Episode 148: What’s New in E-Sight 4 & How Good is Google Look Out?

08/20/20 • 55 min

Double Tap Canada is joined by Jay Taylor this week as we take a look at the latest generation of the wearable video magnifier headset, the E-Sight 4. Jay has been helped greatly in the past by previous versions of the E-Sight headset, but just what has been improved in this latest release?

Steven is also excited this week by a news story of a new procedure that may help ‘quiet’ the effects of Nystagmus. He’ll be looking at the story of a Canadian man who has been able to drive after undergoing this surgery. Great news, if only Steven can remember the guy’s name...

Next, we’ll be taking the Google Look Out app for a test-drive. With features such as scene & object recognition, real-time OCR, document scanning, currency identification and rather impressive product recognition, could this be Androids answer to the fantastic iOS app Seeing AI?

Previous Episode

Episode 147: The Last of Us 2 & The Future of Accessible Gaming

Although the topic of accessible gaming has been discussed numerous times, its usually only focused around audio games for the smart phone or smart speaker. Well, this week Double Tap Canada is asking the question, “Can you really enjoy mainstream console games if you are blind or have low vision?”

Steven Scott & Shaun Preece are joined by 2 guests who think the answer is a resounding yes. Brandon Cole was one of the accessibility consultants involved in the development of the incredibly well received AAA game The Last of Us 2. He’ll be telling us exactly how he became involved and just what features were implemented to make the game totally playable by someone with no sight.
Also, from the YouTube channel PSImBlind, avid low vision gamer Agon will be describing the gameplay experience of the game and just what he feels the developer got right when it comes to accessibility and what he’d like to see added in the future.

Will Steven & Shaun be convinced that they too can enjoy console or mainstream gaming and just what can we expect when it comes to accessibility from future games?

Next Episode

Episode 149: Aira Announcement Reactions, TalkBack To Add More Gestures & Tartan Face Masks

Just when you thought you had heard everything there was to say about face masks, Double Tap Canada is here and Steven has found one to get excited about. No, not his tartan face mask, but a mask with built in bone conduction audio...

Moving quickly on, we are joined this week by JJ Meddaugh from Blind Bargains to discuss the recent announcement from Aira that they have now put in place limits to their previously unlimited free 5 minute call offer. Was this inevitable and always a short-term deal or has the offer been abused by users? We’ll be discussing the topic and also hearing some opinions from the community.

Next up we’ll be looking at what’s coming up in the next version of Android. One of the most interesting points, from an accessibility aspect, is that the Android screen reader TalkBack is to get more gestures in the form of multi-finger taps etc. Good news for screen reader users, but are braille display users still being left behind when it comes to Android?

Finally, it’s on to virtual conferences. JJ was impressed with the NFB conference and wonders just what we can expect from CSUN. Also we’ll hear from listener Tiffany who seems less excited then Steven over the inclusion of QWERTY keyboards into braille displays like the Mantis Q40.