A new device promises to change how blind and visually-impaired people view the world. Called Georgie, a special Smartphone has been developed with a wide variety of applications to make life easier for disabled people. Powered by Android, Georgie is like any other Smartphone in that it allows people to do anything from making a simple phone call to finding their precise location. But all the applications have been designed with disabled people in mind.
The phone is a touch screen with large, virtual buttons that speak when they are touched and select when held for a specified period of time. Users can change applications such as the responsiveness, screen brightness, volume or colors. Settings can be spoken, including the status of the phone service, GPS, wifi, powering off, battery low, screen locked or unlocked, airplane mode and whether the device is plugged into a charger.
In addition to those helpful features, what makes the device easy to use and accessible is its wide variety of applications. Developed by Sight and Sound Technology in the UK, the applications have been grouped into four categories known as Core Pack, Travel Pack, Communication Pack and Lifestyle Pack.
With the Core Pack, users are able to make and track phone calls, send texts and record personal points of interest. When calling, the numbers can be spoken into the phone, or the user can dial a contact with a simple, single button. Texts can be spoken into the phone, and incoming texts can be read to the user. A call log allows the user to manage calls received, missed or dialed. Additionally, notes can be recorded that can alert the users as they are traveling. For instance, they can hear their current direction or make a note of an obstacle in their path.
The Travel Pack assists the user by providing information on bus schedules or by helping someone find and call a taxi service. The phone can recite the time, date, weather, light level and colors as well as help the user find and hear the name, direction and distance of the nearest public places.
The Communication pack provides tools such as a virtual personal assistant that can answer questions, and a camera that can take and send photos and has access to Twitter, a social media outlet. Another key tool is OCR, or optical character recognition, which allows the user to scan a document and then hear or share the information.
The fourth category, known as the Lifestyle Pack, allows the user to listen to thousands of audio books along with additional capabilities of listening to newspapers and podcasts, and for recording their own voice.
The device also features an assistance button, which can alert family members to the user's location if there is an emergency. Georgie was designed by a visually-impaired couple in the UK, Roger Wilson-Hinds and his wife, Margaret. They named the technology after Margaret's first seeing-eye dog. Currently, Georgie is only available in the UK and can be purchased with a phone or as software. Sight and Sound Technology, known as a leading provider of hardware and software for the blind, visually-impaired or those with learning and reading difficulties, launched the product in July.
Lara Mossa Stump
and
Hulet Smith, OT
