Skip to main content

Looking beyond the screen : Text-to-speech and eyes-free interaction

Question:

How do you build a Touch screen application, on a device with no keyboard, for someone who has limited sight or just cannot look at the screen (they are driving) ?

I was fortunate enough to attend Google IO last year. (each year it just gets better and better - if you missed it - register now). Amongst some of the great sessions I attended was one that deals with two of my most favourite subjects - user interaction and voice technology. Presented by TV Raman and Charles L. Chen - they discuss the Eyes-Free Project : a project that aims to enable fluent eyes-free use of mobile devices running Android. Target uses range from eyes-busy environments like in-car use to users who can't or don't want to look at the visual display. When you watch the video you will see some of the UI innovations for taking advantage of the touch screen without needing to actually look at the screen. 


You can download the applications to your Android phone. It's great to see such innovation around user interactivity - especially on a mobile device. The mobile device has the ability to sense more about it's environment than your PC can.

You can download the presentation here

Going beyond the mobile use case, it does not take too much imagination to see the same principles being applied to the next generation of touch screen tablet devices or the humble trackpad on your existing laptop. Imagine a data capture or input mechanism being driven by your gestures and not just the final click - think about the journey and not just the final destination. Could you optimise an operation in such a way to make it is more intuitive and yet productive? Watch the video and find out...

The Eyes Free project is here
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Host a static website on Google Drive (in 5 easy steps)

You need to host a static website but don't have the time, money or resources to set up a web server.  Perhaps you're learning to code or just doing a demo. Here's a way to set up a web site at no cost, in just a few minutes. Step 1. Create a new folder in Google Drive. From Google Drive, Click 'Create', select 'Folder' and enter the folder name. (I chose 'hybrid' for this example, but you can choose anything you want). Step 2. Share the folder. First select the folder you created (displayed in the folder list), then click the sharing icon. In the Sharing Settings popup, go to the 'Who has access' section and click 'Change' The Visibility options pop up will appear. Change the Visibility option to 'Public on the web'.  Although set by default, make sure that 'Access' is set to 'Can view'. Click 'Save'. The folder is now shared. Click D...
Post a Comment
Read more

How to get the BBC iPlayer running when you live outside of the UK

(subtext: Get the World's most famous detective on your favourite browser) The new series of Sherlock has started on the BBC. If you live outside of the UK and you are too impatient to wait for your local TV content provider to host it for you - then fear not !! These simple instructions will get you up and running. In addition to the iPlayer you can access most of the other UK TV channels using the same method. Note: you can use the same method to access content in other countries - such as Hulu in the U.S. How it works:  In simple terms, the BBC iPlayer, like other players, perform a check to determine whether your internet access is originating from the UK.  So the trick is to ensure that your access to the BBC website will originate from the UK. First you are going to use a free piece of open source software that was designed to keep your internet access anonymous. You will add a setting that will ensure that the software makes use of servers in the UK whenever ...
12 comments
Read more

Skip the grunt work: Use AI to turn raw data into Slides (Part 1)

Scenario You've got to create a presentation using data from multiple CSV files. Typically, this means merging files into a single spreadsheet, generating charts, and copying everything into your presentation—an absolute time sink! Let’s fix that. Here’s a free, no-code approach using Google Workspace tools and a sprinkle of automation. This is Part 1 of a two-part series. The Problem Simplified: Multiple CSV files in a consistent format (I used stock data). The goal: Combine into one Spreadsheet for easy analysis and charting. How: Instead of manual copy-pasting, we’ll automate the process using Google Apps Script and Chat-GPT for code generation. What You'll Need: Google Apps account: A free Gmail account will work perfectly. Access to Google Drive , Google Sheets , and Google Slides. Chat-GPT 's free edition for code snippets. Step-by-Step Solution: 1. Collect your data Upload the CSV files to Google Drive. Copy the Drive folder ID. The folder ID is the part of the URL ...
Post a Comment
Read more