Archive for September, 2014

People Helping People

Monday, September 29th, 2014

In this podcast, Robert and Allison Speak with Akash Khanolkar. Akash is a junior Information Systems major at Carnegie Mellon University. He is developing an iPhone app called CrowdViz which will allow people who are blind to connect with sighted volunteers for assistance. The app connects people using Apple’s streaming video service called FaceTime.

Akash describes his vision of how the service will work. We discuss several use cases for such a service.

For more information, and to provide Akash with feedback, take a look at the
CrowdViz
website.

We invite you to
Email
us with your comments and questions as well.

We are excited about the possibilities for this innovative project and wish Akash and his partners all the best.

Play

Follow the Dream

Tuesday, September 23rd, 2014

In this Tech Doctor episode, Allison and Robert speak with Chelsea Cook. Chelsea is a senior Physics major with minors in Astronomy and Mathematics at Virginia Tech University. Since elementary school, Chelsea has dreamed of becoming an astronaut. Chelsea’s passion for space exploration and her love of astronomy have in no way been dampened by her blindness.

In the podcast, Chelsea explains some of the challenges and creative solutions that have emerged as she pursues her scientific education. She describes how the accessible iOS touch-screen has helped her understand spatial relationships and how VoiceOver accessibility on the Mac has enabled her to more efficiently work with spreadsheet data.

To learn more about how Chelsea does her work, check out this
Virginia Tech TEDX Video presentation
that Chelsea recorded in November of 2013. You can learn more about Chelsea and her work by reading
This Article
which Chelsea published in the January 2013 NFB Monitor. While participating in an internship at Space Telescope, Chelsea developed some images which were recently published in
This iBook.

Robert and Allison are confident that Chelsea has a bright future ahead. After listening to this podcast, you will certainly agree.

Thanks Chelsea, and keep us posted.

Play

September 9th Apple Event

Friday, September 12th, 2014

In this Tech Doctor podcast, Allison and Robert discuss the September 9th Apple event where the new
iPhone,
Apple Pay
and
Apple Watch
were presented for the first time.

Just in case you can’t tell from listening, Robert and Allison are very excited about these new products.

Play