At RealSAM our mission has been to empower individuals living with sight loss using innovative technology that makes a difference in everyday life. We aim to always prioritize accessibility, and in light of Blindness Awareness Month we want to share our enthusiasm for the future by shining a light on technology that’s breaking barriers for the visually impaired community.

Smart Technology for the Visually Impaired

There’s no other way to say it. Navigating the world with low vision or total blindness is difficult. There are many things that you don’t have control over. You can’t easily get to where you need to go, you can’t always read what you need to know, and it’s painful when your lack of vision prevents you from doing things for the ones you love.

It’s difficult, but not impossible. In whatever stage of life we’re in, and whatever degree of vision we have, technology is making success more accessible.

Artificial intelligence AI is technology that’s breaking barriers for thousands of blind and visually impaired people all over the world. AI has the power to make things that were previously only accessible by sight now accessible to people with limited or no sight at all.

To put things simply, in today’s digital age, computers are capable of problem solving—and for the visually impaired person, it’s about getting information without seeing, and being able to do things without needing sight.

RealThing AI and RealSAM Devices

AI is continuing to develop; it’s being utilized by different companies and it’s becoming integrated more and more into devices, apps, and other digital products.

RealThing AI is leading in using award winning AI technology to eliminate barriers for the blind and visually impaired. By designing assistive technology that relies on AI, RealSAM devices make it possible for visually impaired users to easily interact and control their mobile phones—something that’s challenging for many visually impaired users when faced with the complexity of today’s smartphones and touch screens.

AI Empowers Users in Everyday Life

AI has many different helpful applications for blind and visually impaired people. If you know about object and text recognition, you have an idea of how AI can be helpful in everyday situations for people with low vision. It’s AI technology that allows the computer to detect objects and text in pictures and provide the user with description that could be read by a screen reader, or an app specifically designed for the purpose. For example, you can take a picture of a cereal box and AI can tell you what it is you’re holding. You can take a picture of your surroundings and get a description of what’s around you.

RealSAM devices have these object and text recognition features included with their video magnifier app. This is helpful for everyday tasks like cooking, identifying labels, reading mail, and so much more.

One thing that’s unique about RealSAM devices is the way AI is used to enable users total control by voice. This makes it easier for people who would have difficulty reading and navigating a touch screen by sight, to do what they want to do on their phones. They can simply say a command like, ‘Add a contact,’ ‘Call my sister,’ and ‘Read my messages.’ Additionally, users can have access to information by asking a question like, ‘What’s the forecast?’ or ‘What’s my location?’

A Brighter Future

AI is improving every day. For example, AI has been capable of identifying items on a menu, or even reading you the whole thing, but today, it’s capable of answering a question like, ‘What’s the cheapest appetizer?’ AI can find this information and then answer follow up questions like, ‘What ingredients does that dish contain?’ AI can go beyond telling you that you’re looking at a car. It can describe it to you and tell you what type of car it is. As it improves, its capability to providing assistance with everyday living is a tremendous step towards independence.

This smart technology is exciting. During Blindness Awareness Month, it’s worth noting that we can look forward to more progress when AI is being used to develop solutions for people with sight loss. After all, technology is meant to make life easier. And when it’s being used to improve accessibility instead of creating barriers, we can look forward to a brighter, more inclusive future.

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Getting a new cell phone should be exciting, but these devices can be daunting when you must go through so many steps to start using them. Most smartphones have only 3 tactile buttons, and once you’ve figured out how to power them on, you need to know to triple tap the power button or long press the volume keys or take some other action to activate accessibility.

Once you’ve activated the screen reader, you will go through page after page of set up where you will have to make choices, agree to terms, and allow permissions. You may not even completely understand some of the terms or choices, but you must make selections before you can begin using your device.

After the long set up process, you finally make it to the home screen and now you can call someone to let them know you have a new mobile—but wait, how do you get to the call app?

It can take time to learn how to use gestures to navigate through numerous apps. For some, it might be physically challenging or difficult to remember gestures like swiping left and right to go from app to app, doing a two-finger swipe up to speak the entire screen and so many others.

If you’re looking for an easy way to talk to your loved ones and stay connected to friends and support, the RealSAM Pocket is an amazing smartphone that eliminates these complications. It’s especially designed for blind and visually impaired people looking for a smartphone that’s easy to use.

With Pocket, there’s no need to go through a bunch of steps to activate accessibility. Right out of the box, it’s fully voice-operated and will give you prompts and feedback every step of the way. It has all the capabilities of a smartphone, allowing you to make calls, send messages, get support, use assistive tools, and even access news and entertainment—without having to learn how to use gestures to navigate.

With voice recognition and a simple interface, you can take control of the RealSAM Pocket by tapping one button and using your own words to say what you would like it to do. There’s no need to do a four-finger tap to select the first thing on the screen or keep swiping left and right to find the call app—with the one and only “tap to talk” button you can tell Pocket to make a call.

You wouldn’t have to navigate through a bunch of other apps to add contacts or send messages. You can use the same “tap to talk” to tell Pocket to do all these things and more, for you—it’s a simple solution that keeps you connected.

By Guenivir Kendrick

The post A Simple Solution with “tap to talk” on the RealSAM Pocket appeared first on RealSAM USA.

My husband and I provided services for those who were blind and visually impaired living and working in our community. We ended up being the “go to” people for transportation, shopping, cleaning, organizing, online and AT assistance, and so much more—once, even searching for a perfect pet! We truly loved our work and often our clients became good friends.

Help with phones was a frequent request. We experienced many transitions from home phones and flip phones that talked, to smartphones with inaccessible apps, complicated screen readers, and overwhelming settings. These transitions were daunting experiences, especially for the seniors. On the one hand, they were eager to try out what everyone else was excited about. On the other hand, they now needed to make calls on a flat device that supposedly did a whole bunch of other things and had no tactile buttons. There were gestures, taps and menus to memorize.

At their providers’ retail stores, they were presented with the latest and greatest without any consideration for accessibility. We spent a lot of time setting up and going through the steps of getting their phones to do what phones are supposed to do—make calls!

After gaining confidence with making and answering calls, they needed access to the phone numbers of the people they wanted to talk to. Adding contacts was a challenge. It took time and a lot of practice for them to be able to do this independently. Some Brailled step by step instructions. Others recorded sessions of us guiding them through the process. There was a misconception that a smartphone’s voice activated digital assistance could do this. It was a barrier that there was no simple way to manage their contacts.

Today, RealSAM is making it easy by making accessibility a priority. Their friendly and easy to use voice-operated phones are real solutions for people struggling with conventional devices.

RealSAM also takes the stress out of buying a phone. It can be done over the phone or online. RealSAM’s excellent customer support will take the time to guide you every step of the way, from ordering and setting up, to helping you get the hang of your new phone.

Unlike having to learn complex accessibility features, RealSAM phones are fully voice operated. There’s no need to memorize taps, gestures, and menus—there’s just the “tap to talk” button. You simply, “tap to talk” and the phone will make a little chime to let you know it’s listening. Then you tell it what you want it to do, “Call…” and it will do it for you. Having one button to deal with and being able to use your voice to do almost everything enables people to use their devices with ease and confidence.

And yes, it’s possible to add contacts by voice. Just “tap to talk”. It will ask you for the name and the phone number, then add your contact to the list. It’s just as easy to search, edit, and delete contacts by voice. If you’re like me and you have a lot to add, RealSAM has an accessible customer portal where contacts can be added in or uploaded from a previous device.

Having gone through these experiences, it’s exciting for me to see seniors living with sight loss regain their independence using RealSAM phones.

By Guenivir Kendrick

The post RealSAM – Making a Real Difference for Seniors Living with Sight Loss appeared first on RealSAM USA.

Two helpful features include global time and date and global weather. Both tools are available on the RealSAM Pocket—and yes, they are accessible by voice.

Global Time & Date

RealSAM can tell you what time it is where you are and anywhere else in the world.

Just press the “tap to talk” button and ask, “What time is it?” RealSAM will automatically know that you’re asking for your location and will tell you the time date where you are.

Ask what time it is in major cities. Press “tap to talk” and ask, “What time is it in New York?” “What time is it in London?” “What time is it Tokyo?”

Even if it’s not a popular city, add the name of the state or country and RealSAM will be able to give you the time and date for that location. Ask, ‘What time is it in Colorado Springs, Colorado?” “What time is it in Hackensack New Jersey?” “What time is it in Port Antonio Jamaca?”

RealSAM will tell you the time and date like this, “The time is 17 minutes past 5 AM on Wednesday, June 28, at Washing District of Columbia, United States.”

Do you have family and friends around the world? You’ll be able to get in touch at just the right moment when you use Pocket to find out what time it is where they are.

Global Weather

Will the weather be right for a walk in the park? Get the forecast from your RealSAM Pocket and make your plans for the day.

Press the “tap to talk” button and ask, “What is the weather?” RealSAM can tell you the weather where you are and the forecast for the day.

Do you have plans for the week? You can plan your activities accordingly when you ask, “What is the forecast?” RealSAM can provide five-day weather forecasts. You’ll be able to find out if it’s clear or rainy and all the highs and lows for the next five days.

If you’re taking off for vacation, it’s just as easy to ask RealSAM for the weather forecast anywhere around the globe. Just “tap to talk” and ask, “What is the forecast for Myrtle Beach, South Carolina?” RealSAM will take just a moment to find the coordinates then give you the specific forecasts for the location you’re inquiring about.

RealSAM aims to make information accessible

RealSAM aims to help people with easy-to-use devices that make the world more accessible. If you’re living with sight loss or other disabilities, you can use your voice to find out more with the RealSAM Pocket.

By Guenivir Kendrick

The post Acessible Global Time, Date & Weather on your RealSAM Pocket appeared first on RealSAM USA.

Prescription labels contain critical information such as the patient’s name, the name of the medicine, the dosage, instructions on how often to take the medicine and the contact information of the pharmacy filling the prescription. In the past, all this information only existed in one format, namely as a sticker label printed with small font.

People who are blind or visually impaired either had difficulty or were completely unable to read these labels and had to rely on the help of sighted assistance or on guesswork. This posed a significant safety risk and many became seriously ill because they took the wrong medication or the wrong dose.

Fortunately, with the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in 1990, pharmacies were required to provide auxiliary aids and services to customers with disabilities, including accessible prescription labels.

Labels in Alternative Formats

Today, pharmacies can fill prescriptions with labels in alternative formats such as Braille, large print and audio labels.

Braille labels are embossed on long transparent stickers that are partially overlayed on the bottles’ original printed labels. In this way the information is accessible by touch for the blind person, and still readable for sighted family members, pharmacists, and medical providers.

Large print labels are available for people who have low vision. Since the information takes up more space depending on the font size, large print labels are created as booklets that are placed on medicine bottles.

Audio labels make it possible for blind and visually impaired customers to listen to what is on the prescription labels. RFID tags containing the prescription information are attached to medication bottles. Then a specially designed device or app on a smartphone can be used to scan the tag and read the information aloud.

Technology and Visual Interpreters

Text-to-speech technology is also improving prescription label accessibility. There are many different apps that can extract text from images, so someone can simply take a picture of their prescription label and have it read aloud on their smartphone.

Lastly, services that provide visual interpretation are another option. Instead of waiting for a sighted person to be physically present, a blind or visually impaired person can get on the phone, at any time, with a trained agent that will use the phone’s camera to read them the information. Ask your pharmacy today about additional programs that can help you or someone you care for take their medication safely and independently.’

By Guenivir Kendrick with help from ChatGPT

REFERENCES:

American Council of the Blind. (2023). President’s Message: More on Accessible Prescription Labels. American Council of the Blind. Retrieved March 20, 2023, from https://www.acb.org/content/president%E2%80%99s-message-more-accessible-prescription-labels-kim-charlson

American Council of the Blind. (2023). Spoken Rx™ “Talking” Prescription Labels Now Available in all CVS Pharmacy Locations. Spoken Rx™ “Talking” Prescription Labels Now Available in All CVS Pharmacy Locations | American Council of the Blind. Retrieved March 20, 2023, from https://acb.org/cvs-spoken-rx

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