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Tag: Aira

February 9, 2023
Tim Schwartz
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Aira and Seeing AI Updates – MrBeast Funds Cataract Surgeries for 1,000 People | the Question of Sight Restoration

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In this episode of Life After Blindness, I share some news and updates about two popular apps for the blind and visually impaired: Aira and Microsoft Seeing AI. I also talk about a YouTube video by MrBeast, who paid for cataract surgeries for people in Africa, and I ask you a question: would you want your sight back if you had the chance?

Joining me in this episode are two guest hosts who are also technology enthusiasts: Ryan Palm and Charles Hiser. They share their insights and opinions on the topics we discuss, as well as their personal stories and experiences.

Updates about Aira

We discuss the recent changes and improvements that Aira, a service that connects blind and visually impaired users with sighted agents, has made. We mention that Aira has added more agents, offered free calls for certain tasks, and integrated with other apps and devices. We also share our personal experiences and opinions on using Aira and how it has helped us in different situations. We agree that Aira is a valuable and innovative service that enhances the independence and confidence of blind and visually impaired people.

Updates about Microsoft Seeing AI

Next, we talk about the new features and capabilities that Microsoft Seeing AI, an app that uses artificial intelligence to describe the world to blind and visually impaired users, has added. We mention that Seeing AI has added new languages, channels, and functions, such as reading handwriting, describing colors, and recognizing emotions. We also share our personal experiences and opinions on using Seeing AI and how it has helped us in different situations. We agree that Seeing AI is a powerful and versatile app that provides useful and accurate information to blind and visually impaired people.

MrBeast’s video

We watch and comment on a YouTube video by MrBeast, a famous YouTube star, who partnered with a charity called SightSavers to fund cataract surgeries for people in Ethiopia. We mention that the video showed the impact and transformation that the surgeries had on the lives of the people who received them. We also share our personal feelings and thoughts on the video and the topic of sight restoration. We have different perspectives and reactions on whether we would want our sight back if we had the chance, and what factors would influence our decision.

Would you want your sight back?

We continue the conversation on the question of whether we would want our sight back if we had the chance. We mention that this is a personal and complex question that depends on many factors, such as the risks, costs, and benefits of the procedure, the expectations and outcomes of the result, and the identity and lifestyle of the individual. We also share our personal reasons and preferences for wanting or not wanting our sight back. We respect and understand each other’s choices and opinions, and agree that there is no right or wrong answer to this question.

Thank you for listening to this episode of Life After Blindness. I hope you enjoyed it and learned something new. If you have any feedback, questions, or suggestions, please feel free to email me at tim@lifeafterblindness.com or leave a comment on the blog post for this episode.

If you like this podcast, please subscribe on your favorite podcast app and share it with your friends. You can also follow me on Twitter or on Facebook. If you want to support this podcast and help me create more episodes, you can join me on Patreon. As a patron, you will get access to exclusive content, behind-the-scenes updates, and more.

Until next time, remember: there can be a life after blindness.

September 24, 2019
Tim Schwartz
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News about iOS 13 features for the blind, Domino’s and the Supreme Court, Be My Eyes partnerships and 5 minutes free from AIRA

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Maria Johnson from Girl Gone Blind joins Tim this week on Life After Blindness to discuss the recent news from the blind and visually impaired community.

In the last episode, Tim spoke with Derek Daniel about the most recent announcements from Apple. Following up on that discussion, Tim and Maria break down IOS 13 and the newest accessibility features that have been made available for the blind and visually impaired. This includes customization options for voiceover gestures, keyboard commands, braille input devices and much more. ‘Dark Mode’ is also discussed as well as the potential of the new ‘Voice Control’ for people who have motor skill issues, whether they are visually impaired or not.

Next up, the conversation turns to Domino’s Pizza in the possibility of the supreme court hearing their case. Domino’s claims that the Americans with disabilities act does not include websites and smart phone apps when it comes to accessibility for the blind and visually impaired. Whether the Supreme Court hears this case or not could have a major impact on the accessibility of websites and apps going forward.

Then, Tim and Maria close out the show by talking about Be My Eyes and the recent partnerships with pentene and clear blue. They also talk about AIRA and their announcement about offering free access to their agents.

If you have any questions or comments, please send your emails to: tim@lifeafterblindness.com

February 4, 2018
Tim Schwartz
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Join AIRA for a Described Super Bowl experience!

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AIRA is offering an amazing opportunity for free to anyone who wants to experience this year’s Super Bowl. This promises to be a great way to participate in this type of live event.

I will be listening in and strongly encourage others to do so as well. I will cover The event in more detail on an upcoming episode of the Life After Blindness podcast. If you’d like to share your experiences, please comment below or send an email to: tim@lifeafterblindness.com

Here is the official announcement from AIRA:

You’re Invited!

To a virtual Super Bowl party with Aira

on Sunday, February 4th from 6:00 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. EST.

Listen in as Aira agents Patrick and Emily provide live description of the game to Greg Stilson, football fan and Aira Explorer, who is attending the big game in Minneapolis, MN.

Greg will use Aira to get play-by-play visual descriptions of all the exciting action on the field, the commercials, and the half-time show. Aira agents will provide vivid audio narration as Greg sees the field for the first time, shops for souvenirs, navigates the stadium, and experiences the energy of the crowd.

The best part: you can listen to the entire experience live. While most of us will be watching from home, Aira intends to make it easier to get a little closer to the big game.

Ways to Listen

You don’t need to be a current Aira Explorer to listen in — anyone can join the party starting at 6:00 p.m. ET by doing any of the following:

1 Call 1-877-568-4108 and enter 536565714

2 Listen to the Webcast

3 Listen on YouTube

4 Listen on Facebook Live

Don’t Forget to Share

Forward this post to a friend or tweet us @airaio on gameday using #airabowl. Tell us about your favorite commercials, comment on the halftime show, and of course let us know who you’re rooting for!

To read more about this special event, visit our Super Bowl page on Aira.io: http://go.aira.io/superbowl

September 10, 2017
Tim Schwartz
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apple Rumors and Other News with Derek Daniel and Aira with Michael Hingson

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Life After Blindness is joined by two very special guests this week. First to discuss the weeks news is Derek Daniel from Life After Sight Loss. And later we hear about Aira from New York Times best-selling author of the book Thunder Dog and Director of Strategic Sales for Aira, Michael Hingson.
Derek and Tim begin by talking about the upcoming Apple event on September 12. They discuss all the rumors surrounding the new iPhone, Apple TV, Apple Watch and the new Home Pod.
Tim and Derek then talk about an inspiring story from Southern California. Jake Olson, who is the long snapper for USC, snapped the winning extra point in a recent game.
The news wraps up with a discussion about a new musical that is directed at children called Addy & Uno. Each of the five main characters in this musical are puppets who represent a different disability, including blindness.
Following the news, Tim demonstrates the Aira app for iPhone. He talks about everything from how to contact an agent, to checking your usage and even how to check your inbox for photos and videos.
To conclude the podcast, Tim interviews Michael Hingson for more specific details about Aira. Michael talks about how he came to work for Aira, using the service and the goals of the company. He even comments on the perceived high price of the service and its plans to expand internationally.
Michael concludes by telling us about an upcoming conference call that Aira will be holding on Tuesday, September 12, 2017. The call will begin at 8:00 PM Eastern time, 5 o’clock Pacific. This conference call is designed to answer any and all of your questions concerning the Aira service.
Here is the phone number as well as the access code to join the call:
Phone: (605)468-8004
Access code: 329906, pound

Thank you very much for checking out the Life After Blindness podcast!

April 27, 2017
Tim Schwartz
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LABCast #7: AIRA and the Boston Marathon, 3-D Ultrasounds and Movie Reading App with Lauren Hayes

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Tim’s guest this week is Lauren Hayes from AccessibilityOz.
Tim and Lauren begin the podcast by discussing Aira and it’s use in this year’s Boston Marathon. Working closely with Aira, a man completed the marathon using the service. Tim and Lauren discuss how it was used and what could be learned from this test going forward.
Next, Tim talks about a 3-D printing technology used in a hospital in Brazil. A blind couple worked with their doctor in order to have 3-D printed models of their child’s ultrasound in each trimester of pregnancy. This is the first time 3-D printing has been used while built into the ultrasound machine. Lauren and Tim give their opinions on the story as well as the medical and educational possibilities of this technology going forward.
A new app has been released in Australia called Movie Reading. This app enables Aussies to download and sync an audio described track to use with movies at the local cinema. Lauren talks about the current state of audio description in Australian cinemas. She then gives her opinion of the app and discusses it’s accessibility as well as the lacking accessibility of Movie Readings website.
Thank you very much for listening to the Life After Blindness podcast! Please join us again as together we continue our journey to find that there can truly be a life after blindness.

March 6, 2017
Tim Schwartz
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LABCast #3: Michael Hingson and 2017 CSUN Assistive Technology Conference Discussion

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This week Tim is joined by Shaun Preece from the RNIB Tech Talk and Audio Pizza podcasts and Frank Facio from the band Steelehorse Country. Frank also conducted several interviews for the podcast directly from the exhibit hall in San Diego, California.
Tim, Shaun and Frank open the podcast by discussing the inspirational story of Michael Hingson Who was at the conference representing AIRA. With the help of his guide dog Riselle, Michael Hingson navigated his way out of the World Trade Center on 9/11. Listen as he tells Frank about the emotions of that day. And be sure to read his full story by getting his book Thunder Dog.

The rest of the podcast is spent discussing many of the products and announcements from this year’s convention.
Aira is a portable, on star type Service for the visually impaired. Does it have the right price point?
Braille note takers and tablets are finding a lot of new competition. Thanks to Innovacion and competition, this product category may not be as stale as it once was.
Tech 4 Freedom is offering a couple of different products that offer a variety of usage for the blind and visually impaired. First is the Box one For All whichh can detect temperature, color and tag and identify various objects. TheBeacon is a pocket-size device that connects to up to 10 waypoint begins that can be controlled by you’re iPhone.
Audio Eye is a behind the scenes service that works with companies and their websites to make sure they are instantly accessible!
Taptilo is a product that is not yet released but will offer lessons through games to teach you to read and write braille using a small box and an app on your iPhone.

Be sure to listen to our next podcast as we Spotlight eSight Eye Ware and their new product eSight 3!

Thank you very much for listening to episode #3 of the Life After Blindness podcast! As we journey together, we will find that there can truly be a life after blindness.

February 7, 2017
Tim Schwartz
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Blind Skateboarder, Accessibility at CES 2016, Future of Amazon Echo, AIPoly Review and iPhone impact on the Blind

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This week on episode #1 of the Life After Blindness Podcast, Tim speaks with Shaun Preece from the RNIB Tech Talk and Audio Pizza Podcasts and Holly Anderson from the Maccessibility Roundtable Podcast.

If you would like to support Life After Blindness and receive exclusive perks, become a patron. Thanks.

Tim opens the podcast by asking Shaun and Holly about a recent inspirational article from the Detroit Free Press. The article profiles blind skateboarder Nick Mullins who lost his sight after almost losing his life to MRSA.
The conversation then turns to CES 2016. This year’s Consumer Electronics Show seems to feature more accessible products than ever before!
Tim begins the CES discussion by asking Holly and Shaun to describe the BLITAB® and discuss whether they feel it could be a useful and functional replacement for the iPad.
From BLITAB.com:
“”BLITAB® is the World’s first tactile tablet for blind and visually impaired people. BLITAB® is a next curve Braille device for Braille reading and writing that displays one whole page Braille text at once, without any mechanical elements.”

Next, Holly talks about using an app that was featured at CES called Aipoly Vision. This app can identify text, colors, common household objects, currency and more. Tim, Shaun and Holly discuss the accuracy of Aipoly Vision and whether it’s worth the $4.99 a month subscription fee for expanded functionality.
Later in the podcast, Tim demonstrates Aipoly Vision in action.

Another big development in accessible tech at CES this year was a new service called AIRA – Visual interpreter for the blind.
From the AIRA website:
“Aira develops transformative remote assistive technology that connects the blind with a network of certified agents via wearable smart glasses and an augmented reality dashboard that allows agents to see what the blind person sees in real time. Agents, serving as visual interpreters for the blind, help users accomplish a wide range of daily tasks and activities – from navigating busy streets to recognizing faces and literally traveling the world.”
Tim, Holly and Shaun give examples of AIRA in action and debate the possible subscription options for this service.
Rounding out the CES discussion is the implementation of Amazon Echo technology into so many new products. Shaun and Holly talk to Tim about the future of Echo and what it could mean to the blind and visually impaired.
Tim then demonstrates the Aipoly Vision app. You can download it here for free.

In January, Apple celebrated the 10th anniversary of the iPhone. After the anniversary, Tim wrote a blog post about what the iPhone has meant to those who are blind or visually impaired.

The podcast finishes with Tim, Shaun and Holly discussing this article. They each talk about what the iPhone has meant to them and how it has affected their lives.
You can hear more from Shaun Preece by subscribing to the RNIB Tech Talk or Audio Pizza Podcasts.
You can hear more from Holly Anderson by subscribing to the Maccessibility Roundtable Podcast or by following her on Twitter @DHSHolly

Please subscribe to the Life After Blindness Podcast on APPle Podcasts and follow us on Facebook and Twitter.
Join us again next week for a one-on-one spotlight interview with Holly Anderson. Then be sure to listen in two weeks when we are joined by Mel Scott and Lisa Salinger from Blind Alive and Eyes Free Fitness.
Thank you very much for listening to episode #1 of the podcast! As we journey together, we will find that there can truly be a life after blindness.