SoylentNews

Phoenix666 [soylentnews.org] writes:

BBC [bbc.co.uk]:

Dr Asakawa is behind early digital Braille innovations and created the world's first practical web-to-speech browser. Those browsers are commonplace these days, but 20 years ago, she gave blind internet users in Japan access to more information than they'd ever had before.

Now she and other technologists are looking to use AI to create tools for visually impaired people.

For example, Dr Asakawa has developed NavCog, a voice-controlled smartphone app that helps blind people navigate complicated indoor locations.

Low-energy Bluetooth beacons are installed roughly every 10m (33ft) to create an indoor map. Sampling data is collected from those beacons to build "fingerprints" of a specific location.

Daredevil [cbsnews.com] should soon be available to help Dr Asakawa with her work.

Original Submission