CCB Tech Articles, Donna’s Low Tech Tips, media pocket watch, April 29, 2019

Canadian Council of the Blind (CCB), Donna's Low Tech Tips, Get Together with Technology Program, Guest Post 6 Minutes

April 29, 2019

Meet the media pocket watch

 

Hi there!  It’s Donna and thank you for allowing me to come into your inbox.

Today, I’d like to talk about the media pocket watch.

Let’s meet this product.

 

Meet the media pocket watch

 

Well readers, here is what I have discovered and although this article me be a bit long, it is worth the reading.  I myself have bought this great little gadget and I simply love it.

Please have a read.

 

Alexandravision is an innovative Swiss company specialized in watches for

the visually impaired.

 

The “Meteor” quartz timepiece was developed for visually impaired people

with the help of visually impaired people.

 

Its beauty lies in its elegant shape and pleasant feel, appealing to

visually impaired and sighted people alike.

 

Its original appearance of a crescent moon with a rounded bottom will make

more than one of your friends curious or even envious.

 

With its three buttons, the Meteor gives the time very simply by discrete

vibrations.

 

It also has many other qualities.

 

Of course, it’s a precize quartz watch.

 

It’s sturdy and waterproof.

 

Time setting is child’s play which only appeal to the sense of touch.

 

The batteries are powerful enough to make it vibrate more than five years.

 

It’s affordable for all.

 

Its nomination for the 2011 Canne Blanche award is firm evidence that we’ve

achieved our goal.

 

And providing the instructions for use as a video designed for the blind

adds the finishing touch to its ground-breaking approach.

 

How it works in detail.

Our watch was conceived to be of a simple use.

 

It indicates time by inaudible and discreet vibrations.

 

It has 3 buttons:

 

The upper button for Hours,

 

the central button for Tens of Minutes,

 

and the last button for Minutes.

 

Time indication.

A brief pressure with the thumb on the upper button indicates the Hours,

 

a brief pressure on the central button indicates the Tens of Minutes,

 

a brief pressure on the last button indicates the Minutes.

 

A short vibration indicates 1 unit and a long vibration indicates 5 units.

 

The indication range for the Hours is 1 to 12, for the Tenth of Minutes 0 to

5 and for the Minutes 0 to 9.

 

Examples:

 

3 short vibrations indicate 3 Hours or 30 Minutes or 3 Minutes depending on

the pressed button,

 

1 long vibration indicates 5 Hours or 50 Minutes or 5 Minutes depending on

the pressed button,

 

2 long vibrations followed by 2 short vibrations indicate 12 Hours,

 

no vibration indicates 0 Tens of Minutes or 0 Minute depending on the

pressed button.

 

The buttons may be pressed in any order.

 

For example, you can check just the Tens of Minutes and then the Minutes.

 

Time Setting.

Press and hold the upper button to set the Hours,

 

press and hold the central button to set the Ten of Minutes,

 

press and hold the last button to set the Minutes.

 

The pressure has to go beyond a long vibration which indicates you are in

setting mode.

 

Each of the short vibrations that follows, counts for 1 unit and adjusts the

watch until the button is released.

 

Examples:

 

To set the Hours at 9 o’clock, press and hold until you have felt the long

vibration followed by 9 short vibrations. Then release the button.

 

To set the Tens of Minutes to 0, press and hold until you have felt the end

of the long vibration. Then release the button.

 

The time can be set in any order.

 

For example, you can just set the Minutes. Hours and Tens of Minutes will

not be affected.

 

Changing the battery.

The battery will last between 2 and 5 years depending on the use of your

watch.

 

Use only Energizer 357 type batteries or equivalent.

 

Whenever possible, have your battery changed by a specialized watchmaker.

 

Guarantee.

Alexandravision watches are guaranteed for 2 years. This warranty covers all

manufacturing defects.

 

It does not cover the normal wear of the materials of which they are

constituted, nor damages due to an abnormal use, nor the battery. The Meteor

is waterproof. It can be cleaned with a wet tissue but should not be put

into water. The pendants are not waterproof.

http://www.alexandravision.com

Meteor Vibrating Pocket Watch Demo

Transcribed from audio by Kayde Rieken

J.J. Meddaugh: Hi, everybody. J.J. Meddaugh here, and I want to tell you

about a new product that we’ve added to A.T. Guys that we actually

discovered at the CSUN conference in San Diego. It’s from a company in

Switzerland called Alexandravision, and it’s a vibrating pocket watch. So

what this allows you to do is completely independently-and without

distraction to other people-check the current time, completely without audio

or Braille or anything else.

 

So it’s a really simple design. This is called the Meteor, and it has three

buttons on it. So the first button is for the hours, and I’m going to put

this up to the speaker so you can hear it vibrate.

 

[The watch gives four short vibrations.]

 

That’s four vibrations for4:00, and then I press the middle button, which is

for the tens .

 

[The watch gives three short vibrations.]

 

Three vibrations for 30, and then I press the bottom button for the minutes

digit .

 

[The watch gives one longer vibration.]

 

And one long vibration for 5. So the long vibrations are fives, the short

ones are ones. So it’s 4:35. A.M. or P.M. does not matter here, it’s just a

12-hour timepiece, and as you can tell, you can figure out the time

completely by vibration. So you can just keep this in your pocket and

determine the time without distracting other people.

 

The shape of this thing is like a small oval with part of it cut out. So the

oval is maybe two and a half to three inches long. There’s one end that’s a

little bit thicker, that’s the bottom. The top end is thinner, that’s the

top. And on one side of the oval it’s cut out a little bit, and that’s where

the buttons are. They feel like little Braille bumps, but a little bit

bigger than that, and they are very well-defined and easy to find.

 

To set the watch, it’s also really simple. So say I actually want to change

it to 5:00. I hold down the hours button, and I wait for a long vibration.

 

[The watch gives a long vibration.]

 

And then.

 

[The watch gives shorter vibrations, and J.j. counts them.]

 

One . two . three . four . five . and let up on the button, and now I’ve set

it to 5:00.

 

[The watch gives a final vibration.]

 

One other thing to note here is that you don’t necessarily have to press all

of the buttons. So you know it’s already 5:00. You can just press the tens

of minutes button .

 

[The watch gives three short vibrations.]

 

30 .

 

[The watch gives one long vibration, then two short ones.]

 

  1. 5:37. So as you can see, the operation of this pocket watch is quite

simple. It was designed that way on purpose. It’s just to act as a really

simple timekeeping device, so if you’re in a meeting, or if you’re someplace

where you don’t want to deal with a loud talking watch or pull out your

phone, you can really discretely tell the time. Also, if you are or know

someone who is hard of hearing, this would be a great tool as a timekeeping

device, since it operates completely via vibration. So anybody, even someone

who has no hearing at all, could use this watch.

 

The watch uses a typical watch battery and will last from two to five years

on a single battery, and of course you can replace it after that. It comes

with a two-year manufacturer warranty against hardware defects.

 

So this is the Meteor pocket watch. We are the first in the United States to

be distributing this. It’s available currently on the A T Guys website for a

retail price of $117 plus shipping. I’d be happy to answer any questions you

might have. Of course, you can email support@atguys.com

<mailto:support%40atguys.com> , @atguys on Twitter, or call us at

269-216-4798 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 269-216-4798 FREE

end_of_the_skype_highlighting. Again, http://www.atguys.com. Thanks so much for

listening. I’m J.J. Meddaugh.

 

That’s it from me for this week.

If you would like to become a member of  my CCB Mysteries chapter you can do so for the price of $10 annually and in return you will receive unlimited access to either of the following libraries.

Recipes –

http://www.donnajodhan.com/library-recipes.html

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http://www.donnajodhan.com/library-audio-mysteries.html

Or you can subscribe to both for the price of $20 annually.

Now you  can subscribe to “‘Let’s Talk Tips”‘ which is my monthly resource for the most current and reliable

informational tips available in the areas of Technology, Nutrition, Media,

Business, and Advocacy.

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To contact me, send me an email at info@sterlingcreations.ca and I’d be happy to respond.

Have yourselves a great day and see you next week.

Donna

 

 

 

Published by Albert Ruel

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.

Published