Wireless RERC - Community Living

App Factory Releases 2014-2015 Call for Proposals

blippincott4 — Wed, 30 Apr 2014 04:00:00 +0000

Each year, the Wireless RERC’s App Factory invites experienced organizations or individual developers based in the U.S. to submit proposals for financial support to develop assistive and/or accessibility apps for mobile platforms (e.g., Android, Blackberry 10, iOS, Windows Phone).

Apps developed through this program include AccessNote by the American Foundation for the Blind, BrailleTouch by BrailleTech, LLC, and Sprint ID Accessibility Packs, Currency Identifier, and IDEAL Group Reader by Apps4Android.

Proposals for 2014-15 are due on June 30, 2014. Selection of proposals for funding will be on October 15. More information can be found in the PDF of the Call for Proposals below.

Related Files:

Attachment	Size
App Factory_RFP_2014.pdf	242.61 KB

Wireless RERC on the Record: Role of Government in the Advancement of IoT

mz22 — Thu, 09 Jun 2016 19:50:31 +0000

Internet of Things

Publication Type:

Policy Filings

The Wireless RERC, in collaboration with Georgia Tech’s Center for Advanced Communications Policy (CACP), and the Center for the Development and Application of Internet of Things Technologies (CDAIT), Georgia Tech Research Institute, filed comments in response to The National Telecommunications and Information Administration's (NTIA) inquiry: “Notice, Request for Public Comment, The Benefits, Challenges, and Potential Roles for the Government in Fostering the Advancement of the Internet of Things [Docket No. 160331306–6306–01]. NTIA sought broad input from all interested stakeholders—including the private industry, researchers, academia, and civil society on the potential benefits and challenges of the Internet of Things (IoT) and what role, if any, the U.S. Government should play in this area. The comments submitted address, among other things, IoT’s potential to advance the social inclusion and independent living of people with disabilities; and improve the dissemination of emergency information. The submission encouraged (a) the consultation of people with disabilities throughout the design and development phases of the IoT, and (b) the accessibility implications of future technologies become a high‐level consideration when planning Federal level technology development strategies and policy.

Related Files:

Attachment	Size
Comments to NTIA_IoT_June 2016.docx	135 KB

Wireless RERC Summit Proceedings: Envisioning Inclusive FUTURES

mz22 — Fri, 20 May 2016 14:45:25 +0000

Futures

Publication Type:

Reports

The Envisioning Inclusive FUTURES Summit Proceedings have been published by the Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center for Wireless Technologies (Wireless RERC) on our website. The Summit focused on 1) key social, economic, political and technological forces at play in the migration from legacy, analog technologies to mobile, digital technologies, and 2) the consequential futures for people with disabilities. The Proceedings concluded that a variety of technological solutions exist whether discussing the present or the future, and more are under development, to facilitate the ability of people with disabilities to engage in life activities. Transformative ideas and common visionary themes addressed wireless technologies and systems that could stimulate inclusive solutions such as robotics, wearables, the Internet of Things, next-generation emergency communications and alerts, and assistive intelligence for auditory and visual navigation. Looking to an inclusive future, not only were research and policy agenda items identified, but also challenges and recommendations on how to reach a future of inclusiveness. Following are a few findings:

Usability is critical – technology needs to be “out of the box” ready. The design process should be enhanced so that devices be intuitively usable, or conversely, be easily personalizable.
Education, outreach and awareness efforts should be dynamic and integral to both ongoing and adaptive/changing environments. This is in reference to not only technology, but to the changing circumstances of people with disabilities.
Products and services should be universally designed and also take into account cultural sensitivity.

The visionary theme from the opening to the concluding dialog emphasized: A transformative future is an inclusive future. This became the key take-away for reinforcing the Wireless RERC’s commitment to ensure an accessible mobile wireless future for people with disabilities.

Related Files:

Attachment	Size
Wireless RERC SoT - Envisioning Inclusive Futures Summit Preceedings.pdf	1.81 MB

WEA - Optimizing Ability of Message Receipt by People with Disabilities

mz22 — Fri, 19 Feb 2016 15:17:20 +0000

Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA)

Optimizing Ability of Message Receipt by People with Disabilities: Prototype Findings Report/Vibration Scale Final Report

February 9, 2016 - In 2014, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Science and Technology (S&T) Directorate funded the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech), Center for Advanced Communications Policy to examine and report on how to optimize Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) message receipt by people with disabilities. The research conducted under this contract with DHS S&T builds upon research initiated via the Wireless RERC emergency communications research and development projects.

Reaching people with disabilities, including the deaf and hard of hearing, with WEA messages is critical, in part because people with disabilities utilize and depend on wireless devices, including mobile phones at more than 96 percent. Their devices become even more important during emergencies. The aim of this project was to assist in understanding and identifying ways to ensure that people with disabilities had timely and effective access to WEA messages. This report summarizes the findings.

Meet Wireless RERC Researchers at CSUN 2016

mz22 — Thu, 11 Feb 2016 18:49:27 +0000

Come meet us in San Diego!

Publication Type:

Presentations

Wireless RERC researchers will be featured at the 2016 International Technology & Persons with Disabilities Conference (CSUN) in San Diego, March 21-26, 2016. The papers/presentations include:

Wireless Independence Now (WIN) Workshop (Wednesday, March 23, 2016 - 10:00 AM PST)
Mixed Sentience Learning Communities: Design Considerations & Opportunities (Thursday, March 24, 2016 - 10:00 AM PST)
Wireless technology use by people with disabilities-2015: A national survey (Friday, March 25, 2016 - 10:00 AM PST)
FutureS of Disabilities: The migration to a digital world (Friday, March 25, 2016 - 10:00 AM PST)
Optimizing Accessibility of Wireless Emergency Alerts: 2015 Survey Findings (Friday, March 25, 2016 - 1:20 PM PST)

New App in Development to Help People with Disabilities Navigate Buildings

mz22 — Wed, 09 Sep 2015 19:54:21 +0000

Emergency Egress

Indoor Navigation

Access and Evacu8 ltd.'s New App Helps People with Disabilities Not Get Lost in Translation

Access and Evacu8, Ltd are working together to develop a picture based app to guide people with disabilities in, out, and around the interior of buildings. As a result of a two year consultation with people with disabilities, businesses and fire and rescue services, Access and Evacu8 decided to collaborate on developing this project. The app will also function as an aid for the emergency egress of both people with and those without disabilities. The development is being funded through the Kickstarter campaign Evacu8me & Directmii app development until October 8^th with a goal of 29,000 euros. Upon completion the app will give instructions in multiple languages and have a free and paid version that functions without any need of an internet connection, in case one is not available during an emergency.

American Council of the Blind 54th Annual Conference and Convention

mz22 — Mon, 22 Jun 2015 19:50:42 +0000

The 2015 American Council of the Blind (ACB) Conference and Convention will be held from Friday, July 3^rd to Saturday, July 11^th at the Sheraton Dallas in Dallas, Texas. To find out information about the exhibits, contact Michael Smitherman at amdua@bellsouth.net or (601)331-7740. The confrence and convention calendar is available online at http://acb.org/node/2332.

Start Date:

Friday, July 3, 2015 - 8:00am to Saturday, July 11, 2015 - 10:00pm

Additional Information:

2015 ACB Conference and Convention Information

Subscriptions:

American Association of People with Disabilities Seeking New Leadership

mz22 — Fri, 19 Jun 2015 13:43:37 +0000

American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD)

June 2015 - The American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD) is currently seeking a new President and CEO to advance attainment of the organization’s vision, “to develop the inherent power of people with disabilities to be both a political and economic force.” While they are looking for a new leader, the AAPD Board of Directors is temporarily relying on long-time disability rights advocate and former Executive Vice President, Helena Berger, as the Acting President and CEO of the organization. As the AAPD approaches their 25th anniversary, they are seeking feedback to take the organization to the next level. You can email them at communications@aapd.com with your questions or comments. As well as improving the organization, the AAPD is hosting A Celebration of Pride, Power, and Promise on July 27th in Washington, D.C. with their partner, the National Disability Leadership Alliance (NDLA). Not only do they want you to come out and celebrate with them, they also have open positions in their organization so if anyone wants more information, they can visit http://www.aapd.com/jobs on how to apply.

Disability Research Consortium (DRC) Annual Meeting Registration

mz22 — Wed, 17 Jun 2015 20:37:27 +0000

DRC Annual Meeting

Register today for the DRC Annual Meeting, a two-day conference where the latest research findings on the future of disability policies will be highlighted. Representative from federal agencies will provide insight on directing programs for people with disabilities. The dates of this conference are August 5-6, 2015. The time is 8am-4:30pm at the National Press Club on 529 14th Street, NW, 13th Floor in Washington, DC. This conference is free and registration closes on July 23^rd.

Georgia Tech Creates Google Glass Caption Software

mz22 — Fri, 17 Oct 2014 15:36:59 +0000

Google Glass

Wearables

Text-to-Speech (TTS)

Researchers create software for Google Glass that provides captions for hard-of-hearing users

October 2014 – A research team at Georgia Tech has created Google Glass speech-to-text software that facilitates conversations for users who are hard-of-hearing. The software allows people who are hard-of-hearing to wear Google Glass while another person speaks into a smartphone. The smartphone works with an Android transcription API, allowing the speech to be converted to text and displayed on Glass’ heads-up display.

The software was inspired by Georgia Tech’s School of Interactive Computing Professor, Jim Foley. When asked about the software, Foley said, “This system allows wearers like me to focus on the speaker’s lips and facial gestures. If hard-of-hearing people understand the speech, the conversation can continue immediately without waiting for the caption. However, if I miss a word, I can glance at the transcription, get the word or two I need and get back into the conversation.”

The captioning software for Google Glass is available for download at MyGlass. For more information about the project, please click the here.