OCR apps that I have experienced. The Object Recognition is up to par with my expectations and with the ability to “Teach” the app specific items makes this app stand out a bit from the rest. 

Karthik says to stay tuned as some Object Recognition advancements will soon be showing up in the future that everyone will be excited about.

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Voice Dream Scanner just hit the market and for $5.99, this app from VoiceDream is another nice addition to the other apps developed by the VoiceDream Team.

VoiceDream Reader is one of the most popular apps in the BVI community and VoiceDream Scanner seems like the perfect addition. With the ability to save scanned text as PDFs, text files and copy to the ClipBoard, VoiceDream Scanner packs a new punch entering the crowded ring of OCR apps now available to the BVI Community. Does it stand out enough to make an impact? Probably so.

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Our very own, yes, we will claim him, Brian Fischler, attended the CSUN Conference in Anaheim, California.

This Assistive Technology Conference is huge, Brian boarded his plane and headed West from New York and got quite the experience at the conference. Join Brian along with Jeff Thompson from Blind Abilities as Brian shares his preparation plan, his feedback from the sessions he attended and all about the exhibits. Brian knows what he will do differently next year and gives us a great perspective being that this was his first CSUN conference. And yes, he said he would do it again.

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