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Handhelds Hardware

Mobile Phone for the Blind 114

Posted by michael from the ringtone dept.
Anonymous Coward writes "Owasys - a Spanish company - is launching a mobile phone for the blind next week. No visual display as a speech synthesiser reads everything that appears on the screen out loud. Also speaks the name and number of incoming callers."
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Mobile Phone for the Blind More

Mobile Phone for the Blind

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  • I stand corrected. (Score:5, Funny)

    by Locky ( 608008 ) on Sunday November 23, 2003 @06:23AM (#7541207) Homepage
    Here I thought Mobile Phones couldn't get anymore annoying.
    • That's exactly what I was thinking. But just think: Now when you hear people's cell phones during a movie, you'll know the name and number of the person who disturbed you, so you can call them at 4:00AM and tell them how much you appreciated their call.

      • Re:I stand corrected. (Score:5, Funny)

        by KarmaPolice ( 212543 ) on Sunday November 23, 2003 @07:24AM (#7541335) Homepage
        That's exactly what I was thinking. But just think: Now when you hear people's cell phones during a movie, [...]
        Blind people at the movies?? Are you drunk?
        • ok, let's try with a classical music concert
        • they sometimes do visit the movies.

          really, no bullshitting. sometimes though they're arranged special helpers who tell them what's going on if you can't figure it out from the speeches.

          • Blind people can participate in many areas of the world that once were closed to them. Unfortunately, places like Slashdot continue to erect barriers that a blind person cannot overcome. Have you attempted to register for an account on Slashdot recently? You'll notice a graphic of some letters that the system expects you to type in an edit-field. The graphic is completely inaccessible to a blind person.

            I realize that this part of my message is off-topic, but I have several friends who are blind, who are q

            • Gee whiz, you could help them instead of complaining.

              The reason these systems don't work for blind people is because of friends like you.
              • The reason these systems don't work for blind people is because of friends like you.

                His blind friends shouldn't have to beg for someone to come over and help them when signing up for a new website.

                By providing assistance, he wouldn't fix the problem- just perpetuate it. Sometimes providing a workaround just helps the underlying problem survive and grow ever-larger.

                • <i>His blind friends shouldn't have to beg for someone to come over and help them when signing up for a new website.

                  By providing assistance, he wouldn't fix the problem- just perpetuate it. Sometimes providing a work around just helps the underlying problem survive and grow ever-larger.</I>

                  When I have offered to help, I received a response similar to what Minna Kirai posted. I also participated in a brief exchange of e-mail with Randall Swartz, who authored Ravaged by Robots [webtechniques.com] to alert him to

                  • (I know it's offtopic but...) BTW, the Slashdot page organization (tables inside tables inside tables) is almost impossible to understand when using screen/buffer readers.

                    Fortunately the proposed xhtml/css way of generating the pages is much, much better.

            • a possibile workaround could be, an audio version of the 'key' along with the graphic. using slightly distorted audio, it could bypass any voice recognition software, as the slightly distorted graphic would bypass any OCR.

              and worse case scenerio the few blind people without speakers (there may be some, with braille readers, or some other non-audio reader) could send an e-mail, that could be humanly determined wether it was a generated submittal..

              (My father is legally blind, and uses readers also)
              • I occasionally have thought that they could use digital certificates (like those from Verisign, etc.) to authenticate themselves. I could be wrong, but I don't think that spammers would want to hassle with the large numbers of certificates that they would need for all of their bogus e-mail addresses.
                • neither would the smaller companies who would need to purchase certificates, or people who ran individual ones. (and once a workaround gets in place, all that is worthless anyways)

                  If the solution is worse than the problem itself, then it's not a solution :)
                  • That's the part that bothers me about the idea. I'm not sure what other ideas might work, but I'd love to see some discussion of the problem. Few people like spammers and even my blind friends complain loudly about them and agree that the sties, including Slashdot, should be able to prevent them from gaining any advantages.
          • Of course, for blind people - subtitles suck. My brother tells me of watching Star Trek 6 with a friend and his friend wondering about all the Klingon dialogue. He didn't even know subtitles existed.
        • No. Have you never heard of audio description? Turn on the Simpsons on your local Fox affiliate one Sunday night and switch your TV's audio to the SAP channel -- assuming your local affiliate is properly transmitting the SAP channel (some don't) -- you will hear audio descriptions of what is happening on screen in the gaps between dialogue.

          Kind of like what closed captioning does for the deaf. It's just nowhere near as common, though.

          These two technologies (audio description, closed captioning) are a

      • What would a blind person do in a movie theatre exactly? you dolt!

        • um.. maybe enjoy a movie?

          (Whap!)

          Just because someone is visually impaired does not mean that they cannot enjoy activities a sighted person can.

          What about a ballgame for instance... Actually Watching is only a portion of the whole experience. The crack of the bat, the roar of the crowd, the smell of popcorn, the taste watered down beer, spending time with family and friends.

          I'm guessing that you're the kind of person who doesen't own a radio, because you have a tv, or always have to have the newest and t
    • Here I thought Mobile Phones couldn't get anymore annoying.
      This is for anyone that's seen Trigger Happy TV [google.com].
      YEAH HI. YEAH. IM... SHIT I DON'T KNOW WHERE I AM.

  • Hopefully it'll sell well! (Score:3, Funny)

    by SkOink ( 212592 ) on Sunday November 23, 2003 @06:25AM (#7541216) Homepage
    I mean, those guys a must be pretty deep in the hole after trying to market that cell-phone for the deaf... ::ducks::

    • Deaf enabled phone (Score:5, Informative)

      by SWroclawski ( 95770 ) <serge@wrocLIONlawski.org minus cat> on Sunday November 23, 2003 @06:50AM (#7541269) Homepage

      Actually, my girlfriend is deaf and carries a cell phone. It works pretty well.

      She has one of those T-Mobile Sidekick [t-mobile.com] ones where you connect the Internet (web browser, AIM, and even an available SSH client).

      It's actually quite useful. She can get her email, AIM and SMS messages in one place. There are even AIM -> TTY [lormarlogic.com] services so she can make "voice" calls on the road.

      It's still a phone too. So if there's some sort of emergency and a hearing person is there- they could use it.

      - Serge
    • All the deaf people I know have mobiles. I don't know about the US but since everyone in Australia uses GSM we can all send and receive SMSs.
    • Hmmmm. Lip reading, the next weird thing we could teach our machines to do.
    • Actualy, cell phones are a God send for the deaf community. For the 1st time in history, the deaf can actualy use a phone. How? Via SMS.

      While the voice part of a phone is useless to them, they can get in touch and if need be get help by SMSing other. Also, instead of hualing around additional pen and paper to write out a message to communicate with those who don't understand sign language, they can just type (thumb?) it out and show the screen to whoever needs to see the message.

      I don't know about where y

  • Slight privacy issue (Score:3, Funny)

    by RighteousFunby ( 649763 ) <joe&vjoebaldwin,co,uk> on Sunday November 23, 2003 @06:25AM (#7541219) Homepage
    Just imagine...at home, wife and kids asleep, when all of a sudden your phone bellows:

    "DIALLING QUICKDIAL 1: HOT HORNY HOUSEWIFE LINE"

    Or if you're playing away from home...

    "Contact MISS PERT BREASTS is calling!"

    in front of wifey.
    Oh, the possibilities :)

  • Done before... (Score:5, Informative)

    by admbws ( 600017 ) on Sunday November 23, 2003 @06:25AM (#7541221) Homepage Journal
    BTexact [btexact.com] did something similar [bbc.co.uk] ages ago (SMS for the blind, actually).

  • talx (Score:2, Interesting)

    by n__0 ( 605442 )
    my blind friend was given tha tlink the other day and didnt quite like it. obviously the competitions good but the best solution at the moment is a nokia 3650 and a program called talx, thuogh its more expensive at the moment it wont be when the phone drops in price. he only got it recently and it made a big difference over having to give the phone to friends to read his smses.

  • No visual display... (Score:2, Informative)

    by mphase ( 644838 )
    "No visual display as a speech synthesiser reads everything that appears on the screen out loud." The device doesn't have a display because everything is read out via a speech synthesiser...or does it actually have a screen... Poor writing, sloppy editing.

  • This should make Messaging Spam entertaining... (Score:4, Funny)

    by Maestro4k ( 707634 ) on Sunday November 23, 2003 @06:39AM (#7541246) Journal
    I can see it now, you're sitting in the board room, the CEO is giving a talk about how the company's needing to cut costs and suddenly your phone beeps with an incoming message which it proceeds to read to you...

    "Incoming message: 'Did you know you can increase your penis size overnight? ....'"

    Of course then you'd at least be able to prove monetary damages due to the spam, since you lost your job over it....

    Funny, but rather scary too.

  • I'm surprised this wasn't out long ago (Score:3, Insightful)

    by ear2ground ( 719594 ) on Sunday November 23, 2003 @06:55AM (#7541283)
    Why is this just making news?

    Sounds like a good idea

    I have a feeling there may be more of a need than for those who drive around with a cell phone in one hand and a latte in the other.
    • there may be more of a need than [sic] for those who drive around with a cell phone in one hand

      Ah, well, here in the UK, they've got 7 more days to do that before it becomes an offence.

      If you're in the UK and you drive and use a phone, remember you've only got one week left to get a dashboard cradle and hands-free kit fitted - don't get caught out.

      UKP30 per offence at first, but they're looking at changing that to UKP60 and 3 points within a year.

      Fantastic news!
      • you've only got one week left to get a dashboard cradle and hands-free kit fitted - don't get caught out.

        That's rather silly. It's a feel-good partial-solution... something which doesn't threaten cellphone business interests in any way (and only helps them sell more kits)

        Studies [uri.edu] show [transport2000.ca] that the greatest danger of telephoning and driving is not from having one hand distracted with a machine (because many folks safely handle CDs and eat food while driving), but the mental load [apa.org] of being engaged in a convers
        • It's still foolishly dangerous to use a phone while you should be driving. No dispute there at all. These people scare me when I'm near them on the road. Especially at roundabouts.

          But at least this is a step in the right direction - distracted with both hands free is better than distracted with a phone in one hand or a shoulder hunched so that one arm can't move freely and the head can't turn to look around. Next, we need to persuade people not to use the things at all, but that will be harder and take
      • remember you've only got one week left to get a dashboard cradle and hands-free kit fitted

        I my country it has been illegal for quite some time. I never bought a real handsfree kit. The cheap ones look crappy and I don't want that in my (expensive) car. There are the good ones that go for around 1000Euro, but I'm not willing to afford that for they odd call I could get in my car.

        The easy solution is this: let the goddanmed phone ring while you drive. If you can (not on a highway), just drive to th

  • ALWAYS design for the lowest common denominator! (Score:4, Insightful)

    by ebusinessmedia1 ( 561777 ) * on Sunday November 23, 2003 @07:04AM (#7541298)
    All consumer electronics devices should be manufactured - at base - with the lowest-common-denominator user in mind.

    If a device is made to enable someone with physical challenges, it should be a cinch to use for anyone who isn't challenged.

    From there, a device could be addended with options, for those that want them. In fact, devices built this way would have a much higher "cool" factor than most of the poorly-desogned products we see today. Witness all the excitment every time an "easy-to-use" product comes to market...that alone makes my point.

    If one considers that virtually all consumers will be physically challenged at some point in their lives (broken bones, aging, etc.), why shouldn't manufacturers be building devices with a "fail-safe" user mode that permits limted, but functional use?

    Frankly, this design strategy alone would revolutionize consumer product manufacture in many sectors (auto, electronics, etc), and solve many of the "user-unfriendly" problems that plague consumers today.

    Unfortunately, what we see today is engineering-driven design that frustrates all but the most determined users, and even those face barriers to seamless use that simply should not exist.

    • Except that the assumption is that someone who is physically handicapped in one area is less capable in others, when in fact, they may have had to become more adept in handling certain things as a result of the limitation.

      As such, perhaps those people should be consulted not because they represent a lowest-common-denominator user but instead they may provide the vision of how the applications could really take off.

    • What? I don't think it's THAT unreasonable for manufacturers to assume a certain level of physical ability when they design a product. Think of all the disabilities a person could have; deafness, blindness, broken bones, no legs, no arms, cerebal palsy, how the hell can you design a car that's able to be driven by someone with any disability?? It would need to be virtually mind-controlled, unless you're suggesting that cars should be able to be driven by those in a vegetative state.
      • S t r e t c h that mind.

        Think where how many of these posts wouldn't even exist if Hawking hadn't been able to see what was going to happen to him as his illness progressed.

        He started developing his own means of communication - taking the best of what had already had been developed - and adapting it to his needs.

        If the technology had stood still at that time where he was - think of how much we would lose.

        A mind-controlled car is pretty much what people have shown they would like - or a mindless one.
      • 'unless you're suggesting that cars should be able to be driven by those in a vegetative state'

        i'm like that every morning on the way to work, i honestly have no idea how i get there...
    • Well, niche devices are generally more expensive, like this $250 phone. Also, I don't know anybody who would want or use the features on this phone, unless they WERE blind. It's easy to glance at your cell phone screen if it vibrates during a meeting or during class.

      Before reading the article, I was hoping it would say there was a active changing haptic brail system. (read: bumps that move) but I didn't find it. This phone is a step in the right direction, regardless if there have been products similar in
    • If a device is made to enable someone with physical challenges, it should be a cinch to use for anyone who isn't challenged.

      Yeah, because we folks with functional limbs find tongue-joysticks a piece of cake to use.

      And I can't even tell you how much easier I can read braille as opposed to a quick glance at a screen...

      Of course, we might have a problem accomodating both the deaf and the blind... Perhaps we could make everything communicate via pheromones. "Hey, did you just piss on me?" "Nah, just my
      • tongue-joysticks a piece of cake to use.

        An interesting statement - food juxtaposed with that ability.

        It seems the kernel of the statement - good humor aside - is:

        Sorry, but the "cripple the product to accomodate crippled users" PC BS kinda peeves me. Humans have a basic level of sensory and motor capability. Where convenient, we can make life easier for those lacking some of those capabilities, but in most cases, a multi-sensory product will do its job more efficiently.

        First, who are you apologi
        • First, who are you apologizing to?

          A general sort of "I know this will offend some folks, but I intend to say it anyway" apology.


          So I don't see in what ways products are supposed to be "crippled" to accommodate "crippled users".

          The phone in question seems like a good example. Most of us could use it, and it also makes life more convenient to the blind. However, most of us would prefer an ordinary old text+sound+vibrate phone over one that could only communicate via sound.


          I'm curious if this is a
          • About the apology need - I still don't see the need - I think things should be said - And then we find out who is offended by the content - By using terms like 'PC BS' - that has a 'hot-button' appeal to a certain number of people (like the term - 'hot-button' does to others :))

            I still think a good engineer actually designs with the thought in mind that we are all employing many senses all the time - leading me back to the parent - that no - products are not being crippled by the including the needs of th
            • leading me back to the parent - that no - products are not being crippled by the including the needs of the 'crippled' - in fact it probably makes life better for the rest of us

              Fine, say they're not "crippled" then. Instead, we could say they are "six times as expensive to account for features fewer than 1% of customers will ever need".

              Great!
              • What I'm saying goes back to the earlier post - that the multi-sensory experience is what many users want -Like being able to put that phone in vibrate mode - This is not as a result of people with a lack of those sensory inputs thinking of design.

                I mean imagine if a group of humans 'suddenly' evolved some new sensory ability - it doesn't matter what - if it appeared everyone was going in that direction, it would be a smart move to consult with those people as to what the experience was like for them.

                My
    • All consumer electronics devices should be manufactured - at base - with the lowest-common-denominator user in mind.

      That's an ambiguous statement. If you mean "all designers should be aware of the possible existence of LCD users", then it is so trivially true that it hardly bears saying. But if you mean "all products should be designed so that an LCD can use them", then you are completely insane.

      Frankly, this design strategy alone would revolutionize consumer product manufacture in many sectors (auto,
    • All consumer electronics devices should be manufactured - at base - with the lowest-common-denominator user in mind.

      They are - they're called consumers. You give them a piece of crap and they give you money.

  • Why would they only market it for the blind. This product should be highly recommended as car-kit. Most of current car-kits only allows you to communicate hands-free, but still involves manual operation and usage of the display.
  • i thought those disposable cell phones already do this?
  • ...does it sound like Stephen Hawking? If so, I may have to ask Santa for a new phone for christmas...

  • Special phone for... the blind? (Score:3, Interesting)

    by pla ( 258480 ) on Sunday November 23, 2003 @07:50AM (#7541384) Journal
    Last time I used one, phones used sound as a means of communication. You dial a number on the very position-standardized keypad (so even those with functional eyes can usually dial a phone without looking), and speak into the handset. The person you called then uses their end to do the same, and you can both hear each other.

    It would seem that no one else has noticed this seeming absurdity yet...

    "Normal" phones do not significantly hinder the blind! Wake up, people! This has no obvious purpose other than yet another way to bilk medicaid on another very expensive specialty device that actually has less functionality than a normal version of the same product (no screen? That probably halved the cost to the manufacturer).

    And for those who would mention SMS or caller ID, I have a friend who already has an ordinary cell phone that will read those to him (no idea on the model, but nothing special). So even those two functions don't discriminate against the blind.
    • Last time I used one, phones used sound as a means of communication. You dial a number on the very position-standardized keypad (so even those with functional eyes can usually dial a phone without looking), and speak into the handset.

      You don't even need to do that. Some of the newer phones have voicedial, and polyphonic ringing tone you can associate with people in your address book.
    • You dial a number on the very position-standardized keypad (so even those with functional eyes can usually dial a phone without looking)

      Exactly! I don't know about other cellphones, but mine has a little "feelable" dot on the "5" key. If you know where the 5 is, you know where all other keys are. Low-tech solution for the blind and people with bad visibility.

  • Will it sound like Stephen Hawkings?
    "Hey, how did my phone figure out how to escape an event horizon?"
  • No visual display as a speech synthesiser reads everything that appears on the screen out loud.

    Umm... if there is no visual, how does the speech synthesiser read off the screen?

  • TXT'ing? (Score:3, Interesting)

    by FyRE666 ( 263011 ) on Sunday November 23, 2003 @08:24AM (#7541443) Homepage
    Although this is undoubtably a good idea, the article doesn't mention whether the phone will translate "TXT talk", as used by just about everyone today, into actual speech. IE "HI M8, R U GONNA GO 2 the pub l8r?" etc. Hopefully the phone doesn't just spell out the text in this format...
    • Hopefully the phone doesn't just spell out the text in this format...

      Umm, isn't spelling out the text how you're supposed to read this stuff? It's not like there's an audible difference between "R U" and "are you"...
  • In Austria one of the UMTS providers offers a package for the deaf. ASAIK there is even content available in sign language. Otherwise the package offers video minutes at a very reduces rate allowing for video only communication all of the time.

    The URL of the provider is
    http://www.drei.at (in german, you might find the same at their UK branch at http://www.three.co.uk but maybe they don't offer this package)
  • As do their in-vehicle computer systems.

    All good stuff.
  • Now blind people will be able to talk on their cell phones while driving too! Damn!
    • hehe. you, me dear random stranger, have amused me, enough to get my lazy rear off the computer to go to sleep. I salute you, and fear the day you are rammed off the road by my blind aunt. cheers!
  • It's great how technology can level the playing field. Now the blind can use their cell phones while driving just like the rest of us. This is a great day.

  • So this idea comes from a Spanish company. For some reason I immediately pictured a phone with the voice one of those punch-drunk cats from a Speedy Gonzales cartoon saying "your seeestir in California says hhhhhhello'.

  • http://www.alvabraille.com/mpo/
  • Can you see me now? Good!
  • Yep...this is looking pretty attractive, even though my vision is fine.

    Why? Because it's a phone where the designers are actually paying attention to how the user interface works! I'd love to have that on my current phone.

    When the user interface is basically the image your company projects to the world, why do they apparently stick a solitary sophomore intern on the job of creating it? Wish I could program in my own interface.
  • Bigdog is a hero of the people. I think that cell phones are moving in the wrong direction, they should be made of wood.

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