Batman Technology: Using Sonar for Human Navigation
On Tech & Vision With Dr. Cal Roberts
Release Date: 10/29/2021
Biosensors: The Future of Diagnostic Medicine
On Tech & Vision With Dr. Cal Roberts
This podcast is about big ideas on how technology is making life better for people with vision loss. This episode is about how biosensor technology is revolutionizing the field of diagnostic and preventive medicine. Biosensors can take many forms — wearable, implantable, and even ingestible. And they can serve many different functions as well, most notably when it comes to detecting the various pressure levels in our bodies. This episode features interviews with several luminaries working with biosensors. One of them is Doug Adams, a revolutionary entrepreneur who became inspired to create a...
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The World in Your Hand: The Power of Generative AI
On Tech & Vision With Dr. Cal Roberts
When it comes to emerging technology, there’s no hotter topic than artificial intelligence. Programs like ChatGPT and Midjourney are becoming more popular and are inspiring people to explore the possibilities of what AI can achieve — including when it comes to accessible technology for people who are blind or visually impaired. One of those people is Saqib Shaikh, an engineering manager at Microsoft. Saqib leads the team that developed an app called Seeing AI, which utilizes the latest generation of artificial intelligence, known as generative AI Dr. Cal spoke with Saqib about how...
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Reimagining the Visual Arts
On Tech & Vision With Dr. Cal Roberts
This podcast is about big ideas on how technology is making life better for people with vision loss. When it comes to art, a common phrase is “look, don’t touch.” Many think of art as a purely visual medium, and that can make it difficult for people who are blind or visually impaired to engage with it. But in recent years, people have begun to reimagine what it means to experience and express art. For this episode, Dr. Cal spoke to El-Deane Naude from Sony Electronics. El-Deane discussed the Retissa NeoViewer, a project developed with QD Laser that projects images taken on a camera...
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Developing Big Ideas: Product Testing and Iteration
On Tech & Vision With Dr. Cal Roberts
This podcast is about big ideas on how technology is making life better for people with vision loss. When we buy a product off the shelf, we rarely think about how much work went into getting it there. Between initial conception and going to market, life-changing technology requires a rigorous testing and development process. That is especially true when it comes to accessible technology for people who are blind or visually impaired. For this episode, Dr. Cal spoke to Jay Cormier, the President and CEO of Eyedaptic, a company that specializes in vision-enhancement technology. Their flagship...
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Robotic Guidance Technology
On Tech & Vision With Dr. Cal Roberts
This podcast is about big ideas on how technology is making life better for people with vision loss. The white cane and guide dogs are long-established foundational tools used by people with vision impairment to navigate. Although it would be difficult to replace the 35,000 years of bonding between humans and dogs, researchers are working on robotic technologies that can replicate many of the same functions of a guide dog. One such project, called LYSA, is being developed by Vix Labs in Brazil. LYSA sits on two wheels and is pushed by the user. It’s capable of identifying obstacles and...
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Smart Cities and Autonomous Driving: How Technology is Providing Greater Freedom of Movement for People with Vision Loss
On Tech & Vision With Dr. Cal Roberts
This podcast is about big ideas on how technology is making life better for people with vision loss. Navigating the world can be difficult for anyone, whether or not they have vision loss. Tasks like driving safely through a city, navigating a busy airport, or finding the right bus stop all provide unique challenges. Thankfully, advances in technology are giving people more freedom of movement than ever before, allowing them to get where they want, when they want, safely. Smart Cities are putting data collection to work in a healthy way by providing information to make busy intersections more...
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Leveling Up Accessible Video Game Features: How New Technology is Making Gaming More Immersive and Inclusive for People with Vision Loss
On Tech & Vision With Dr. Cal Roberts
This podcast is about big ideas on how technology is making life better for people with vision loss. For decades, people with vision loss had limited options when it came to accessing video games. Aside from screen magnification and text-to-voice tools, gamers who are blind or visually impaired didn’t have many ways to play their favorite titles. But in recent years, the same cutting-edge technology used to create games has been used to also make them more accessible for people with vision impairment. These advances include more visibility options, the implementation of 3D audio, haptic...
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A Celebration of Sound and Song: Music Tech Shines the Spotlight on Musicians with Vision Loss
On Tech & Vision With Dr. Cal Roberts
This podcast is about big ideas on how technology is making life better for people with vision loss. Marcus Roberts, Stevie Wonder, Ray Charles, and even Louis Braille (who invented the Braille Music Notation system still used today) prove that musicians who are blind or visually impaired have made profound impacts on our musical landscape. However, to get their work to us, musicians who are blind have had to structure complex workarounds, like relying on sighted musicians to demonstrate complex scores; memorizing long pieces; or only performing when they can have a Braille score in front of...
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Ambient Computing and Voice Assistants: From Your Home to the Stars
On Tech & Vision With Dr. Cal Roberts
This podcast is about big ideas on how technology is making life better for people with vision loss. Lots of people have voice-controlled smart home assistants like Siri, Google, or Alexa in their homes…. to listen to the news or to set timers. But they can do so much more! David Frerichs, Principal Engineer, Alexa Experience at Amazon on the aging and accessibility team, shares his design philosophy for making voice assistants more inclusive, and the preferred mode of engagement for every user. He also shares that the next stage of smart home assistants will be ambient computing, where your...
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New Approaches in Access: Smart Tools for Indoor Navigation and Information Transfer
On Tech & Vision With Dr. Cal Roberts
This podcast is about big ideas on how technology is making life better for people with vision loss. Artifacts from Blackbeard’s sunken pirate ship are on display in the North Carolina Maritime Museum in Beaufort, North Carolina. But now they are also accessible to visitors who are blind, thanks to the efforts of Peter Crumley, who spearheads the Beaufort Blind Project. In this episode, we ask: How can new technology help make sites like these as accessible to people who are blind as they are to sighted people? We profile three companies applying new technologies paired with smartphone...
info_outlineThis podcast is about big ideas on how technology is making life better for people with vision loss.
Today’s big idea is Sonar and a somewhat similar technology called LiDAR! Can we use the latest sonar technology for obstacle detection the way bats and other nocturnal creatures do? There have been many exciting advances happening in sonar sensors that now make this possible for people who are blind. However, unlike bats, we won’t need to receive feedback signals through our ears. Advances in haptic technologies and languages make communication through touch possible. Dr. Cal Roberts talks with Dr. Matina Kalcounis-Rueppell from the College of Natural and Applied Science at the University of Alberta, Ben Eynon, and Diego Roel from Strap Technologies, Marco Trujillo of Sunu, and Sam Seavey of The Blind Life YouTube Channel to find out more.
The Big Takeaways:
- How does a bat see what it sees? Dr. Kalcounis-Rueppell studies bats and how they use sound to thrive in their nighttime world. Bats use a series of echoes to see a 3D view of their environment, but their world isn’t always so simple. There’s rain, there are leaves, and other creatures flying that bats need to detect with their sonar. Similarly, people with vision impairment have to use their hearing to navigate complex auditory environments.
- Strap Technologies uses Sonar and LiDAR sensors that can be strapped across the chest, which helps people who are blind detect obstacles. These kinds of sensors have been used to park spacecraft, but with recent developments, they’re finally small enough that a human can wear them in a compact way. Ben and Diego share how it works.
- Unlike Sonor, LiDAR technology uses pulsed laser light instead of sound waves.
- Though bats have been honing their echolocation skills for millennia, interpreting information haptically, rather than sonically, is an adaptation that humans, using technologies like Strap, can make. Haptic information can help us navigate without sight through the use of vibrations, which is great news because it means we can leave our ears open to process our active world. More specifically, Ben and Diego suggest that people may no longer need to use a cane to detect obstacles.
- Ben and Diego are excited about the future. With their technology, they hope to create quick-reacting haptic technology so people who are blind can one day ride a bike or run a race. Infrared or radiation sensors could be added in the future to detect other hazards in the environment. The more user feedback they receive, the easier it will be to add on these product enhancements.
- Another way we can approximate sight is through echolocation. However, how easy is it for us to hear echoes, really? For Marco at Sunu, it’s actually a natural skill we can learn to develop. Similar to Strap Technologies, the process of learning echolocation could be improved if you're wearing a Sunu Band.
- Sam Seavey was diagnosed at age 11 with Stargardt’s Disease. He decided to use his voice and video skills to create a YouTube review channel for those who need to use assistive tech. The positive feedback from the community keeps him going. Sam has personally reviewed the Sunu Band, and you can check out the link to his review in the show notes!
Tweetables:
“They parked spacecraft with these same sensors, and recent developments have really pushed the miniaturization of the components, such that a human being can now wear them in a very compact form factor.” — Ben Eynon
“He said, ‘I’m walking faster than I have in a long, long time,’ because he started to trust that the haptic vibrations were telling him every obstacle in the way.” — Ben Eynon shares the reaction from a user who is visually impaired testing Strap
“We're changing our environment around us in ways that also change the acoustic environment.” — Dr. Matina Kalcounis-Rueppell
“How is it that we have self-driving cars, we have rockets that land themselves like, we have a better iPhone every year, but we don’t have something better than a stick? How can this happen? We still have people moving around and having issues every day.” — Marco Trujillo
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