[access-uk] Re: LookTel smartphone software
- From: Jackie Cairns <jackie.cairns@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: "access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 28 Apr 2010 12:32:52 +0000
My advice Barry, and anyone else come to that, is to Email Glenn directly at
glenn.tookey@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
It is worth saying at this point that I am leaving Sight and Sound in exactly
three weeks time to move to Northern Ireland to start a new life with Martin,
and set up my own business venture. I will, of course, still have close links
with S and S, and be around on lists.
So you all know as much as I do about LookTel, I have no privileged info or
input whatsoever regarding testing or development, (smile).
Jackie Cairns
Braille Specialist
Email: jackie.cairns@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sight and Sound Technology Ltd
Welton House North Wing
Summerhouse Road
Moulton Park
Northampton
NN3 6WD
Tel: 01604 798024
Mob: 07887 883815
www.sightandsound.co.uk
-----Original Message-----
From: access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of
Barry Toner
Sent: 28 April 2010 12:53
To: access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [access-uk] Re: LookTel smartphone software
Jackie,
How would one go about getting involved with the feedback?
I often find these testing processes are taken place within "who you know
circles", typically in England.
I'd certainly be interested and in-terms of a technical user would be qualified
for testing with my academic and personal background. So is there an
application for testing this product to make sure all the bugs are ironed out
or ... how does the selection process go?
Cheers,
Barry.
-----Original Message-----
From: access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of
Jackie Cairns
Sent: Wednesday, April 28, 2010 9:36 AM
To: access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [access-uk] Re: LookTel smartphone software
Having had a little play with Glenn's prototype yesterday, I can only compare
taking pictures and positioning the camera with K-Reader. So, on that basis, I
find K-Reader is quite specific in how you hold the phone. I found LookTel was
less so, and I simply more or less waved the thing at the tins Glenn had
positioned on his desk, and it told me what they were.
Similarly, I didn't have to line the camera up over the 20 quid he was
carefully guarding on his desk (smile). I just waved the LookTel at it, and it
told me it was £20.
I think the best way forward with this product is to keep an open mind and see
how it develops. There is still a long way to go yet before it is available to
purchase or subscribe to. It's a very interesting concept, but it is still in
beta, and we must try to keep a perspective on that at this time. It is
crucial to have user input and feedback given it is being aimed at a specific
market, so watch this space.
Jackie Cairns
Braille Specialist
Email: jackie.cairns@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Sight and Sound Technology Ltd Welton
House North Wing Summerhouse Road Moulton Park Northampton
NN3 6WD
Tel: 01604 798024
Mob: 07887 883815
www.sightandsound.co.uk
-----Original Message-----
From: access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of
Glenn Tookey
Sent: 28 April 2010 09:19
To: access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [access-uk] Re: LookTel smartphone software
Hi Carol et al
The issue is not the capacity of the phone, it is streaming real time video
back to a base station - normally your home pc which is also online connected
to the internet to allow the connection between the phone and the pc which
holds the library. If you had a million pictures in your library then it would
take a long time to search and find the image that it recognised, most people
would have hundreds , then it would work quickly in real time.
In terms of recognition of place / shop fronts - it is not really impacted
much by weather, the phone I am using has no flash and only a 3mb pixel camera,
it is more about seeing an image that the phone / base station recognise as
something that it has seen before and has been tagged with a description -
training we call it. As George says, the more images you take, the better the
recognition. For example, currency is best recognised when you take about 4 /5
images - as the differences between UK notes is really down to the number on
the note and the colour. It is not completely foolproof, taking pictures of
shop fronts depends upon you arriving at a place that you have taken an image
of before and the system recognising that view again. It works, but is less
capable of a correct response than for example a tin of baked beans which you
have imaged from a couple of views and would recognise next time by holding it
in your hand.
I have not been able to put it through its full paces yet, so we'll have to
wait a few weeks to get it to full Beta and then we will be out and about
getting feedback from the UK market. Remember, over 200 blind people in US have
been part of the development programme, especially for the touch screen
interface. I am keen to gain UK market feedback, but only when we have moved to
a point that everything works reliably, nothing worse than demoing technology
and finding it is not doing what it should.
As for costs, we are regularly told that the capital cost of products for this
industry are out of the reach of the normal person. A subscription model would
remove upfront cost and should help more people gain access.
Remember, this is not a stand alone product, it is a real time service - like
your electricity or telephone service, it has to be up an running 24 X 7, it
has to have support in place 24 X 7 - so it incurs costs from the service
providers in real time to support the service.
This is the first of new services and business models for a group of people who
have traditionally had to be one step behind technology development.
Hopefully over time with a service like this, this group of people can move
alongside their sighted peers.
Sermon over (Smile)
Glenn
-----Original Message-----
From: access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of
Carol Pearson
Sent: 27 April 2010 23:14
To: access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [access-uk] Re: LookTel smartphone software
So does that mean that the number of items you can store depends on the
capacity of your phone to keep "real time video"?
It's getting more interesting by the minute ... but who can justify those
prices?
--
Carol
carol.pearson29@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
On Twitter: http://twitter.com/songbird49a
---- Original Message ----
From: "Glenn Tookey" <Glenn.Tookey@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Tuesday, April 27, 2010 6:08 PM
Subject: [access-uk] Re: LookTel smartphone software
> The answer is yes, once you have trained it to recognise something
> then whenever it sees it again (and the phone is in recognition mode)
> then it will announce the title that you have given to the object. It
> does not matter where you are in the world as long as you have a data
> connection back to your base station library it will give you the
> information. The response is very quick.
>
> If you are in a place a long way from your base station and want to
> train an object you can do it locally on the phone and attach a voice
> tag from the mobile phone. This is transferred back to your base
> station. Next time it sees the object, it announce it using your own
> voice tag rather than the system voice that it uses for tags typed in
> on the base station. So, you go into the hotel and tag your hotel door
> number (remember it has to be something unique, every hotel door is
> the same apart from the
> number) and then just have to know where to point it at the hotel
> door to find out which is yours. You do not have to take a picture, it
> is real time video, so you just move the phone about until it makes
> the recognition.
> Not foolpoof, but dammed clever really!
>
> Glenn
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> [mailto:access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Amro Bilal
> Sent: 27 April 2010 17:27
> To: access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: [access-uk] Re: LookTel smartphone software
>
> Quite, George.
>
> A question about the product itself. I gathered from Glen's email that
> LookTel can be trained to recognise places as well as objects. Is that
> right? And if it is, then I can, say, take it with me overseas and
> train it to recognise the number on my hotel room door? Have I got
> this right or I'm fantasising now?
>
> If that level of recognition can be achieved with LookTel, and LookTel
> can be used basically anywhere that has a mobile phone network
> coverage, then IMHO this product has a lot of potential.
>
> Cheers,
> Amro
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> [mailto:access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of George Bell
> Sent: 27 April 2010 1:02 PM
> To: access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: [access-uk] Re: LookTel smartphone software
>
> Quite simply because what may be right for the American market, is
> very often not suitable for the U.K. market, even given the fact that
> 200 blind users in America have been working with the developers for
> the past year or so.
>
> And having now seen the LookTel myself, I can quite understand. This
> is why Glen Tookey, quite understandably, is regarding the U.K.
> version as an "Alpha", rather than "Beta". Many things do have to be
> Anglicised.
>
> Suffice to say that when Glen and his team feel the product is ready
> for the UK market, it will be revealed, and will not necessarily be
> the final version either, thus allowing any changes potential users
> may deem essential.
>
> All I will add is that what I saw was most impressive, to the point
> where having kept out of the phone market, I'm sorely tempted.
> It won't suit
> everyone by any means. If you have a sophisticated phone now, the
> extras offered may, or indeed may not, tempt you to upgrade.
>
> George.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> [mailto:access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Peter Beasley
> Sent: 27 April 2010 09:54
> To: access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: [access-uk] Re: LookTel smartphone software
>
> Why are they only testing Alpha software in this country because
> thee-mail I forwarded referred to Beta software.
>
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