There are a lot of reviews on youTube about this free Microsoft Seeing AI Talking Camera app for iPhone. Instead of repeating what others have said, I just want to put in my 2 cents on each of the function offered by this app. I will provide links for additional info at the end of this post. After reading this post and viewing the videos, I think you would agree this is one of the must have app if you have vision issue. This post is about Seeing AI 2.0 for iPhone, as of today, there is no Android version. I was so convinced this app would make my life easier, I bought an cheap iPhone just to use this app.
Microsoft referred the functions in the app as channels. When you open the app, the channel selection is default to the short text channel. Each flick of the finger would change the channel in the following listed order. Some of the channels are very useful and some are just good for amusement.
Short Text Channel
I think this is the most useful function of this app because it instantly read out whatever text placed in front of the camera. Unlike KNFB Reader, I don't need to take a picture first in order for the app to read out the text. With this channel, I can sort out mail or read other short text much faster then KNFB reader. I can even read the text on TV screen, like the phone number with some ads, and headline during news cast. I tried to use it to read the caller ID display on my table top phone but it didn't work. It couldn't read my LCD thermometer either, I think this app can't read text on small LCD screen.
I found this app is a great componentry too to my ZoomText screen reader. ZT reader just won't read some Window screen like anti-virus result screen. I just point the camera at the onitor with the unreadable screen and let Seeing AI read it to me. The app can do all these without internet access.
I hope in the future, the app would provide a way for the user to interact with the text. For example, the app was able to read all the labels on my washing machine's buttons. Wouldn't be nice if I place a finger on a button and the app say my finger is on what button?
Document Channel
Use this channel to scan and read full page document. Like KNFB Reader, I have to take a picture of document before it would read out the text. The app also provide verbal assistant to help you frame the whole document within the view finder. Unlike KNFB Reader, Seeing AI needs internet access for this channel to work. I guess Seeing AI sends the text image to some Microsoft cloud server for OCR processing. With my short tests, Seeing AI provided very accurate OCR result on plain text documents. It also did well with text imbedded in picture.
I am hesitant to let Seeing AI process my more sensitive documents because the app would send the them to Microsoft for OCR processing, I just don't want my financial and medical record floating around somewhere in the web. Until I find out more, I would use KNFB Reader for my private documents.
Product Channel
This is the barcode scanner function. Unlike other barcode scanner, you don't need to position the barcode exactly in the scanning window. All you need to do is point the camera at a product and it would provide audio clue whether a barcode is in view. Once the barcode is captured, it would go out to the internet to retrieve product info. Depend on what info you want, I think the short text channel can do it faster and easier.
Person Channel
After taking a person's photo, the app attempts to guess the person's age, face expression, and other basic info. This channel is definitely an amusement channel because the result were so off the mark. Just for fun, I took a photo of our wedding photo which we took about more then 30 years ago, the app said two faces detected, 42 year old man look happy and 15 year old girl look natural.
You don't have to be blind to have fun with this one.
Microsoft called the following preview channel. I interpreted these functions are not ready for prime time and the result can't be trusted?
Currency Channel
This function worked very well on identifying US paper money. It accurately ID dollar bills from front or back or even crumbled bill. think its best use is to sort out a bunch of paper money at home or at a bank. I don't think it is practical to use this function while doing purchase. Imagine you paying your hot dog with a $20 bill at a food truck, the vendor hands you back some bills and coins. How many hands to you need? One hand hold the change, one hand fumble with the phone, one hand hold your white cane and don't forget to take the hog dog, while a line of hungry people behind you wondering what you doing.
Scene Channel
You take a photo of something and the app would tell you what was taken. I am not sure the purpose of this channel because the info provided is not enough to act on. For example, let say you are blind and you check into a motel room. You take a photo at a random direction and the app say a room with a bed, a lamp and a desk. It doesn't say the relative position of these three things, so you can't tell whether the lamp is at the left or at the right of the bed.
I was wondering whether it would ID stuff on table so I gave this a try. When point at a TV remote, it correctly ID it as such. When I point at a black stapler, the app said it was probably close view of a black car, hau? This channel probably wasn't mean to ID stuff at close range, but it was fun to see how it mess up on many simple objects.
Color Channel
Point your camera at an object and the app would tell its color. I was able to determine whether a banana is yellow or green. Since I am color blind also, I guess I would find more use of this channel. Some people said the result is not very accurate, well, that's why this is a preview channel.
Handwriting Channel
I didn't expect too much from this function but I was amazed it read most of the hand writing correctly on the Christmas cards. It also able to read many hand writing on checks, like payee's name an\ memo. Yes, I did cover the routing and account numbers on the checks for this test. Since I hardly come across hand written stuff in my daily life, not sure where else I can use this function.
Light Channel
This is a light detector function. The app provides audio clue on the brightness of your surroundings. From no tone for no light detected to high pitch tone for very bright. It works but I don't think I have much use for this channel.
In conclusion, I think this is one of the best low vision app I have used so far. The Short Text Channel made it so much easier and faster to read any type of short text.
Additional Info
Seeing AI Overview
Seeing AI Review 1
Seeing AI Review 2
Showing posts with label low vision aids. Show all posts
Showing posts with label low vision aids. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 3, 2018
Sunday, July 17, 2016
ABBYY TextGrabber, not I was hoping for
As an old man with severe visual impairment due to RP, I depend on technologies to help me read the printed material. For example, I use the ZoomText screen reader to read the text on the monitor, I use a desktop CCTV to read printed material, and I have a portable CCTV when I am away from my desk. I also use the scanner and a OCR program called ABBYY FineReader to convert the scanned printed material to text format for my Zoomtext reader to read it to me.
When I saw the ABBYY TextGrabber app in the Google play store selling for only $2.00, I bought a copy. The FineReader works really well on my PC with the scanned material and I was hoping the TextGrabber would work equally well on a smartphone. What I was hoping the TextGrabber to do is to let me take a photo of the text on a item and let the OCR generate a text file from the photo, after that I would let Talkback read the text to me. I was hoping I can use this mobile app in the stores so I can read nutritional fact, cooking direction, and any other info before buying that item. I knew the TextGrabber was designed to recognize text on flat paper, and I wanted to fine out whether it would recognize text on flat surfaces like text on front and back of various packages.
The TextGrabber was not designed for a blind user in mind. A person who use this app must have enough vision to position the camera about 12 inches away from the text to take a photo. The app's main user interface screen only has 2 large icons.The upper icon is a camera and the lower icon is a photo album. The operation of this app is very easy. After you tap the camera icon, you would position the camera and tap the shutter button to take a photo of the text that you want the OCR function to work on. After the photo was taken, tap the read button, the OCR would convert the image into a text file in few seconds. When the text file appear on the screen, you tap the screen to let Talkback read the text to you. The photo album has the previous photos you have taken. The TextGrabber app also have a language translation function which I won't test at this time.
After taking photos of many type of packages, the result was very disappointing. The TextGrabber's OCR function had problem recognize almost all the text at the front of the package. The OCR did do a little bit better with text at the side of back of the packages. I think this is not the fault of TextGrabber because it was not design for this purpose. Anyway, I can't use this app to ID items or get useful info from packages. This app is pretty much useless to me as a low vision aid, luckily it only cost me $2.00.
Here are few photos:
The app didn't do that much better with regular printed material, like junk mail, post card, menu, etc. If I have to guess, it had at most 50% accuracy. The best OCR result came from a perfectly flat paper, with high contrast text and good lighting. The ABBYY FineReader running in my PC had much better OCR result, I estimated at least 90% accuracy. I am sure the resolution of the camera and the skill of a user also affect the OCR result. I ran the test on my LG 22C smartphone which has a 5MP camera.
Look like I would need to find something else if I like to ID stuff on my own. I knew another mobile OCR app called KNFB Reader. This app was specially designed for blind user. This app usually cost $100 but often on sale for around $75. I have no idea whether it would do any better reading text on packages. I don't want to spend that kind of money to find out at this time. If anyone has experience on this app, feel free to comment below. As far as I can tell, no OCR can read text on a curved surface, that mean I couldn't use it the read the cooking direction on a can of soup.
KNFB Reader Demo Video
Another app have received a lot of media attention isTapTapSee. This app let you take a photo of an object, send the photo to the cloud, and tell you what the object in the photo in about 10 seconds.
The last I checked, this service is no longer free. Right now there are 2 price plan. One costs $8.00 to ID 100 images with no time limit. The other costs $9.00 per month with unlimited number of image.
TapTapSee Demo Video
If you need live help to ID a item, BeMyEyes is an app let that let a blind user and a sighted volunteer establish a video link on smartphone so the volunteer can tell the user what the camera is pointing at. This is a free service.
BeMyEyes Demo video
The info at the directionsforme.com is what I was hoping in a mobile app. The website contains product info on thousands of food items, health care items and other misc items. You can search the info by product name or using an optional barcode scanner. Won't it be great if an app can use a smartphone's camera as a scanner and enter the UPC code directly into the database? Probably someone is working on that reight now, I hope.
Directionsforme website
I really hate blindness, I have jump through hoops just to get some cooking direction.
When I saw the ABBYY TextGrabber app in the Google play store selling for only $2.00, I bought a copy. The FineReader works really well on my PC with the scanned material and I was hoping the TextGrabber would work equally well on a smartphone. What I was hoping the TextGrabber to do is to let me take a photo of the text on a item and let the OCR generate a text file from the photo, after that I would let Talkback read the text to me. I was hoping I can use this mobile app in the stores so I can read nutritional fact, cooking direction, and any other info before buying that item. I knew the TextGrabber was designed to recognize text on flat paper, and I wanted to fine out whether it would recognize text on flat surfaces like text on front and back of various packages.
The TextGrabber was not designed for a blind user in mind. A person who use this app must have enough vision to position the camera about 12 inches away from the text to take a photo. The app's main user interface screen only has 2 large icons.The upper icon is a camera and the lower icon is a photo album. The operation of this app is very easy. After you tap the camera icon, you would position the camera and tap the shutter button to take a photo of the text that you want the OCR function to work on. After the photo was taken, tap the read button, the OCR would convert the image into a text file in few seconds. When the text file appear on the screen, you tap the screen to let Talkback read the text to you. The photo album has the previous photos you have taken. The TextGrabber app also have a language translation function which I won't test at this time.
After taking photos of many type of packages, the result was very disappointing. The TextGrabber's OCR function had problem recognize almost all the text at the front of the package. The OCR did do a little bit better with text at the side of back of the packages. I think this is not the fault of TextGrabber because it was not design for this purpose. Anyway, I can't use this app to ID items or get useful info from packages. This app is pretty much useless to me as a low vision aid, luckily it only cost me $2.00.
Here are few photos:
 |
| Box of tea bags |
 |
| Box of cereal |
 |
| Bottle of prune juice |
 |
| Can of SPAM |
The app didn't do that much better with regular printed material, like junk mail, post card, menu, etc. If I have to guess, it had at most 50% accuracy. The best OCR result came from a perfectly flat paper, with high contrast text and good lighting. The ABBYY FineReader running in my PC had much better OCR result, I estimated at least 90% accuracy. I am sure the resolution of the camera and the skill of a user also affect the OCR result. I ran the test on my LG 22C smartphone which has a 5MP camera.
Look like I would need to find something else if I like to ID stuff on my own. I knew another mobile OCR app called KNFB Reader. This app was specially designed for blind user. This app usually cost $100 but often on sale for around $75. I have no idea whether it would do any better reading text on packages. I don't want to spend that kind of money to find out at this time. If anyone has experience on this app, feel free to comment below. As far as I can tell, no OCR can read text on a curved surface, that mean I couldn't use it the read the cooking direction on a can of soup.
KNFB Reader Demo Video
Another app have received a lot of media attention isTapTapSee. This app let you take a photo of an object, send the photo to the cloud, and tell you what the object in the photo in about 10 seconds.
The last I checked, this service is no longer free. Right now there are 2 price plan. One costs $8.00 to ID 100 images with no time limit. The other costs $9.00 per month with unlimited number of image.
TapTapSee Demo Video
If you need live help to ID a item, BeMyEyes is an app let that let a blind user and a sighted volunteer establish a video link on smartphone so the volunteer can tell the user what the camera is pointing at. This is a free service.
BeMyEyes Demo video
The info at the directionsforme.com is what I was hoping in a mobile app. The website contains product info on thousands of food items, health care items and other misc items. You can search the info by product name or using an optional barcode scanner. Won't it be great if an app can use a smartphone's camera as a scanner and enter the UPC code directly into the database? Probably someone is working on that reight now, I hope.
Directionsforme website
I really hate blindness, I have jump through hoops just to get some cooking direction.
ABBYY TextGrabber, not I was hoping for
As an old man with severe visual impairment due to RP, I depend on technologies to help me read the printed material. For example, I use the ZoomText screen reader to read the text on the monitor, I use a desktop CCTV to read printed material, and I have a portable CCTV when I am away from my desk. I also use the scanner and a OCR program called ABBYY FineReader to read the scanned printed material.
When I saw the ABBYY TextGrabber app in the Google play store selling for only $2.00, I bought a copy. The FineReader works really well on my PC with the scanned material and I was hoping the TextGrabber would work equally well on a smartphone. What I was hoping the TextGrabber to do is to let me take a photo of the text on a item and let the OCR generate a text file from the photo, after that I would let Talkback read the text to me. I was hoping I can use this mobile app in the stores so I can read nutritional fact, cooking direction, and any other info before buying that item. I knew the TextGrabber was designed to recognize text on flat paper, and I wanted to fine out whether it would recognize text on flat surfaces like text on front and back of various packages.
The TextGrabber was not designed for a blind user in mind. A person who use this app must have enough vision to position the camera about 12 inches away from the text to take a photo. The app's main user interface screen only has 2 large icons but they were not label, soTalkback unable to tell you their function. Anyway, the upper icon is a camera and the lower icon is a photo album. The operation of this app is very easy. After you tap the camera icon, you would position the camera and tap the shutter button to take a photo of the text that you want the OCR function to work on. After the photo was taken, tap the read button, the OCR would convert the image into a text file in few seconds. When the text file appear on the screen, you tap the screen to let Talkback read the text to you. The photo album has the photos you took before and the OCR can work on those photo as well. The TextGrabber app also have a language translation function which I won't test at this time.
After taking photos of many type of packages, the result was very disappointing. The TextGrabber's OCR function had problem recognize almost all the text at the front of the package. The OCR did do a little bit better with text at the side of back of the packages. I think this is not the fault of TextGrabber because it was not design for this purpose. Anyway, I can't use this app to ID items or get useful info from packages. This app is pretty much useless to me as a shopping aid. luckily it only cost me $2.00.
Here are few photos:
The app didn't do that much better with regular printed material either, like junk mail, post card, menu, etc. If I have to guess, it had at most 50% accuracy. The best OCR result came from a perfectly flat paper, with high contrast text and good lighting. The ABBYY FineReader running in my PC had much better OCR result, I estimated at least 90% accuracy. I am sure the resolution of the camera and the skill of a user also affect the OCR result. I ran the test on my LG 22C smartphone which has a 5MP camera.
Look like I would need to find something else if I like to ID stuff on my own. I aware of few alternative solutions.
I knew another mobile OCR app called KNFB Reader. This app was specially designed for blind user. This app usually cost $100 but often on sale for around $75. I have no idea whether it would do any better reading text on packages. I don't want to spend that kind of money to find out at this time. If anyone has experience on this app, feel free to comment below. As far as I can tell, no OCR can read text on a curved surface, that mean I couldn't use it the read the cooking direction on can food.
KNFB Reader Demo Video
Another app have received a lot of media attention isTapTapSee. This app let you take a photo of an object, send the photo to the cloud, and tell you what the object in the photo in about 10 seconds. This app is great if all you want is to ID an object. The last I checked, this service is no longer free. Right now there are 2 price plan. One costs $8.00 to ID 100 images with no time limit. The other costs $9.00 per month with unlimited number of image.
TapTapSee Demo Video
If you need live help to ID a item, BeMyEyes is an app let that let a blind user and a sighted volunteer establish a video conference link on smartphone so the volunteer can tell the user what the camera is pointing at and provide additional info if needed. This is a free service.
BeMyEyes Demo video
The info at the directionsforme.com is what I was hoping in a mobile app. The website contains product info on thousands of food items, health care items and other misc items. You can search the info by product name or using an optional barcode scanner. Won't it be great if an app can use a smartphone's camera as a scanner and enter the UPC code directly into the database? Probably someone is working on that reight now, I hope.
Directionsforme website
I really hate RP, I have to jump through hoops just to get some simple info.
When I saw the ABBYY TextGrabber app in the Google play store selling for only $2.00, I bought a copy. The FineReader works really well on my PC with the scanned material and I was hoping the TextGrabber would work equally well on a smartphone. What I was hoping the TextGrabber to do is to let me take a photo of the text on a item and let the OCR generate a text file from the photo, after that I would let Talkback read the text to me. I was hoping I can use this mobile app in the stores so I can read nutritional fact, cooking direction, and any other info before buying that item. I knew the TextGrabber was designed to recognize text on flat paper, and I wanted to fine out whether it would recognize text on flat surfaces like text on front and back of various packages.
The TextGrabber was not designed for a blind user in mind. A person who use this app must have enough vision to position the camera about 12 inches away from the text to take a photo. The app's main user interface screen only has 2 large icons but they were not label, soTalkback unable to tell you their function. Anyway, the upper icon is a camera and the lower icon is a photo album. The operation of this app is very easy. After you tap the camera icon, you would position the camera and tap the shutter button to take a photo of the text that you want the OCR function to work on. After the photo was taken, tap the read button, the OCR would convert the image into a text file in few seconds. When the text file appear on the screen, you tap the screen to let Talkback read the text to you. The photo album has the photos you took before and the OCR can work on those photo as well. The TextGrabber app also have a language translation function which I won't test at this time.
After taking photos of many type of packages, the result was very disappointing. The TextGrabber's OCR function had problem recognize almost all the text at the front of the package. The OCR did do a little bit better with text at the side of back of the packages. I think this is not the fault of TextGrabber because it was not design for this purpose. Anyway, I can't use this app to ID items or get useful info from packages. This app is pretty much useless to me as a shopping aid. luckily it only cost me $2.00.
Here are few photos:
|
| Box of tea bags |
|
| Box of cereal |
|
| Bottle of prune juice |
|
| Can of SPAM |
The app didn't do that much better with regular printed material either, like junk mail, post card, menu, etc. If I have to guess, it had at most 50% accuracy. The best OCR result came from a perfectly flat paper, with high contrast text and good lighting. The ABBYY FineReader running in my PC had much better OCR result, I estimated at least 90% accuracy. I am sure the resolution of the camera and the skill of a user also affect the OCR result. I ran the test on my LG 22C smartphone which has a 5MP camera.
Look like I would need to find something else if I like to ID stuff on my own. I aware of few alternative solutions.
I knew another mobile OCR app called KNFB Reader. This app was specially designed for blind user. This app usually cost $100 but often on sale for around $75. I have no idea whether it would do any better reading text on packages. I don't want to spend that kind of money to find out at this time. If anyone has experience on this app, feel free to comment below. As far as I can tell, no OCR can read text on a curved surface, that mean I couldn't use it the read the cooking direction on can food.
KNFB Reader Demo Video
Another app have received a lot of media attention isTapTapSee. This app let you take a photo of an object, send the photo to the cloud, and tell you what the object in the photo in about 10 seconds. This app is great if all you want is to ID an object. The last I checked, this service is no longer free. Right now there are 2 price plan. One costs $8.00 to ID 100 images with no time limit. The other costs $9.00 per month with unlimited number of image.
TapTapSee Demo Video
If you need live help to ID a item, BeMyEyes is an app let that let a blind user and a sighted volunteer establish a video conference link on smartphone so the volunteer can tell the user what the camera is pointing at and provide additional info if needed. This is a free service.
BeMyEyes Demo video
The info at the directionsforme.com is what I was hoping in a mobile app. The website contains product info on thousands of food items, health care items and other misc items. You can search the info by product name or using an optional barcode scanner. Won't it be great if an app can use a smartphone's camera as a scanner and enter the UPC code directly into the database? Probably someone is working on that reight now, I hope.
Directionsforme website
I really hate RP, I have to jump through hoops just to get some simple info.
Sunday, May 8, 2016
Smartphone as an electronics multi-tool
I like my Leatherman multi-tool because it has so many useful mechanical tools in one small package. These tools including a pair of needle nose pliers, a knife, a saw, a file couple of screwdrivers, and other helpful tools.
With my visual impairment, I am using a bunch electronics widgets to help me with many daily tasks. Now that I have a smartphone, I could probably consolidate many functions provided by those widgets into one device. My smartphone already came with some functions that could replace couple of my electronics devices. and I added few more apps to round out my electronics multi-tool collection.
Camera: my smartphone came with a 5MP autofocus back camer and a 2MP front camera. The camera app is very easy to use. All the buttons are labeled. This app even let me take a photo with voice command, just say Cheese. The main draw back of this camera is lack of optical zoom. Needless to say, it has video recording function too.
Calculator: what can I say about the calculator app? Oh, yes, it is a talking calculator. I don't use my large digit calculator anymore.
Voice Recorder: the voice recorder app replaces my portable digital voice recorder. This simple voice recorder only has 3 buttons (record, pause, stop) and they are all labeled. One big advantage of the portable voice recorder is its small size and its simple operation.
 |
| Leatherman Multi-Tool |
With my visual impairment, I am using a bunch electronics widgets to help me with many daily tasks. Now that I have a smartphone, I could probably consolidate many functions provided by those widgets into one device. My smartphone already came with some functions that could replace couple of my electronics devices. and I added few more apps to round out my electronics multi-tool collection.
Camera: my smartphone came with a 5MP autofocus back camer and a 2MP front camera. The camera app is very easy to use. All the buttons are labeled. This app even let me take a photo with voice command, just say Cheese. The main draw back of this camera is lack of optical zoom. Needless to say, it has video recording function too.
Calculator: what can I say about the calculator app? Oh, yes, it is a talking calculator. I don't use my large digit calculator anymore.
 |
| Large Digit Calculator |
Voice Recorder: the voice recorder app replaces my portable digital voice recorder. This simple voice recorder only has 3 buttons (record, pause, stop) and they are all labeled. One big advantage of the portable voice recorder is its small size and its simple operation.
 |
| Digital Voice Recorder |
Wednesday, November 18, 2015
ZoomText Fusion, a quick review
The latest product from AI Squared is called ZoomText Fusion 10.1. This is a ZT magnifier integrated with Window-Eyes 9.2. This product seems to target people with progressive vision loss, such as those with retinitis pigmentosa, to transition seamlessly from magnifier to a full time screen reader. Unlike the screed reader that was in the ZoomText Magnifier/Reader 10, the Window-Eyes screen reader in the ZT Fusion has lot more capabilities. With my continue worsening vision, I have been looking into a full time screen reader for awhile. I have tried JAWS and NVDA screen readers but found them hard to use because of all those hard to remember hotkey shortcut. ZT Fusion is supposedly easier to use, especially for those who already familiar with the ZT Magnifier/Reader, that's me. I have to give ZT Fusion a try so I downloaded the free 60-day trial before deciding whether to spend the money to upgrade. BTW, the upgrade price from ZT Magnifier/Reader is $399 while buying a new copy is $999.
I installed the trial software in a laptop PC running Windows 7 Professional. This PC already had ZT Magnifier/Reader 10 installed on it. There is no need to uninstall ZT 10 to run the trial software. During ZT Fusion installation, Avast anti virus program thought one of the file was a virus and stopped the installation. I had to stop the anti virus program in order to continue. I noticed the installation process has been improved. There is a tool bar to change font size and enable or disable voice at the top of each installation screen. If you enable voice, you would hear what button or options on the screen. The setup wizard would run as part of the installation, you can choose to run the wizard or choose the default setting. If you choose the default setting, you can change the setting later. It took about 5 minutes to install all the software components. There was a progress bar on the screen but no audio feedback during this component installation. If you can't see the screen, you might not know what's going on.
Oh, ZT Fusion supports Window 7, Window 8.1 and Window 10, it also support touch screen. I am happy with Win 7 and have no plan to move to Win 10, so the additional Window OS support has no value to me.
After completing the installation and restarting the PC, you would see the ZT Fusion 10.1 tool bar which is very similar to the ZT 1Magnifier/Reader 10 tool bar but with an additional tab labeled Fusion.
The magnifier tab looks the same but has more finer magnification granularities for the lower magnification range. While this is nice, I won't upgrade for this feature because I don't think it would benefit me if my vision is getting worse down the road.
The Reader tab also look the same but has three new sections under Verbosity setting. These new sections offer verbosity settings for common tasks, browser mode, and MS office. Additional screen reader control can be found on the Fusion tool bar. In addition to IE and Firefox browsers, the ZT Fusion now also support Google Chrome browser. ZT Fusion also has bunch of settings for MS Office. This has little value to me because I use Firefox browser and Google Doc.
The Tool tab has an additional icon called Image Reader. This is an additional OCR and hardware product to read hardcopy documents. I think my Abbyy OCR software and scanner could provide similar function.
Since I chose the default setting during the installation, I wanted to bring up the setup wizard to see what options were set. The setup wizard is a new choice under the settings on the menu bar. The setup wizard let you set the most common options for magnifier, reader, and tools in few screens. Alternatively, you can do the same setting and more under each tab. After revewing the settings and changing some to my liking, I want to look at what's new under the Fusion tab. Clicking the Fusion tab would bring up the following Fusion tool bar which contain 3 groups.
Settings: this icon would bring up the Window-Eyes 9.2 control panel. The control panel contains many screen reading advanced options that are all new to me. Pressing PF1 key would bring up the window-Eyes user manual which has description for all the options. I think I have to read through this manual in order to use the screen reader.
BrowserMode : turn on or off automatic browser mode while on the web. If you click on an input field like in a form, it would turn off the browser mode so you can enter data. You can also manually turn off browser mode by pressing insert + z keys.
PageNav : pressing this icon while on a web page would list all the headings, links, and landmarks on that web page. I think the Web Finder on the magnifier tool bar provides the similar function.
TutorMode: provide voice guide while you running application. The amount of guidance is depended on the verbosity setting. For this quick look, I turned on the beginner level and checked many boxes on the verbosity setting for web.
LearnCtr: contains online tutorial on various ZT Fusion topics such as magnifier, screen reader, web page, Microsoft office.
Pronunciations : offer a way to change the pronounciation of a word to your liking.
OK, let's take ZT Fusion to a spin on the web. The first website I visited was amazon.com. The site detected I was using a screen reader and offer a screen reader friendly website at amazon.com/access. The website didn't offer this option when I was using ZT 10. Once on the alternate amazon website, ZT Fusion read out number of links on the home page. The ZT Fusion turn on browser mode automatically, you can tell because the pointer was changed from an arrow to a pointing finger with arrow keypad symbol. At this time, you can use the up and down arrow key to move around the webpage or use hotkey shortcut to do the same.
I then tried Fusion with Google Chrome. The first time I was on the Google home page, it offered a link to turn off the instant search option, which I didn't do. After couple of search, Fusion crashed saying it had compatibility issue and told me go the browser's advance setting to turn off some options.
Next, I opened the Thunder Bird mail client. ZT Fusion told me to use arrow keys to move around in this application. I was able to read and send email.
Finally I opened a Google Doc. The document was opened in browser mode. While in the browser mode, I used arrow keys to move around the page to read. To edit the document, I pressed insert + z to get into edit mode. Fusion seem to work fine with Google doc.
After using ZT Fusion for few days, I don't plan to update at this time for the following reasons:
I will continue to use the ZT Fusion until the end of the trial period. Who know, I might find some functions' I can't live without and bite the bullet. Will update this as I learn more about ZT Fusion.
As a side note. For the past few days, I have had few crashes on Fusion start up and couple of crashes when trying Fusion with IE and Google Chrome. These crashes might suggest stability issues and this is another reason that I don't want to upgrade. The ZT Magnifier/Reader 10 is much more stable.
ZT released an update for Fusion on 12/16/2015. After running Fusion with the update for few days, I don't think the update make any improvement. I told ZT about this and they had me install an utility to collect system dump. When I run the utility, all I got was a blank window screen, I had no idea what it done.
ZT released another update on 1/7/2016. The release note didn't say what the update fixed. The Fusion with this second update seem to be more stable.
After 60 days of free trial, I have decided not to update to Fusion Ver 10.1 for the above reasons. After I deleted the Fusion trial software, I attempted to run the ZoomText Readder/Magnifier Ver 10.1 free trial, but keep having trial has expired message. I guess I can only run one free trial software per PC. When I delete the ZT Ver 10.1 software, it also deleted my current ZT Ver 10 software from the PC as well.
Disclaimer: I am no expert on ZoomText products, this post may have inaccurate statements. Please visit the following link for the most accurate and up to date product info.
Zoom Text Fusion product info
FWIW, this July 2015 WebAIM survey seem to suggest that Window-Eyes is gaining popularity as a primary screen reader. However, I think the gain is partly due to its inclusion with MS Office. The following diagram is from the survey.
I installed the trial software in a laptop PC running Windows 7 Professional. This PC already had ZT Magnifier/Reader 10 installed on it. There is no need to uninstall ZT 10 to run the trial software. During ZT Fusion installation, Avast anti virus program thought one of the file was a virus and stopped the installation. I had to stop the anti virus program in order to continue. I noticed the installation process has been improved. There is a tool bar to change font size and enable or disable voice at the top of each installation screen. If you enable voice, you would hear what button or options on the screen. The setup wizard would run as part of the installation, you can choose to run the wizard or choose the default setting. If you choose the default setting, you can change the setting later. It took about 5 minutes to install all the software components. There was a progress bar on the screen but no audio feedback during this component installation. If you can't see the screen, you might not know what's going on.
Oh, ZT Fusion supports Window 7, Window 8.1 and Window 10, it also support touch screen. I am happy with Win 7 and have no plan to move to Win 10, so the additional Window OS support has no value to me.
After completing the installation and restarting the PC, you would see the ZT Fusion 10.1 tool bar which is very similar to the ZT 1Magnifier/Reader 10 tool bar but with an additional tab labeled Fusion.
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| Magnifier Tool Bar |
The Reader tab also look the same but has three new sections under Verbosity setting. These new sections offer verbosity settings for common tasks, browser mode, and MS office. Additional screen reader control can be found on the Fusion tool bar. In addition to IE and Firefox browsers, the ZT Fusion now also support Google Chrome browser. ZT Fusion also has bunch of settings for MS Office. This has little value to me because I use Firefox browser and Google Doc.
The Tool tab has an additional icon called Image Reader. This is an additional OCR and hardware product to read hardcopy documents. I think my Abbyy OCR software and scanner could provide similar function.
Since I chose the default setting during the installation, I wanted to bring up the setup wizard to see what options were set. The setup wizard is a new choice under the settings on the menu bar. The setup wizard let you set the most common options for magnifier, reader, and tools in few screens. Alternatively, you can do the same setting and more under each tab. After revewing the settings and changing some to my liking, I want to look at what's new under the Fusion tab. Clicking the Fusion tab would bring up the following Fusion tool bar which contain 3 groups.
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| Fusion Tool Bar |
BrowserMode : turn on or off automatic browser mode while on the web. If you click on an input field like in a form, it would turn off the browser mode so you can enter data. You can also manually turn off browser mode by pressing insert + z keys.
PageNav : pressing this icon while on a web page would list all the headings, links, and landmarks on that web page. I think the Web Finder on the magnifier tool bar provides the similar function.
TutorMode: provide voice guide while you running application. The amount of guidance is depended on the verbosity setting. For this quick look, I turned on the beginner level and checked many boxes on the verbosity setting for web.
LearnCtr: contains online tutorial on various ZT Fusion topics such as magnifier, screen reader, web page, Microsoft office.
Pronunciations : offer a way to change the pronounciation of a word to your liking.
OK, let's take ZT Fusion to a spin on the web. The first website I visited was amazon.com. The site detected I was using a screen reader and offer a screen reader friendly website at amazon.com/access. The website didn't offer this option when I was using ZT 10. Once on the alternate amazon website, ZT Fusion read out number of links on the home page. The ZT Fusion turn on browser mode automatically, you can tell because the pointer was changed from an arrow to a pointing finger with arrow keypad symbol. At this time, you can use the up and down arrow key to move around the webpage or use hotkey shortcut to do the same.
I then tried Fusion with Google Chrome. The first time I was on the Google home page, it offered a link to turn off the instant search option, which I didn't do. After couple of search, Fusion crashed saying it had compatibility issue and told me go the browser's advance setting to turn off some options.
Next, I opened the Thunder Bird mail client. ZT Fusion told me to use arrow keys to move around in this application. I was able to read and send email.
Finally I opened a Google Doc. The document was opened in browser mode. While in the browser mode, I used arrow keys to move around the page to read. To edit the document, I pressed insert + z to get into edit mode. Fusion seem to work fine with Google doc.
After using ZT Fusion for few days, I don't plan to update at this time for the following reasons:
|
ZT Fusion feature
|
What’s in for me
|
|
Win 10 & touch screen support
|
Np plan to use Win 10 or touch screen
|
|
MS office support
|
I use Google Doc
|
|
Google Chrome support
|
I prefer Firefox
|
|
Window-Eyes screen reader
|
Nice to have, but the regular ZT screen reader is OK for my
need at this time. I might use the free
NVDA screen reader in the future.
|
|
Supposedly easier to use for current ZT magnifier user
|
Not really, I still have to memorize all those hotkey shortcut
just like other full time screen readers. I like the tutorial mode and the auto browser mode.
|
|
Upgrade for $399
|
Too expensive, I would consider it for $100.
|
I will continue to use the ZT Fusion until the end of the trial period. Who know, I might find some functions' I can't live without and bite the bullet. Will update this as I learn more about ZT Fusion.
As a side note. For the past few days, I have had few crashes on Fusion start up and couple of crashes when trying Fusion with IE and Google Chrome. These crashes might suggest stability issues and this is another reason that I don't want to upgrade. The ZT Magnifier/Reader 10 is much more stable.
ZT released an update for Fusion on 12/16/2015. After running Fusion with the update for few days, I don't think the update make any improvement. I told ZT about this and they had me install an utility to collect system dump. When I run the utility, all I got was a blank window screen, I had no idea what it done.
ZT released another update on 1/7/2016. The release note didn't say what the update fixed. The Fusion with this second update seem to be more stable.
After 60 days of free trial, I have decided not to update to Fusion Ver 10.1 for the above reasons. After I deleted the Fusion trial software, I attempted to run the ZoomText Readder/Magnifier Ver 10.1 free trial, but keep having trial has expired message. I guess I can only run one free trial software per PC. When I delete the ZT Ver 10.1 software, it also deleted my current ZT Ver 10 software from the PC as well.
Disclaimer: I am no expert on ZoomText products, this post may have inaccurate statements. Please visit the following link for the most accurate and up to date product info.
Zoom Text Fusion product info
FWIW, this July 2015 WebAIM survey seem to suggest that Window-Eyes is gaining popularity as a primary screen reader. However, I think the gain is partly due to its inclusion with MS Office. The following diagram is from the survey.
 |
| Screen reader usage trends |
Wednesday, September 11, 2013
ZoomText 10 Camera Feature Review
With some right tools, a person with low vision can handle most of the daily tasks independently. Here is the list of tools I am using to make my life bit easier. Low vision aids can be pricey, whenever possible, I would find a lower cost alternative.
Telephone
My main phone is this RadioShack Model 43-208 speaker phone. It has a large high contrast keypad with voice feedback. It also has talking caller ID and talking phone book. See my 10/18/2013 post for complete detail.
Desktop CCTV
This
is an electronics magnifier. It connects to a 20-inch LCD monitor/TV
and enables me to read printed materials like magazines, bills, and bank
statements. I was lucky to find an used Telesensory Genie Pro CCTV because a new one would cost about $2,500. The used one I bought from an university surplus equipment store only cost me $80 plus shipping. You can find used CCTV on eBay and your local low vision
store. Read a more detailed description on this CCTV here.
ZoomText version 10
This screen magnifier/reader software enables
me to see or hear what's being display on the monitor. The magnifier
is very easy to use and has many useful features. The screen reader is
OK, it has problem to read some websites and documents. JAWS is suppose
to be a much better screen reader.One really cool feature with ZT 10 is the ability of using a HD webcam as CCTV. I was hoping this would be a lower cost alternative for desktop CCTV, but this feature has some problems, so don't throw away your desktop CCTV yet. See my blog post on this feature. AFB's product review also disappointed with the CCTV's preformance. AFB review on ZT 10
If you don't want to spend the big bucks for a screen magnifier reader, there are few free options available.
- Firefox web browser plus NoSquint AddOn - this add on let you change the text zoom level and color.
- NVDA is a free open source screen reader. You can even run this screen reader from a USB flash. NVDA Info
- Windows 7 OS has build-in magnifier and other helpful options. See the Ease Of Access in the control panel
- Font for low vision. APH has a set of special font for people with low vision. You can use this font with PC or Mac. Free download
- AccessWorld reviewed few freeware and shareware on screen magnifier software.
Computer
Unless
you are in video editing and gaming, there is no need to get a new PC
which often has the latest generation of multi-core processor. A new
mininally config PC would probably cost around $500 and up. While an
used older model PC like the one below cost less than $200. I only need a PC for email, web surfing, and running the Zoomtext, a quad-core PC is definitely an overkill. I bought a refurbished IBM desktop PC for $190. The PC has a 3GHz first generation Intel dual core processor, 4GB of memory and a 120GB hard drive with Windows 7 Pro OS. This is a small form factor PC, it is small enough to sit on top of my CCTV unit.
The video output connects to the desktop CCTV. With this configuration, I can use CCTV's split function to read, for example bank statement, on one part of monitor while enter data into Quicken on other part of monitor.
When it come to monitor size, bigger is not better for people with RP. Because of small visual field, you have to keep moving your eyes to locate the stuff you want to see on a big screen monitor. Bigger monitor also has higher native resolution which make everything smaller. If you change the resolution to a lower resolution to make the image bigger you would notice image become fuzzy. For me, the optimal screen size is a 20 inches monitor.
I use a wireless keyboard with large print stickers with this PC. Although there are large print keyboards on the market, they are fairly pricey, instead I use large print stickers on a regular keyboard. I only put the sticker on few selected keys.
On my other PC, I have a large print backlit keyboard. Because of my RP problem, I find this keyboard is not much of a big help. In fact, I think I like the other keyboard better.
Telescopic Eyeglasses
I
used the Ocutech telescopic eyeglasses when I was working. This is a
very light weight manual focus 3x mono telescope mounted on a specially
design eyeglasses frame. It is a great tool if you need to
keep switching between seeing far and near objects like between a
projector screen and the paper in front of you. To see the object a
far, you just dip your head a bit so your eye lines up with the
Ocutech. To see the stuff in front of you, just move you head up a bit
to see thru your regular eyeglasses. Ocutech is very expensive, it
costed around $1,500 back in 2007. I imagine the auto-focus model would
cost a lot more. Ocutech InfoIf you have RP, you can't use the Ocutech for bioptic driving. It is not a good tool for watching TV either. I haven't used the Ocutech since I left my job. I found a pair of 3x binocular eyeglasses for $30. This eyeglasses is perfect for watching TV and sightseeing.
Sun Glasses
A baseball cap
and a pair of sun glasses are essential for me when I go outside of the
house. I don't like Transition len eyeglasses because the color
transition speed is way too slow for me. Switching between regular and
sun glasses or clip-on is too troublesome. I found the perfect
solution for me is a pair of eyeglasses with flip up shade. The
polarized shade is attached to the frame with a magnet. I can easily
flip the shade up or down as needed. I have 2 different color shades.The baseball cap also provide face protection from those low hanging tree branches and partially closed doors.
Eye doctors offten suggest the costly Corning GlareControl sunglasses to cut down on glare and to improve constrast. For a much lower cost alternative, you might want to try a pair of sunglasses from Noir Medical. They have all type of color lens for various eye conditions. The GlareShield series is supposely has the same optical performance as the Corning GlareControl lens. You can buy the Noir lens as clip on, flip up, or fit over. Noir Medical
Digital talking book player
I
love to read, but I can't read normal print material anymore, I depend
on audio books and magazines to keep me entertained. As a legally blind
person, I have free access to many audio books and magazines from
Library of Congress's BART and Colorado's talking book library. I also
have access textbooks from Bookshare. All these free audio resources
are in DAISY format which require a special player to play. The
Digital Talking Book player is given to me by the Colorado Talking Book
library. The player was specially designed to be easily operated by
people who are blind or with physical handicap. All the buttons are big
and with contrast color. In addition, all the buttons have speech
feedback. Audio books and magazines can be downloaded from the BART
site or received on a special USB flash drive sent by a local talking book library, every states have a talking book library.
Talking watch
This
watch has high contrast watch face so I can see the time during day
time. If I can't see the time, the watch would tell me the time and
date with a push of button. There are many talking devices to help
people with visual impairment. For example, blood pressure monitor,
timer, kitchen and bathroom scale, etc.
Liquid Level indicator
This
very handy device hung on outside of a cup and sounds a musical tone
when the liquid is about 1 inch from the top. No more overflow when I
fill the cup.
Writing Guides
These templates help me write envelopes and checks.
There are other special purpose writing guides available. For example,
signature guide, letter guide. The pen shown in the photo is 20/20
pen, it is essentially a bold point marker. This pen costs around $1
each, but you can use a regular permanent marker for around 30 cents
each.
Record Keeping Tools
I use the MS Word program to keep my written records. I use a scanner to store the image of hardcopy documents. I use a large print address book and bold line notebook for other written records. A micro tape recorder is part of my record keeping tools.
Hand Held Magnifiers
Big Button Electronics
I
still have enough vision to use electronics stuffs as long as they have
big buttons. You can buy many of them in low vision specialty
stores but they trend to be very pricey. Instead you can find many
similar big button electronics items with much lower price in typical
stores. For example, the big button remote and cordless phone shown
below.
High Constrast Tape
I
loss most of my depth preception. Change in ground level really
present a safety problem for me. I use high constrast tape to mark the
edge of my patio and steps outside my house. I use black and yellow
tape. Depends on your vision, other color combination might work better
for you. The black and yellow tape doesn't stick to concrete too well. So I have to put down a strip of gorillo tape first on the concrete than I glue the black and yellow tape on top of the gorillo tape. Both tapes are 2 inches wide and you can buy them from Amazon or your local hardware stores.
Canes
I
have used a white cane, a yellow cane and a telescopic cane. I don't
like the telescopic cane at all because it would collapse when it bumps
into any crack. You can get a free white cane from National Federation
of The Blind. Get a free white cane Photo shows my yellow cane. Here is video on white cane usage. You can get cane travel training for your state human services department, it is usually free of charge.
Bump Dots
Bump
dots are sticker that can be glued on buttons, switches, and knobs.
Those dots enable a blind person to locate and operate electronics
devices by touch. Bump dots come in various sizes, colors, and shapes. There are other uses for those dots.
Portable LED Booklight
Since
I can't read anymore, I found a new use for the portable LED booklight.
Dining in the dark is not for me, I like to see what I am eating. If I have to
eat in a dark restaurant, I would clip this booklight at the edge of the
plate so I can see the food. It would draw some giggle from your
friends, but who care.
Flash Lights
Flash lights are RPer's best friend. I have a flash light at almost every room in the house. I like the white LED flash lights because they very bright, the LED almost last forever and very energy efficient.
From left to right
- LED pen light using one AA battery.
- Rechargeable LED flash light double as night light.
- LED flash light using 4 AA battery.
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