Benjamin Levicek In several parts of the Technika bez očin series, we focused on applications for people with specific needs, specifically we talked about applications intended for the visually impaired. These included recognizers of banknotes, objects, texts and special navigation. But how can these software be used in practice, and in what situation is it better to rely on the help of a sighted person?
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Even the best application will not serve you
It is true that technology has moved forward by leaps and bounds in recent years. However, if you think that this can make blind people less independent, I can't quite agree. Yes, a mobile phone makes many things easier, but on the other hand, it is still not a gadget that will cook for you, take you to a certain place or find clothes. Although it can speed up your work immensely, if a person with a visual handicap does not create a system, even the best program will not help them.
Be My Eyes or become the eyes of the blind:
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Text recognition and navigation programs play an important role in the phones of most blind people
Not only me, but also many of my visually impaired friends, in addition to consuming content, most often use their smartphone for text recognition and navigation. As for text, it is probably the most common content that is unreadable for the blind and encountered. Whether it's official letters, updating a computer or an inaccessible coffee machine, you often need help with your mobile phone. Navigation is then an integral part of the visually impaired who move around places where they do not know the route well. As a sighted person, it is possible to "peek" a certain way, especially for completely blind people, but it is not feasible. Even when you use navigation as a blind person, you need to be able to use a white stick perfectly, focus on the road, and take extra care. Your phone won't help you with that.
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Color, product and banknote recognizers are useful as an aid, not as a primary source of information
Whether as a blind person you sort clothes by color, money by value or individual products in the refrigerator, mobile applications are a great helper. However, the best way to achieve order is not to pull out your phone every time for recognition, but to sort your individual things. After that, you will only use your smartphone when you are not sure, and you will gradually discover that you can recognize most items of clothing or packaging from individual products stored in the refrigerator by touch. Shopping for food or clothes is safer with a sighted person. On the one hand, as a blind person, it is difficult to find your way around the store, and you will certainly not be able to take out goods from individual shelves, take pictures of them and send them home to a sighted person. It is then possible to buy both food and clothes online, but especially for clothes, it is better if someone who can see helps you with the selection.
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I definitely didn't mean to say with this article that recognition apps are useless. But it is important to specify their meaning. Personally, I have a lot of such software on my phone, but in most situations it is better to sort your own things. Applications can be used as a kind of aid for sorting itself.
