Join Our Kickstarter Campaign and Make ModMath 2.0 A Reality!

This post has been written by Dawn Denberg, creator of ModMath. She recently started a Kickstarter campaign to raise funds to add additional features to the iPad version and also create an Android version in the near future.

If you�re a regular reader of this blog, you may recall my post last September about ModMath, a new iPad app my husband and I created to help kids with dysgraphia complete math homework without pen or paper.

We built this app out of desperation. Our son, who is dyslexic and dysgraphic, was falling behind in math because his handwriting is so terrible, even he can�t read it. And if you can�t write math problems, you can�t solve the math problems.

 So we created a free app that uses the iPad touch screen and an on-screen keypad to set up and solve math problems. Assignments are laid out on virtual graph paper that can be e-mailed to the teacher. The response to ModMath from the LD community has been overwhelming. Thousands have shared our story with their social media communities. And, to date, we�ve had more than 26,000 downloads.

We continue to receive a steady stream of letters thanking us for creating ModMath. But we receive an equal number of queries asking for additional features like a keyboard with buttons for variables, coefficients, integers, exponents and other advanced math concepts. Imagine a scientific calculator, and you�ll get the picture. However, like the original app, it won�t do the calculations for the student. It just sets up the problems and and keeps their work legible. We hope to level the playing field, not give dysgraphic kids an unfair advantage.

Also on our agenda: Once we establish the more advanced iPad version, we�ll duplicate the functionality and make it available for Android tablets as well. Other possible upgrades include the ability to save your work to Drop Box or Google docs.

We are committed to adding whatever enhancements we can afford. However, we�ve already tapped out our personal funds on the beta version. We�ve launched a Kickstarter campaign, where anyone moved to do so can make a donation. We set our goal at $20,000. That�s enough to cover the enhanced iPad version. But we�ll need additional funds to get that Android version built. So, feel free to overfund us. Kickstarter uses an all or nothing model, meaning if we aim to high we get nothing. So we settled on the minimum we need and hope to get much more.

 Give if you can. And if you can�t, just promoting our story on social media will help us reach our goal. Kids with learning disabilities have enough challenges. Please help us to help them around one of their many obstacles.

ModMath Kickstarter Campaign 

Image source: Flickr

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Look At Me: Android App For Kids With Autism To Help Improve Eye Contact

There are over 60 million people around the world that have autism. Usually, children with autism struggle with making eye contact with others and displaying social skills. However, recent studies have found that autistic children love technology, especially smart devices. Keeping that in mind, Samsung, with the help of various psychologists, psychiatrists and designers has developed a free Android app that helps children improve their ability to make and sustain eye contact and interpret facial expressions.

The free app "Look At Me" uses the camera app of the phone and consists of seven interactive and engaging missions that make kids remember faces, understand a person's mood, and also lets them take photos of themselves exhibiting various expressions. Through this app, children are expected to learn diverse ranges of emotions like happiness, fear, and surprise. The addition of sound effects, point system and rewards along the way keep kids motivated.

Over a period of 8 weeks, 20 children, used the app daily for 15 minutes, and it was noticed that 60% of the children showed improvement in making eye contact.

If you know a child with Autism that may benefit from this app, head to Google Play to download and use this free app.

The "Look At Me" project is also donating 200 tablets with this app preloaded to families in Canada so they could share results and help the community. To know more or to join this project, follow this link.

Source: Samsung via Engadget

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OtoSense Mobile App: Re-Imagining Alerting Devices For Deaf, Hard Of Hearing

For Joyce Edmiston, 55, who admits she can�t hear her oven timer beeping when she removes her hearing aids, even if she�s in the kitchen, says lack of awareness of these audio alerts and other sounds can be a real problem. 

OtoSense, a sound recognition software company, has developed the first mobile app that identifies and distinguishes the source of incoming audio alerts, including alarms, sirens, timers, bells and other sounds, turning smartphones and tablets into assistive alerting devices for the deaf and hard of hearing. 

Joyce, who runs http://xpressivehandz.
blogspot.com is seen here
with an award.

For people like Joyce and Travis Dougherty, 33, who is deaf, OtoSense offers an adaptable, affordable and useful means of being notified of important sounds in their environment.

Wherever you go, it seems, people, young and old, are using smartphones and tablets. The real value of these devices, however, comes from the mobile applications. 

Smartphones have quite literally become the new form of an assistive device - the all-in-one system that is made all that more powerful with the mobile applications available to download. Today, there are apps that let you watch (even in closed captions), text, video chat, bank, shop, read, listen, take photos and movies, check the weather, traffic and even get updated arrival and departure times during busy holiday travel season. 

Travis, who admittedly is an early adopter when it comes to new technology, says that the time has come for alerting devices to evolve and �putting this kind of technology into a smartphone and tablet just makes sense.� 

Since the birth of his daughter, Travis now wears a Pebble smartwatch, which connects to OtoSense, and he will soon connect the app to his Philips Hue Lights when the next update comes out later this month. 

Most people today have their smartphone and/or tablet within arm's reach at all times, it's the portable computer in their pocket and charging it and keeping it running is important. Certainly that�s the case for Noelle Bell, 32, who has a cochlear implant. 

OtoSense works immediately upon download, coming with a built-in library of standard fire and smoke alarm sounds found in the U.S. and Europe. Additionally, OtoSense can be personalized by users, recording and storing the most significant sounds of their environment, notifying users via flash, vibration and third-party notification including SMS text and push notification.

Noelle Bell, founder/CEO of
Buzz Worthy Social Media.

For Noelle, who pairs OtoSense with her Pebble Smartwatch, says she�s taught the app the sounds of her alarm clock, the doorbell, oven timer and dog barking. 

�It lets me know the audio cues to participate in my environment, and has helped me not feel as isolated in trying to figure out all of the different sounds of modern life,� says Noelle. �For me, the sound of the oven beeping is very similar to the sound of my doorbell, and I�ve recorded both sounds and stored them in my personal library on OtoSense. Now I can distinguish the difference between the two, and that is a real benefit.�

OtoSense is available now on the Google Play store. When the iPhone and iPad versions come out later this month, the cost of the app, on either Google Play or the App Store, will be $4.99 with some additional in-app purchases. OtoSense connects to any smartwatch, alerting user via text and vibration of a particular sound they have recorded and want to be aware of. And with the launch of the app on the App Store, users will be able to connect the app to Philips Hue Personal Wireless Lighting, customizing notifications.

According to the World Health Organization, there are 390 million people who suffer from a disabling hearing loss. In the United States, there are 48 million people who report a hearing loss according to the Hearing Loss Association of America. 

Please follow OtoSense on Twitter at www.twitter.com/otosense, like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/otosense, and Instagram at www.instagram/otosense. If you have questions or want to sign up for our email list, please go to www.otosense.com or email us atexplorers@otosense.com.

This guest blog post was writting by Kathryn M. Quirk. Kathryn leads marketing activities for OtoSense, bringing more than 15 years of experience developing and managing multi-channel communications programs across an array of business sectors. Kathryn has insatiable thirst for news and information, reading, listening and watching everything with eye for how she can develop and share good stories, with a preference for sharing stories about how technology helps people to live more independent and autonomous lives. Always in the back in her mind, are the words of Maya Angelou, who wrote, "People will forget what you said. People will forget what you did. But people will never forget how you made them feel."

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A Blind Legend: Video Game For Blind People

In A Blind Legend, your eyes will be of no help

So close them, sharpen your hearing and your blade�

and embark on an epic, perilous rite of passage.

For the sighted, playing a video game without any video may not make sense at all. But for the blind, it may be the next best thing since sliced bread.

The concept of "video-less" games is being adopted by more and more game developers who want to make video games accessible so that blind people could play them without any trouble. One of the games that will be coming out soon (early 2015) is "A Blind Legend" developed by Dowino studios in France after successfully completing a recent crowdfunding campaign. This is a game in which you play Edward Blake, a knight who has no eyes  and is on a mission to rescue his kidnapped wife. He is accompanied by his daughter Louise, who gives him directions and helps him navigate the environment and  fight Thork's army. There are forests, mountains, dungeons, a furious sea, lots of other obstacles and combat against numerous enemies!

Click to enlarge

This game does not have a video but rather a realistic, 3D sound environment which is most effective when heard using headphones. The sounds coming from different directions help you navigate and take appropriate action. A Blind Legend is very intuitive, and since it is a mobile game, there are various simple gestures that define different actions.

Dowino is aiming to offer non sighted gamers a video game that will give them a rich storyline and an immersive experience, not just a "game" that does things using audio. Once released, this game will be available free of cost for iOS and Android. A demo of the game is available on Dowino's website in English and French for both Windows and Mac. It can be downloaded from here.

To get a feel of what the sound is like, put on your headsets and listen to this clip. 

More from the developers here:

To read more about this A Blind Legend and other similar games, and to know what binaural technology is (that's used in this game), hit the source link.

Source: BBC
Websites: A Blind Legend, Dowino
Social Media: Facebook, Twitter, SoundCloud

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Project Ray: The World's First Smart Phone For Blind And Visually Impaired Users

The smartphone revolution has brought a lot of comfort and convenience to practically everyone's fingertips. Looking for information, reading books, communicating with loved ones in not one but many ways, and even performing "real work" using a phone has become a way of life for us. Thanks to all the phone manufacturers and their dedication towards accessibility, blind and visually impaired users have had great success with smartphones.

However, the regular smartphone can be quite overwhelming for the average visually impaired user. The touch screen on a smartphone, which is the most essential component of the device, just doesn't have enough tactile clues to help a blind user navigate the menus. Voice commands work pretty well, but can still be frustrating to many. Also, for users who are not so tech savvy, less is more, and they desire something that's not too complicated.

Project Ray, an Israeli startup, has developed a phone that is specially designed keeping blind people in mind. The interface of the phone is robust, yet very simple, and makes most sense for people who are visually impaired. The touch screen consists of five to twelve icons or buttons, depending on where the user is in the navigation area. Every icon has a designated app. The user just needs to move their finger

in a specific direction to open the app designated for that icon. Although the icons are laid out in the center of the screen, users don't necessarily have to "press" the displayed icon in order to open an app. Placing a finger anywhere on the screen enables the interface and the icon layout, and from that very location the user can move their fingers in any direction to open the desired app. The screen tracks the direction of the finger and does not require that an icon be clicked. Thanks to tactile feedback and voice commands, the user would know that their touch has been recognized and the required action would be performed.

The interface has been kept simple and minimal, yet all required functionalities have been provided. Navigating through multiple pages of apps is a breeze. Of course, the phone provides pretty much all standard features and applications that a regular smartphone has (favorites, full call logs, telephony, alarm clock, radio, voice recorder, calendar etc.). The in built camera also has currency recognition that can scan money bills and tell the user if it is a $5 or $100 bill. For people who like to read, audio books are available from the Library of Congress, Amazon, and others.

Project Ray has three models available that can be bought directly from their website, Amazon, and Odinmobile. There is also an Android simulator that can be downloaded from here if you want to see how it works.

Watch this demo video to see how easy it is to navigate the clutter free interface. A little bit of practice would make any user comfortable and using it on a daily basis would become a way of life.

There are more quick training videos on their Youtube channel.

Watch this video to see how others are using this phone.

Visit Project Ray for more details.

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Accessibility Enhancements in Google Apps

Google has made a ton of accessibility enhancements to some of its apps, viz., Drive, Calendar, Contacts, mobile apps (and others).  Some of the enhancements are:

- Including OCR in Google Drive to allow screen readers to read text from scanned PDFs and images.

- Over 450 webfonts launched in documents and presentations with basic accessibility support.

- Custom color picker added to Calendar to create better viewing experience for users with low vision.

- Basic keyboard controls improved for Gmail for mobile.

To see the extensive list of new features and bug fixes, visit this link.

Google has also created an Administrator Guide to Accessibility for technical administrators/ accessibility specialists etc. that gives them

- A summary of accessibility information for Google Apps.

- helps understand the current state of accessibility for each supported app in Google Apps.

- best practices for implementing Google Apps to support users' accessibility needs.

Source: Official Google Blog

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Call for Proposals for Assistive and Accessible Mobile Applications for 2012-13

Image Source: Wireless RERC website

The Wireless Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center (Wireless RERC), creator of access to wireless technologies to people with disabilities, is inviting developers to submit proposals to obtain financial support for creating assistive and/or accessibility apps for popular mobile platforms like iOS, Android, Blackberry 10, and Windows Phone.

The Wireless RERC's app development budget is approximately $90k, and the idea is to support the development of four new apps per grant year. The app will be released through every platform's appropriate channel (App Store, Google Play, etc.) or through Wireless RERC's App Factory. If the app is successful, the developer may be offered additional funding to add more features or to create the app for an additional platform.

Proposals will be evaluated on the following parameters:

• The app addresses an important accessibility or assistive technology need. 
• The app is unlikely to be developed in the commercial marketplace. 
• The app is technically feasible and the technical capacity required for development is readily demonstrable by the developer. 
• The projected lifetime of the app justifies the investment. 
• The projected lifetime of the app justifies the investment.The app complements and does not duplicate other apps in the marketplace or under development.

For the 2012-13 grant year, proposals need to be submitted by 15 September, 2012, and the final apps need to be delivered by August 10, 2013.

To read more details about the Call for Proposals, visit the website here.

Full document

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WalkSafe - Android App That Watches Traffic

A new Android app called WalkSafe has been designed to watch for oncoming traffic on a busy road when a person is trying to cross the road while talking on the phone. This app may help people with visual impairment help detect approaching vehicles and take appropriate action (stay where you are/ cross the road quickly). The app uses the back camera of the phone, image recognition and machine learning algorithms to detect oncoming traffic. It alerts users by producing a loud sound and vibration.

The app can detect vehicles from 50 meters away traveling at a speed of 30 mph. The one limitation of this app is that it only detects traffic coming from one direction, not both.

As of now, WalkSafe does not have a good rating on the Android Market ( 2.2/5 from 12 users). Looks like it still needs some substantial work for it to be more widely used.

Watch the video for a quick demo:

WalkSafe on Android Market

Source: Gizmodo

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Tablet As Braille Writer

Adam Duran and his mentors have created a unique app that allows a tablet to be used as a Braille writer. But.. how is it possible for a blind person to use a tablet with a just a flat/smooth touchscreen (and no physical keys) to type characters?

That's where this app stands out. Instead of making the user find keys with their fingertips the traditional way, this app finds the fingertips of the user and produces "keys" on the screen right under the fingertips which can then be used to type Braille characters. It doesn't matter how thick or thin the user's fingers are - the user just touches the screen with their eight fingers and the keys appear and orient themselves to the fingers. In case the user becomes disoriented, the app can be reset simply by lifting all fingers off the screen and putting them back down.

This app has not been launched to the masses yet.

Here's a video of this concept and app in action:

Hit the source link for more information.

Source: Engadget, Stanford University

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CATRA - Smartphone Accessory That Detects Cataract

CATRA is a highly portable, and easy to use accessory that attaches itself to a smart phone and easily detects cataract. Made from off the shelf components, and consisting of no moving parts, CATRA, developed by Ramesh Raskar's team at MIT, is being considered to be ideal for the developing world.

The user is made to look through the accessory and press a few buttons. Doing so allows the app to collect quantifiable data and create an attenuation map, which in turn helps detect cataracts.

Watch this (technical) video to know more about CATRA.

Note: Although the price of the accessory is not mentioned anywhere, the same team designed a similar accessory called NETRA for eye exams which costs $1.

For more technical details, and to read the paper, hit the source link.
Source: MIT

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ASL videos from IRS With Captioning

The IRS has a number of videos on Youtube that are very informative and beneficial for people who have low/ no vision, or hearing impairment. The videos feature IRS employees who are using ASL to provide information on tax filing, software for filing taxes, and other useful tips for tax payers, business owners, and leaders of non exempt organizations. All these videos have captions in English as well.

One very important piece of information they provide through one of these videos is that taxpayers can do their federal tax returns for free using tax software provided by companies in the Free File Alliance. Taxpayers in AL, AZ, AR, GA, ID, IA, KY, MI, MN, MO, MS, NY, ND, NC, OK, OR, RI, SC, VT, VA, WV can file their state tax returns for free as well. (Source).

If taxpayers do not have access to a computer, they can call 1- 800-829-1040 through relay service to get assistance with tax filing. For face to face assistance, taxpayers can contact their local IRS office (more info here).

Here is a video with some tips on what taxpayers should do if they do not receive their W2.



Here's another video that has information on IRS's iPhone and Android app (IRS2Go) to check refund status, and get other useful tax information.




To see all the IRS ASL videos with captions, please go to their Youtube channel here.

Source (@mpaciello)

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Talking Compass - Android App For People With No or Low Vision [Video]

I found this great app on the Android Marketplace called Talking Compass that helps people with low or no vision with directions. It is a simple compass app that speaks the direction the user is facing every two seconds. The latest app also speaks degrees along with the direction. This app is available for free on the Android Marketplace.

In order to use this app though, one must enable Text-to-speech on their phone which is a very simple process.

To enable Text-to-Speech, press the "Menu" button on the home screen, and then select "Settings".

On the Settings screen, scroll down to "Text-to-Speech" and select it.

If you do not have voice data installed, you will see "Install voice data" enabled. Select this option and follow the instructions to install voice data.

Once you are done installing voice data, come back to the "Text-to-speech" screen following the instructions listed above to hear an example, just to make sure that it works.

Although the app is called "Talking Compass", it installs as "1TalkingCompass", and the chances of it being the first in the list of your installed apps are highly likely. Don't go looking for it among the apps starting with "t".

Watch the video for a quick demo of the Talking Compass app.


Talking Compass for Android from Venkat Rao on Vimeo.

Cost: Free.

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