hi prateek it sounds interesting, but a grafic image can never reveal to a blind person even one percent of how a person looks.
manohar vaswani On 2/26/11, prateek aggarwal <prateekagarwa...@gmail.com> wrote: > Hi folks, please read the following, it looks pretty interesting! > > --- > Researchers help blind ‘see’ Facebook photos > > By > Kortney Tenaglia > February 24, 2011 at 7:38 pm > > > TACTILE TECHNOLOGY: An ASU student runs his fingers across a Braille > map of the ASU Tempe campus located in the Disability Resource Center. > Baoxin Li, assistant > professor in the School of Computing and Informatics, is in the > process of developing a method that would enable the visually impaired > to "see" the faces > of people on computer screens by producing tactile images. (Photo by > Aaron Lavinsky) > > Social networking has come to dominate 21st-century culture. But > visually impaired people have yet to fully experience this digital > community. > > Baoxin Li, assistant professor in the School of Computing and > Informatics, is working with several ASU students to develop a way for > the visually impaired > to “see” images of faces on computers. > > “Imagine if a blind user can now get an idea what his [or] her > Facebook friends ‘look like’ by touching tactile pictures made from > their photos,” Li said > in an e-mail. > > When Li came to ASU six years ago, similar research was already > happening in the Center for Cognitive Ubiquitous Computing (CUbiC), he > said. Researchers > in CUbiC, which focuses on different applications for cutting-edge > research, were developing assistive technologies for the visually > impaired. > > Li said the researchers narrowed down the list of ways they could make > social networks more accessible to the blind. > > “Among others, face images were chosen because of their significance > in a person’s social and emotional life,” he said. > > The concept is similar to text-to-Braille, but differs because unlike > words, images don’t have a strict alphabet, Li said. It’s challenging > to print a photograph > and translate it into an image, but through tactile form, blind > participants are able to explore the image with their fingertips and > “see” what an image > looks like. > > “We developed computer-based image analysis techniques to identify > major facial landmarks,” Li said. > > The analysis first works to identify the image through major facial > features, such as the eyes and nose, and then puts them into tactile > form. > > “A user can then explore the image by touch,” he said. > > Zheshen Wang, a fifth-year doctoral student in computer science and > engineering, is Li’s key student researcher on the project. > > “Some of the blind participants were very excited in touching a > graphical human face by hand,” Wang said in an e-mail. “It is a > rewarding task.” > > Li, Wang and their team are currently working on mastering the > technology and printing tactile faces for their participants, Li said, > but actual deployment > is in the works. > > “We will be seeking different embodiments of this technology,” Li > said. “Such as its use as software component for tactile printer > manufacturers … or a > software package for a user at home.” > > Wang sees the future of tactile printing as affordable for the blind. > She looks forward to the day when visually impaired people can select > their friends > online, click print and finally know how they look. > > Reach the reporter at ktena...@asu.edu > --- > Regards, > Prateek agarwal. > Director, > Daedal technovations pvt. Ltd. > www.daedaltechnovations.com > we bring the change we wish to see! > > Website: > www.prateekagarwal.tk > | > www.prateekagarwal.webs.com > > Get numbers right this time, help the census with correct disability info! > Question 9 relates to disability. > Get numbers right this time, help the census with correct disability info! Question 9 relates to disability.
