The most recent meeting of the Get Together With Technology (GTT) Edmonton Chapter was held June 13at 7pm at Ascension Lutheran Church 8405 83 Street in Edmonton.
25 people attended.
June Feature Topic – Aroga and Android Tablets
We were joined by Steve Barclay, co-owner of Aroga, Canada’s premiere assistive technology retailer. Steve demonstrated two new products the NuEyes electronic eyeglasses and HumanWare’s new BrailleNote Touch.
What are NuEyes Electronic Eyeglasses?
• The system consists of lightweight wearable electronic eyeglasses that let people with vision loss see better. There is a camera in the centre of the unit that streams a live image of what you are looking at to two colored screens embedded within the eyeglasses.
• NuEyes is an offshoot of virtual reality technology developed for the U.S. military.
• The user can look at both near objects such as desktop material and immediately look up to see distant objects such as someone entering the room or a white board at the front of the room or activity outside the window etc.
• Watch TV and Movies.
• See the faces of loved ones.
• Continue hobbies such as reading music and playing cards.
• Variable Magnification from 1x-12x.
• Various contrast and color changes.
• Wireless control unit or Voice Activated. For example, you may voice commands like “make bigger”, “make smaller”.
• Removable ear horns and nose bridge.
• Coming soon – OCR.
• Coming soon – stream TV or movies directly to the eyeglasses.
• NuEyes is a fully functional Android based computer.
• 3GB RAM, 64GB storage, wifi, Bluetooth, GPS, accelerometer, gyroscope, user and external microphone, dual haptic feedback in temples, USB.
• The system is not meant to be used as a mobility device.
• Cost: $7995 Cdn
• For more Information: http://www.aroga.com/nueyes-easy-glasses/
You may email Steve Barclay at:
steve@aroga.com
• You may telephone Aroga at:
1-800-561-6222
New BrailleNote Touch from HumanWare
• First Google certified Android tablet providing braille input/output and access to the Google Play Store.
• Input in braille by typing directly on the touch sensitive screen of the tablet.
• Alternatively, use the physical braille keypad built into the carrying case.
• 32 cell braille display.
• Supports perfect braille translation in contracted or uncontracted braille, including UEB and multiple languages.
• Frequent automatic updates.
• Combines the benefits of the familiar BrailleNote KeySoft interface with the power of a modern Android tablet.
• Simple menu-driven interface.
• First letter navigation.
• Familiar BrailleNote keyboard shortcuts to efficiently accomplish tasks.
• Provides general navigation help, speech and braille in all-accessible third party apps.
• Offers the efficiency of a note taker to third party apps.
• Contextual help to provide assistance anytime.
• Can be connected as a braille display to computers.
• Includes GPS, SD, USB, wifi, Bluetooth.
• Cost: $6895 Cdn
• For more information: http://www.aroga.com/braillenote-touch-32-cell-notetaker/
• For BrailleNote Touch audio tutorials, user guide, or suggested apps visit: http://support.humanware.com/en-canada/support/braillenote_touch
Russell and Lorne discussed Android tablets with those interested.
• Android tablets use a screen reader called TalkBack similar to VoiceOver on iOS tablets.
• 3rd party apps from Google Store may or may not be accessible via TalkBack. Depends on the app developer.
• Braille input/output not integrated like on iOS but development to improve braille is underway through a project called BrailleBack.
• Unlike iOS which is a closed operating system from Apple for only apple iDevices, Android is an open source operating system from Google available to modify by developers and available for many different devices.
Next Meeting (Monday September 12 at 7pm)
• No topic defined yet. Have a good summer. See you in September.
• As always, for help with other technology bring your devices and/or questions to the meeting.
• Send your meeting topic ideas to GTT.Edmonton@gmail.com.
Meeting Location and Logistics
• Ascension Lutheran Church 8405 – 83 Street NW, Edmonton.
• We meet in the basement hall. There is elevator access.
• Enter the church from the back door. There is parking at the back and drop off space for taxis, DATS.
• Meetings are every second Monday of the month at 7pm.
• If you have someone helping you your assistant is welcome to remain for the meeting.
GTT Edmonton Team
• Carrie Anton is visually impaired and is the accessibility specialist for Athabasca University.
carrie.anton@hotmail.com
• Gerry Chevalier is blind. He is retired from HumanWare where he worked as the Product Manager for the Victor Reader line of talking book players.
GTT.Edmonton@gmail.com
• Heather MacDonald is a career and employment specialist with extensive experience helping blind and visually impaired people find employment.
• Russell Solowoniuk is blind and works with alternative formats and assistive technology at Grant MacEwan University.
rsolowoniuk@gmail.com
• Lorne Webber is blind and is the accessibility specialist for Norquest College.
lorne.webber@gmail.com
GTT Edmonton Overview
• GTT Edmonton is a chapter of the Canadian Council of the Blind (CCB).
• GTT Edmonton promotes a self-help learning experience by holding monthly meetings to assist participants with assistive technology.
• Each meeting will present a feature technology topic and general question and answer about any other technology.
• Small groups or one on one assistance is possible at the meetings.
• Participants are encouraged to come to each meeting even if they are not interested in the feature topic because questions on any technology are welcome. The more participants the better able we will be equipped with the talent and experience to help each other.
• There are GTT groups in Ottawa, Toronto, Kingston, Northern Ontario, Pembroke, Halifax, Sydney, Edmonton, Grande Prairie, Victoria, Nanaimo, Vancouver, and more to come.
• There is also a national GTT monthly toll free teleconference. You may subscribe to the National GTT blog to get email notices of teleconferences and notes from other GTT chapters. Visit: http://www.gttprogram.wordpress.com/
There is a form at the bottom of that web page to enter your email.
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The Albert A. Ruel Road to Blindness
A 21 year old man stood on the beach at the Sproat Lake Provincial Park with friends early in May of 1977, and upon gazing across the lake found the Gulf Oil sign missing from the dock-side filling station there. When this fact was shared with his companions they glanced at him with puzzled looks and said, “No Albert, the sign is still there”.
That was the beginning of a road through confusion, anger, isolation, loneliness and discovery for me. It all began with a visit to a local Optometrist who could see that my vision wasn’t right, but that corrective lenses wouldn’t help. He then referred me to a General Practitioner, where I received a clean bill of health and an additional referral. This time to an Ophthalmologist. Immediately upon peering through the dilated pupils, Dr. McKerricher was able to see the problem, Retinal Vasculitis.
Now, you would think that all would start to improve at this point, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. You see, CNIB, from 1918 until 1985 only served the needs of people who were “Legally Blind”, a level of vision loss I wouldn’t reach until November of 1979. The words of Dr. McKerricher still echo in my mind today, “Albert, I don’t know what has caused this and nothing we’ve tried is helping to stop it, and you’re not blind enough for me to refer you to CNIB”!
In the middle of this transition from 20/20 vision to “Legally Blind” came the Motor Vehicle Branch and it’s rules of the road. On August 3, 1978 I drove a car for the last time as my vision had reached the level at which operating a motor vehicle became too dangerous, further intensifying feelings of fear, isolation and anger. Sadly, through this period the only available guidance and support was through family and friends, but not the experienced professionals I needed at the time. Although these support systems are critically important they can often be smothering and facilitating, rather than encouraging and supportive.
With gratitude, and some trepidation I finally was able to access CNIB services in November of 1979, and the world opened up then. There I was able to meet other blind people and receive the daily living and mobility skills required to live independently in this sighted world. I learned elementary braille and began to discover technology as necessary tools of independence.
Thankfully, in 1985 CNIB’s National Board altered the course of service to visually impaired Canadians forever. They added a third prong to their Mission Statement, “To promote sight enhancement services”. This opened the door to all Canadians who were beginning to lose sight, as well as those who had a fear of vision loss to access the full range of CNIB Support and Rehabilitation Services. So now, whether it’s someone’s Mother who is experiencing Macular Degeneration, or an Uncle experiencing the affects of Glaucoma, all have the ability to seek information, guidance and support as all involved deal with the fear and anxiety that accompanies such life altering experiences.
With the help of professional Rehabilitation Workers and Employment Counselors I was able to continue traveling independently within my own community, and even more remarkably anywhere in the world I desired to go. I managed to attend College in Nanaimo and New Westminster, as well as traveling to the Mayo Clinic and to doctor’s appointments in Nanaimo and Vancouver without assistance. All of this while living with some usable vision, but not yet needing a white cane for travel.
During the mid 1980’s I was a stay-at-home Dad and did all that was required of that challenging work, from changing diapers to preparing meals, and from cutting the grass to maintaining our home. I even took a woodworking course through Alberni’s Adult Education program and built and restored several pieces of furniture. Of course the 1958 Chevy Impala in the garage was my pride and joy, and I devised ways to do much of the work it required.
I also joined and participated in many community activities, like the local Car Club, and a disability support group that catered to the needs of people with many different disabilities. Of course, continued participation in family life remained of critical importance through this period.
In 1989 a secondary condition began to extinguish the vision that remained, which set into motion a new stream of professional rehabilitation services and supports. By the spring of 1990 Glaucoma had turned out the lights completely, and the darkness I had feared so desperately was upon me. Strangely though, I found this to be a great relief rather than the tragedy I had imagined it would be.
Through several professional rehabilitation sessions, and by joining peer mentoring and advocacy groups I was able to come to terms with this strange feeling, and to learn additional skills and strategies for living with no visual cues of the world around me. This is also about the time that I decided to explore CNIB as an employer, and to see if I could provide the sort of guidance and support to others that had been my pleasure to receive. Those 14 years were a wonderful experience of ongoing discovery for me, as teaching may be the best way to solidify one’s own learning. In other words, those we assist through this transition in turn help us all as we develop best practices and improved service.
Following a 14 year career with CNIB I also served the blind community as the first National Equality Director employed by the Alliance for Equality of Blind Canadians (AEBC), and as a Basic Computer Literacy Trainer with the Canadian Council of the Blind (CCB). Most recently I have enjoyed coordinating the CCB’s newly launched Get Together with Technology Program in Western Canada, which brings to the fore my passion for assistive technology and the power of peer mentoring.
Without sight I have continued to travel far and wide, with trips to Conventions of and for the Blind in Anaheim California and Melbourne Australia, as well as to many events and activities in Toronto and Vancouver. Of course my work has taken me to many communities throughout Western Canada, and most particularly nearly all regions of BC and on Vancouver Island. None of which would have been possible without the services and support of organizations like CCB, AEBC and CNIB.
For most people blindness generates a fear of extended movement, both within one’s home and community, but that doesn’t have to be the case. Independence comes from personal desire and increased skill. Many community organizations can assist with both through their mentoring and skill development programs. I remember always that life has little to do with what happens to me and 100% what I do about/with it. There is a quote I like to use from the National Federation of the Blind in the USA, “With adequate skill development and opportunity blindness can be reduced to the level of a nuisance”, and nothing could be closer to the truth.
Helen Keller said many years ago, “There is nothing more tragic than someone who has sight, but no vision”. She also challenged the Lions Clubs of the world to become the “Knights of the Blind, and to take up the crusade against darkness”. I too joined a Lions Club in 1992 and continue to work on the crusade that Helen Keller began in the 1920-s.
View all posts by Albert Ruel