Talking Technology with V I Labs

Apple has just announced new upgrades for their iPad Air and iPad Pro. The V I Labs team discuss what’s new, and what it all means for those with sight loss. Support the Show.

The power and potential of AI have featured more and more in the news as of late. From text and document analysis to image creation, the possibilities of AI for people with sight loss are endless. And now, AI is starting to enter the music space. On today's show, we share an album created entirely using AI and ask the question: "Would you give AI-generated music a chance?" Support the Show.

On the show this week we catch up with Everette Bacon, Vice President of Blindness Initiatives at Aira Technologies to find out about the inspiration behind this popular app, how it works, and future developments including the new Access AI Feature. Voice Dream Reader, the highly regarded text-to-speech reading app, was set to be the latest beloved app to adopt a subscription model. But now that’s no longer the case. We discuss what happened. Plus, we share a vivid depiction of yesterday's solar eclipse in North America by one of Aira's skilled visual interpreters, capturing the unique experience for blind and vision impaired listeners. Support the Show.

On the show this week, David and Joe have a listen to all of your voice notes, and Joe gives us a tour of the accessibility features on the Samsung S90C Smart TV. We share all the latest tech news including a groundbreaking audio description research study, and explore the world of Siri Shortcuts in Quick Picks. Join the conversation by sending an email to content@VI.ie or send us a WhatsApp voice note on 086 199 00 11. Support the Show.

On the show this week we check out the Vision Buddy, an innovative TV-watching system for the visually impaired, featuring HD streaming and magnification. CEO Zack Afridi joins us to unveil the latest updates to the 4th Generation of this product. We reveal the standout results of the 10th WebAIM Screen Reader User Survey and discuss the versatility of Energrid’s accessible power banks, perfect for charging your digital devices on the go. Join the conversation with a WhatsApp Voice Note 086 199 0011, or send us an email to content@vi.ie Support the Show.

Lightweight and designed to be worn all day, Envision AI Smart Glasses provide access to all kinds of information to the vision-impaired user. Joining us on the show to tell us more is Envision's co-founder and Chief Technical Officer, Karthik Kannan. We explore the latest member of Amazon’s Echo family, the Echo Pop, featuring Alexa voice control, smart home integration and a more budget-friendly price tag. We play more of your voice notes and discuss proposed iOS sideloading in iOS 17.4 and audio description for The Six Nations Rugby on ITV. This show even has a surprise after the credits, so do stick around. Support the Show.

This week we tell you about a brand-new way that you can interact with Talking Technology. You can now send us a voice note on WhatsApp by using the number 086 199 0011. We can’t wait to hear your thoughts. We also unbox the new Talking air fryer from Cobolt. Could this be the most accessible air fryer yet? It’s audio description from Google and Safer Internet Day in tech news. And we chat more about accessible cooking in quick pics. Support the Show.

This week on Talking Technology David and Joe discuss all the big news from CES 2024 which took place in recent weeks. JP attended the BT Young Scientist exhibition and we hear from one of its visually impaired contributors. It’s accessible gaming and noodles in tech news this week, and David becomes the Voice of a Talking Calculator in Quick Picks. We also have an appearance from a random Rabbit. Support the Show.

Join us as we celebrate Braille Literacy Month and dive into the world of Braille in our daily lives! Mairead starts the conversation by exploring the presence of Braille in everyday places and the benefits of using Braille labelling. Next, Brian shares his personal Braille experience when ordering from a menu and reading Braille subtitles on his favourite Netflix shows. Wrapping up the episode, Mairead reviews the Perkins Smart Brailler. Support the Show.

In this episode of Talking Technology, we take a trip down memory lane to look back at the biggest stories of 2023. We also look ahead to see what 2024 might have in store. We hope you all had a great Christmas. Enjoy the new year's festivities and we’ll be back on January 9th. Support the Show.

In this festive episode of Talking Technology, we first chat with Dave Nason, CX Accessibility Manager at Sky Ireland, about the latest in Sky product accessibility, including voice guidance on Sky Glass TV and Sky Stream. Exciting news for Android users as Seeing AI and Be My AI hit the Play Store, closing the accessibility gap with iOS. Join us as we discuss what this means for vision-impaired Android users, and catch a special visit from old Saint Nick. Tune in for a tech-filled Christmas celebration! Support the Show.

In this episode of Talking Technology, we dive into the Envision AI Smart Glasses—an innovative wearable device designed to assist blind and visually impaired people with performing a huge variety of tasks independently. Priyanka Srivastava from Envision AI joins us to explore its capabilities, from recognising text to describeing objects, people, colours, and more. Also this week, Vision Ireland launches its new online learning platform, Vision Academy. Available 24/7, Vision Academy offers a diverse range of courses covering technology, advocacy, orientation and mobility, employment skills, accessible sports, Braille, and more. JP tells us about the courses available and how to get started on your learning journey with Vision Academy. Support the Show.

We’re delighted to welcome two special guests on the latest episode of Talking Technology. First up discover the inspiring marathon feat of Peter Ryan, a vision-impaired athlete who recently returned from his epic marathon challenge where he ran the full length of Ireland., we’re also joined by Chris White, CEO of Vision Ireland, he’ll be discussing the recent rebranding from NCBI. We’ll discuss the tech involved, and learn what tech the boss uses in his day to day life. Support the Show.

In this episode of Talking Technology things are a little bit more spooky. We talk about all the latest new Mac computers from Apple’s scary fast event. Will Joe be getting himself an IMac? Brian and Peter tell us how braille is helping those who are deaf blind, and we hear from a deaf blind service user who’s finding her independence using modern Braille technology. We also talk about the changes coming to Xbox and YouTube, and learn how to download Bookshare Books on the Braille Sense 6. Support the Show.

Seeing AI 5.2 has been released providing competition for Be My AI. We try out the new features to see how it all works. We meet Giorgia Paccagnin, the latest addition to the NCBI Labs training team in Dublin. She tells us about how she’s found her first week exploring the world of assistive technology. Denis and Dereck tell us about the latest courses from NCBI Labs, and Dereck also makes his debut as our Talking Technology Newsreader. Support the Show.

Be My Eyes meets GPT-4: is AI the next frontier in accessibility? This week we find out about the recent release of Be My AI, the new AI assistant from the popular Be My Eyes app. Founder Hans Jørgen Wiberg joins us on the show to discuss how this AI-powered addition can provide invaluable assistance for blind and low-vision users. Next, we shift our attention to the much-anticipated iPhone 15 Pro as we explore the phone’s impressive features, including the all-new customisable "action button." Support the Show.

Many of our listeners will be familiar with Be My AI, the new Artificial Intelligence (AI) tool integrated into the popular Be My Eyes app. We discuss the news this week that the beta version of their AI tool has started blocking images with faces due to privacy concerns. What does this mean for users of this feature? We explore the latest accessibility updates rolled out with iOS 17. First on the list is the brand-new Assistive Access feature, designed to streamline your iPhone or iPad's user interface by displaying only your essential apps. We find out about a new feature called Screen Distance crafted to safeguard your eyes during extended screen use, along with a slew of notable Siri enhancements. Support the Show.

David, Joe, and Mairead discuss all the new announcements from Apple’s September 2023 Wanderlust Event. Support the Show.

Join us on the show this week as we discuss some of the latest accessible health tech innovations for people with sight loss. Discover talking bathroom scales, smart scales from Withings, diabetes-friendly glucose monitoring systems like freestyle Libre and Dexcom, and smartwatch picks that prioritise accessibility. As part of our Tech News, we share details about the recent release of the Soundscape Community app and the latest updates to the NVDA screen reader including the introduction of the Add-on Store that allows users to browse, search, install and update community add-ons. Support the Show.

Be My Eyes, a revolutionary app for the blind and low-vision community, has been connecting users with volunteers for assistance with everyday tasks since 2012. The service currently has over 6 million active volunteers in over 150 countries and is available in over 180 languages. On the show this week we’re joined by the founder of the Be My Eyes app Hans Jørgen Wiberg. Hans gives us an overview of the app and talks about the best way to use it for sighted assistance. We hear about their recent partnership with Sky and a new feature called Virtual Volunteer, powered by OpenAI’s recently announced GPT-4 model, which is set to take its power and value to new heights. Support the Show.