
Fred’s Head, offered by the American Printing House for the Blind, contains tips, techniques, tutorials, in-depth articles, and resources for and by blind or visually impaired people. Our blog is named after the legendary Fred Gissoni, renowned for answering a seemingly infinite variety of questions on every aspect of blindness.
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Monday, July 31, 2017
Use the OrCam to Identify Objects, Read Print and More!
Glasses for a Person Who is Blind
The OrCam device is a smart camera that sits on the user’s glasses and reads text aloud to people who are visually impaired or blind.
While the OrCam device is not exactly “
glasses for blind person
”, it definitely looks that way. The device is so small and discreet, it is barely noticeable.
Besides its compact size, there are many amazing OrCam features that make the device unique and accessible.
Easy to use: OrCam MyEye is an intuitive wearable device with a smart camera that clips onto a regular pair of glasses and is able to 'read' text and convert it into speech relaying the message to the user. The device is activated by a simple intuitive gesture – pointing your finger or pressing a single button.
Using OCR - optical character reading - technology, the device can read printed materials on almost any surface such as newspapers, books, computer screens, menus and more.
Portable: Many people who are visually impaired or blind have to carry around a heavy magnifying glass to read text. The OrCam MyEye is small and light and simply attaches to the right side of the user’s glasses frame. The camera weighs ¾ of an ounce and has a thin wire, easily hidden behind the ear, which connects to the base unit or “brain” of the device. The base unit is about the size of a cellphone and can easily sit in one’s pocket or on a belt strap.
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Wearable: “You are what you wear.” Wearable technologies have grown tremendously in the past few years. Smart electronic devices that can be worn on the body are practical and discreet. The OrCam is no exception. the device is so discreet that it can barely be seen by others allowing the user to fit in with the crowd.
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Privacy: Unlike other OCR technologies, the OrCam does not require a scanner connected to a computer or internet connection. All the information stored in the device is private and only accessible to the user.
Independence: For people who are visually impaired or blind and have conditions that cannot be corrected by glasses or surgery, the OrCam MyEye can be life-changing. Who would have thought that this little camera situated on a pair of glasses could help people who are blind or visually impaired regain their independence.
To contact OrCam, 1350 Broadway, Suite 1600 New York, NY 10018. Phone: 1-800-713-3741 or visit their website where you can request a demo and join their email list. http://www.orcam.com/
Thursday, July 27, 2017
Throwback Thursday Object: Humble Wooden Workstand
Our object this week is a humble wooden workstand, made and used here at the American Printing House and painted a nice industrial gray. Historic photographs show similar custom-made tables in a variety of shapes and sizes used as work stands in a number of processes around the building. In this picture of the stereograph room where embossing plates were made, you can see a table much like this one in the left foreground. These tables are an endangered species around APH today. A few years ago our production department installed a Kaizen construction area where our production staff can put together special purpose tables and materials carts in a jiffy from metal tubes and particle board. I guess you could say that these old work tables were the Kaizen equivalent of their day.
Museum Director
American Printing House for the Blind
Wednesday, July 26, 2017
Quick Tip: Sense-able Ways to Build Tactile Literacy Skills. Karen Poppe, Tactile Graphics Project Leader, recently presented a session entitled "Sense-able Ways to Build Tactile Literacy Skills" at the AER International Orientation and Mobility Conference in Pittsburgh, PA.
Monday, July 24, 2017
Fully Audio Music Lessons for People Who Are Blind
Introduction
Music for the Blind
Important Accessibility Notes
Tell Me What I Will Find!
How Do the Courses Work?
Thursday, July 20, 2017
Throwback Thursday Object: Perkins-Binet Intelligence Test
Our object this week is an intelligence test adapted for blind students at the Perkins School for the Blind in the 1960s and 70s and published in 1980 by Dr. Carl Davis. Intelligence tests have been used in schools since the early 20th century to predict aptitude. The black box includes all sorts of blocks and small toys that go along with various tasks the test asks the student to complete. The science behind intelligence tests is complicated, but they try to compare the abilities of the test taker to other kids of the same age, and assign a score based on that comparison. The available pool of students that were blind or visually impaired was never really large enough to allow test designers to establish what “normal” was, so these kinds of tests fell out of fashion. But it is a good example of how researchers try to adapt materials developed for sighted learners to the blind community. Ralph Bartley, our former head of educational research, told me that when he was at the Kansas School for the Blind, he would routinely add 20 points to any IQ score in a blind child’s file to get an accurate idea of the student’s abilities.
Photos: I included pictures of the black fiberboard box that holds the test components, a bag of blue wooden beads in different shapes, a toy coffeepot with lid, and a bag holding a small box, a pair of small scissors, and a plastic dog.
Museum Director
American Printing House for the Blind
Wednesday, July 19, 2017
Quick Tip: Six Little Dots. The tactile book entitled Six Little Dots encourages fingertip texture discrimination and exposure to spatial concepts, while also introducing children to braille dot positions and names.
Monday, July 17, 2017
Quick Tip: Enter the Unforgettable APH Star Video Contest!
Thursday, July 13, 2017
Throwback Thursday Object: Student Speech+ Calculator
Museum Director
American Printing House for the Blind
Friday, July 07, 2017
July 2017 APH News
http://www.aph.org/news/july-2017/
- Indoor Navigation: The Next
Frontier
- NEW! Six
Little Dots - UEB, 2018; Protein Synthesis Kit; Match-It-Up Frames;
and Slapstack Math (for iOS Devices)
- Order Fall
2017 Textbooks Now!
- Field
Tests and Surveys
- “A Daring
Adventure Awaits” at the 2017 APH Annual Meeting of Ex Officio Trustees
and Special Guests!
- The APH
Unforgettable Star Contest is back!
- Braille
Badges Contest Begins This September
- Deadline
Approaches for Tactile Illustrated Book Competition
- Tactile
Town Helps Adults Learn Orientation and Mobility
- Treasure
From the Migel Library
- Social
Media Spotlight
- APH Travel Calendar and more…
Thursday, July 06, 2017
Throwback Thursday Object: An Arithmetic Slate
Our object this week is an arithmetic slate from the 1930s. This is a prototype, the final version was cast in aluminum and featured pentagonal holes. Pentagonal arithmetic frames were originally developed at the Glasgow Asylum for the Blind in Scotland around 1829. By turning a metal peg in place, numbers 0-9 and operators were represented. APH began experimenting with different styles of arithmetic frames in the 1930s. The frames first entered the catalog in 1935. By 1937, however, the pentagonal frame was no longer in the catalog, in favor of a gridded frame, often called a “Texas Slate,” which used metal type cast with raised numerals. A year later, APH introduced its version of the Taylor arithmetic slate, which used octagonal holes, but was similar in concept to the pentagonal design. APH called its pentagonal slate, the “Bertha Shephard Slate,” but I don’t know who Miss Shephard was.
Micheal A. Hudson
Museum Director
American Printing House for the Blind
Wednesday, July 05, 2017
Quick Tip: Match-It-Up Frames. Match–It-Up Frames can be used by parents and teachers to custom-design activities addressing specific learning needs of students who are blind and visually impaired, as well as those with multiple disabilities.
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July
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- Use the OrCam to Identify Objects, Read Print and ...
- Throwback Thursday Object: Humble Wooden Workstand...
- Quick Tip: Sense-able Ways to Build Tactile Litera...
- Fully Audio Music Lessons for People Who Are Blind...
- Throwback Thursday Object: Perkins-Binet Intellige...
- Quick Tip: Six Little Dots. The tactile book entit...
- Quick Tip: Enter the Unforgettable APH Star Video ...
- Throwback Thursday Object: Student Speech+ Calcula...
- July 2017 APH News
- Throwback Thursday Object: An Arithmetic Slate
- Quick Tip: Match-It-Up Frames. Match–It-Up Frames ...
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