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!
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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
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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.
