iSee - Using various technologies from a blind persons perspective.

iSee - Using various technologies from a blind persons perspective.

By David WoodbridgeTechnology
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iSee - Using various technologies from a blind persons perspective. episodes

  • Demo of the Versa Slate - paperless slate (hand frame) with stylus

    This is an amazing upgrade to the traditional slate or as we say in Australia hand frame.

    So rather than sticking in a bit of paper, writing in Braille, and then having to take the paper out, read what you have Brailled, and then stick it back in again to continue Brailling, you just Braille or write on once side and the pins pop out on the other reading side, for you to just read what you have Brailled.

    You can push any pin in with your finger tip to clear pins within a cell or use the buttons at the top and bottom to clear every 5 cells going across: eg first left top and bottom do lines 1 to 4 up to firth cell etc or top left button by itself does lines 1 to 2, and bottom right hand side button does lines3 to 4 etc, then going across to buttons 2, 3, and 4 for top and bottom.

    Do not use the stylus to push in the pins on the reading side as you'll damage the pins.

    It'll make more sense when you listen to the demo.

    Enjoy.

     

    17 min
  • A walk through and demo of the Dyson Air Purifier, Heater, and Fan combo
    This Dyson 3 in one tower unit, purify’s the air, heats, and emits cool air.
     
    Comes in white or silver.
     
    Prices seem to vary quite a lot, when I purchased mine they were about $750  Australian for the second two.
     
    When setting the unit up, take it out of the box, install the Hepa filters in both sides of the base, [plug in to wall outlet, stick remote on top face down to attach.
    Note - don't lift or move the Dyson via the top part of the fan unit, even though it looks tempging.
     
    The unit is about 1 metre high, about 400MM in diameter at the base, and weighs about 5KG.
     
    The base contains the Hepa filters, one on each side, and are easy to remove and replace by releasing the latch’s on either side of the base.
     
    On one side of the base at the top, is a round largish on/off button (also used to Bluetooth pair the unit) as well as a small LCD screen showing air quality for example.
     
    On the opposite side to the on/off button, but at the bottom of the base is where the 1.5 meter    power chord connects.
     
    The main fan part of the unit which sits on top of the base, is a tall oval shape, with the air coming in the back and out through the front edge of the oval sides. This air direction can be reversed.
    There are no blades at all.
     
    The oval shape fan unit can rotate 350 degrees.
     
    The base can be tilted forward/back to adjust air flow direction down, forward or up.
     
    The remote control has physical buttons, and magnetically  connects to the top of the oval shaped fan unit.
     
    Note - whilst the oval shaped part of the unit is open, the manual advises strongly when moving the unit, do not treat the oval area has a handle, but pick up the whole unit from the base to move it, otherwise the movement mechanism to the base may be damaged.
     
    The unit can be controlled from the Dyson Link app on iOS or Android, and via the Amazon Echo or via Siri shortcuts.
     
    Connecting the fan to the Dyson link app was very straight forward, and pairing when instructed was to simply hold the iPhone near the on/off button and press to initiate pairing.
     
    Overall the Dyson Link app is accessible.
     
    When using the Dyson from Alexa, you need to enable the skill and login with your Dyson account via the skill to link it up.
     
    The Dyson link app works well with Voiceover on the iPhone, allowing all functions to be accessed including temperature control, fan speed, cool or heat, rotation, air purification stats etc.
     
    The Dyson skill works well, and allows control over temperature, fan speed, hot hot or cool, and how much rotating you want the fan to do.
     
    With the app, you can set up your current location to get current weather info, and you can also name the unit, which comes in handy if you have more than one.
     
    Both the app and skill allow the use of multiple fans to be switched between. In the app, you select the fan via the App Menu and on the skill, each fan is numbered, and you use that number to select the fan you wish to use.
     
    When the Hepa filter needs replacing, there is a notification. You can also check the status of the filters at any time as this info is displayed within the Dyson Link app.
     
    Having fans in different rooms, means I can custom set fan functions for those rooms.
     
    Most of the time, I use the “Ask
    Dyson” function with Alexa to change settings on all of the fans.
     
    Well worth the price for the functionality I receive..
    34 min
  • Review and demo of the Audio Technica ATH-M30X Studio monitoring head phones
    These head phones offer great comfort, good sound quality with minimal design and rugged construction.
     
    For use as a monitoring head set to a mixer, they perform very well indeed.
     
    The head set comes in Quite a large box. Inside you will find - leather carry pouch, neatly stored head phones (they do fold up), long attached to left ear cup head phone audio cable (2.74M, with step up  adapter already screwed on to the end of the 3.5MM audio jack), and warranty card.
     
    The headphones are entirely black with silver (tactile) Audio Technica logo on the faces of both ear cups.
     
    Audio Technica” is printed in white on the top side of the headband
     
    The soft material on the headband and the ear cushions are made of leather.
     
    Even though made of plastic, the body construction is well finished.
     
    The headband has a metallic support on the inside which becomes visible where it connects to the ear cups.
     
    The headband adjustment is very smooth, with no click in to position. However, they do stay put when adjusted.
     
    The rotating mechanism for the ear cups is supported by a plastic hinge allowing the ear cups to fold inwards for storage or in to the provided leather carry pouch.
     
    The head phones have large ear cups that cover the entire ear and cut out an amazing amount of external noise.
     
    The head phones are very comfortable for all day use, no pressure on the top or side of the head.
     
    As pointed out already, the long 2.74m cable is attached to the left ear cup of the head phones. The 3.5MM female to 6.3MM male step up adapter is already screwed on to the end of the 3.5mm jack.
    In the case of the Zoom Podtrack P4, you will need to unscrew this adapter to plug the head phones in to the P4 3.5mm head phones jack..
     
    With the excellent sound noise reduction of the ear cups (no they do not have active noise cancellation), you can concentrate on editing audio such as a podcast.
     
    I find these head phones excellent for listening to VoiceOver out of the Mac, editing podcasts, listening to music, and because they fold up, great for use when out and about if I am podcasting with the Zoom Podtrak P4, and my Samson Q2u mics.
     
    Note - these are straight head phones, they do not have their own microphone as found with the Audio Technica BPHS Head phones.
    6 min

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