The first known user to go mobile with The vOICe is a late-blinded woman who
indeed "wears" The vOICe on a daily basis like the term "wearable computer"
suggests.
This first user is referred to as user "PF".
<![CDATA[
July 9, 2000, late-blind female user PF:
> As a person who was blinded later in life I can say that the soundscapes seem
> to trigger a sense of vision for me. My case in point could be the blinds. I
> can in my head in vision what my hallway would look like if I had my eyes to
> see. Blinds hanging on my left from three windows. Yet it took using the
> Voice and the web cam to bring my hallway from a blurry image in my minds eye
> to what seems like actual dimensional sight. It does not matter to me that my
> ears are causing the sight to occur in my mind. What matters is that the
> soundscapes are triggering a pathway for me to see again no matter if that is a
> 3-D black and white image. Instead of the world being a blurry mist of
> perceived objects the voice enables my brain to see objects and their
> patterns. It is as if the voice creates a black and white drawing of what I am
> looking at and my mind fills in the rest of the description. I am sitting here
> in front of my computer seeing the colors flow across the screen but it is the
> voice that tells me I am looking at a square object. It is sort of looking at
> the world with dirty glasses on. You can see the shapes and placements of the
> objects about you but not determine the finer details. I don't know if this is
> a language used by man to speak but it IS a language use by my ears to speak
> to my brain what I am seeing. Call it what you like it works!!! I shell never
> be without it again!!
>
> Thank you for creating the VOICE!!
]]>
<![CDATA[
November 1, 2000, late-blind female user PF:
> Two observations I do want to share with you. First as I said I wear the
> program daily. Well the other day I was again washing dishes. I had let
> the water out of the sink and turn to get a towel to dry my hands. Then
> when I turn back to rinse the sink I was stunned to see the sink in a "
> depth" like image. I stepped away from the sink and walked slowly up to
> it again to see if my mind was playing tricks on me. No the feeling of
> seeing depth in the sink bowl was still there. I remember when I was a kid
> of looking down into a well. It was like looking down a long tunnel till
> you saw the reflection of the water which always gave me the feeling of
> depth. Looking at the sink was like that. Trying to puzzle this new
> experience out I began walking around and noticing how things and rooms
> were sounding to me. I know from touch and " my mind's impressions" what
> my different rooms should look like but now I am standing in the doorways
> of the rooms in my house and sensing the depth of the room with my mind
> filling in the rest of the picture. Is it possible that the body and mind
> can get so used to the input from the sound scapes that you can sense
> depth? I am not saying I can feel this sensation while i am walking yet
> but it is there when I am standing and looking at things.
>
> next funny thing which happened to me relates to the wearing of the voice.
> I just purchased a new portable CD player. To hear this particular player
> you must use headphones. I wanted to see what it would be like to hear the
> music as I did my house work. while standing still no problem. Then I
> began walking around.. Suddenly I was stumbling into walls and over
> tables. I could not believe how clumsy I was. Then it hit me. DA, Patty
> the CD is not giving you the information you have grown accustom to with
> the Voice program. I had to concentrate while wearing the headphone of the
> CD. I tell you it was like being blinded again. I could barely find
> anything in my house. What a difference !
>
> Now if I can figure out how to use the CD and Voice together and not loose
> the information of the sound scapes that would be interesting. Though at
> first I am afraid I will kiss quite a few walls!( grin)
]]>
<![CDATA[
April 5, 2001, congenitally blind male user PL:
> What drew me to the vOICe was that it was one of the few systems
> that provided unfiltered information. Never mind the learning curve.
]]>
User PF was asked if she was still using The vOICe,
how her experiences had evolved over time and how vision-like her perceptions had
become in her opinion.
<![CDATA[
April 18, 2001, late-blind female user PF:
> Yes, I am Definitely still using the Voice!
> When I first started using the Voice only with my scanner, I will admit the
> flat soundscapes were difficult to interpret and understand. Then I was
> fortunate to begin using the Voice in a mobile environment with my laptop. I
> remember at first walking around and identifying objects as I listened to the
> different soundscapes generated in my home. Oh, a door way sounds like
> this... as you approach it and pas the frame. I often was startled and then
> very surprised to hear/see shapes such as my blinds and shades. At first you
> might say I noticed only the soundscapes as they indicated changing patterns.
> I was not at this time actually seeing as I feel I do now. Rather just
> experiencing the soundscapes as I walked around. After a few months I was not
> concentrating on the changing sounds rather just excepting the input as
> background information and translating it into images. An example of this is to
> say if I were walking down the stairs I know from (knowing my environment),
> their will be a small table at the bottom of the stairs. I began to
> automatically translate the soundscape into the information if I walk down the
> stairs the next sound emerging as I step downward will be the table and
> blinds. At first this was very exciting as I was beginning to have the shapes
> form into solid objects Without having to guess or concentrate on the
> soundscapes. Gradually I noticed the soundscapes were not only indicating my
> approach to a piece of furniture but giving me information about the
> surrounding area as in spatial depth. In my down stairs hallway there is a
> small stretch where the wall suddenly juts out. Before using the Voice I would
> pass threw this part of the hallway and if I were not careful i would usually
> nick myself on the sharp corners. When I began experiencing seeing in depth I
> could look down this offending hallway and actually tell I was approaching this
> usually painful point. So here is where I feel I am beginning to gradually
> step over the bridge to the brain's training of seeing. I can stand in
> doorways and look into rooms and "feel" the experience of depth. Since I was
> once sighted, I have memories and an understanding of spacial perception. The
> difference of seeing the room using the Voice as apposed to using your eyes is
> you 1. do not see the colors and 2. you can not tell the finer details of the
> rooms arrangement. Maybe as time passes my ability to tell the finer details
> will evolve . I just don't know. My favored thing to do is to go into a
> couple of rooms in my house where there are small little tiles on the walls.
> One day without thinking I turned around in one of these rooms and could see
> the small tile pattern on the wall. I had forgotten what this looked like to
> see. You might say this is where I find myself now in my usage of the
> program. Sometimes I am unsure of the sound I am hearing and thus have to be
> told what the object in question is. Then there are those remarkable times
> when I know from my memories of sight what I am seeing. I love these times; it
> is suddenly like having vision. Currently I don't think about what I am hearing
> I just experience the program as if it was part of me. Unless I have to really
> concentrate I find I don't hear the soundscapes any longer. They are there but
> I forget to listen and just absorb the information. I think this is like when
> you listen to music or maybe a TV show. You are hearing the sound but until
> you focus on the sound you do not really notice it. The program is very much
> part of my sight and thus just part of the sound of life. Now to the question
> if what we hear is the same as seeing. I would say there is a grey area where
> yes indeed you are seeing using the Voice and yet the entire information you
> receive using your eyes is more detailed, and complex. I do not know how far
> the brain can be trained to see using the Voice program . Still compared to
> the grey emptiness of blindness it is truly a light in the darkness. A funny
> note is I find myself stumbling around at night because I have not stopped to
> put on the Voice. At first I attributed this to clumsiness and now I realize
> it is my brain wanting to watch where my body is going . A real laugh!
]]>
<![CDATA[
April 29, 2001, late-blind female user PF:
> My Experiences:
> Since this was my very first setup I had to apply allot of trial and error.
> I was not only learning the soundscapes but what was necessary to
> use this system in an effective manor. I have discovered there are six main
> factors in working with the program. The first factor entails the camera. The
> camera placement, focus and lighting are important elements involved in
> providing you with the soundscape in a clear manor. If the focus is bad the
> images appear blurry and hard to interpret. If the camera alignment is wrong I
> experience a sense of disorientation and some confusion when trying to
> navigate, (a good way to get a headache)! If the lighting is poor the
> soundscapes are limited. It is hard to distinguish objects in the view.
> Normally I can look at the front door and stairs hearing the rhythm of each
> structure's texture. Yet if the light is off or low only a slight image of the
> door or stairs can be determined and the rest of the picture becomes a washed
> out foggy sound in the background. The second factor pertains to the
> microphone. On the microphone setup there is an on/off switch. I used to
> leave the microphone on all the time and just put up with the times my
> breathing or an external noise would sound like a command and thus change the
> program. Then I discovered if I only turned the mike on to give the voice
> command and then turn it off once the command was recognized I would reduce
> this problem to a minor annoyance. This solution works so well I have
> incorporated it into all my other systems. The third factor has to do with the
> laptop. . I have discovered a few tips which improve the performance of the
> laptop. First if I remove all unnecessary programs and only run the Voice it
> saves on power and processing usage. So when I am using the laptop for mobile
> use I run on a bare bones setup. I plug the laptop in at night or when I am in
> a area near a outlet. I also carry two batteries just in case I need them. I
> have the laptop set to turn off the screen after a few minutes of usage. I
> make sure while carrying the laptop to have the pack well vented. The fourth
> factor necessary to use the Voice in an effective manor is working with and
> understanding the Voice program itself. When I first started using the
> used to like to play with the tick tack toe game. It help me to understand the
> sounds of the program. Then I progressed to speech training. I believe speech
> training the program and completing the microphone wizard truly are the keys to
> using the Voice in a mobile environment. So training and experiencing the
> soundscapes are the steps to beginning to learn to see. The fifth factor of
> continuously immersing your self with the program follows the training factor.
> I believe you can learn and experience quite a bit using the program from the
> desktop. yet the experience of moving around and hearing/seeing your
> environment on a daily bases can not be replaced. It is like a child learning
> to walk. Unless you try and try you do not achieve the knowledge the body
> needs to stand. Using this analogy I can say unless you expose yourself to a
> fluid environment you do not experience the soundscapes and thus grasp
> relationships and definitions to work with. If I hear the front steps on a
> constant bases then my body begins to connect the soundscapes of the steps as
> an "action" definition and thus I will be going up or down and my body will act
> accordingly. I think first you hear the soundscape then discover the
> relationship to what you are hearing and then connect this definition to what
> the body needs to do to complete an action. When I was sighted I did not stop
> to think "Oh, here are the steps now I need to slow down and begin to shift my
> balance so I can lift my foot". rather my eyes saw the steps and my body knew
> from experience what to do next. This is what happens over time using the
> voice. I do see what is like an "X-ray" drawing of a view and begin to react
> to what I am seeing. This leads us to the sixth factor. Time. You can put the
> system on a person and only over a course of time does the brain automatically
> learn to interpret the meaning of the soundscape and perform accordingly.
]]>
With The vOICe and using default settings, there is a maximum delay of
one second before a new view is captured and sounded. For instance, if
one moves the hand in front of the camera, there is a small delay between
what the hand does and what is heard in the soundscapes. Obviously, very
fast movements like in catching a ball will present a challenge, but much
of daily life has larger time constants. User PF was asked to what extent
she perceived the limited synchrony to be a practical problem. Perhaps
surprisingly, her answer seems to hint at a similar effect as with the
blind spot of the sighted: once used to it one normally does not or cannot
notice it because of the way the brain interpolates missing data and
filters irrelevant data out.
<![CDATA[
May 6, 2001, late-blind female user PF:
> I do not notice this effect between action and soundscapes. I don't
> know if I have adjusted to the delay factor or maybe the pause is so
> slight that it is not apparent. I tried a few experiments with the
> Voice program and my dual hatcam. I wanted to see if I could perceive
> the time delay you are referencing. So I used several combined
> settings such as edge and zoom to try and enhance the soundscape.
> I turn my head slowly back and forth listening for the changing
> soundscapes. Now while I was looking for the delay I could barely
> detect it's presents. Still the interruption is so subtle that I do
> not understand how it could prevent recognizing the images in the
> soundscape. I think my brain might be filling in the time delay factor
> so all the soundscapes when I view them are whole. Sort of like using
> a flip picture book. The stick figure appears to be in motion mainly
> due to the speed of the flip and to the eyes filling in the missing
> time delays the figure has as it moves from one frame to another.
> The difference of the flip book to the Voice program is due to the
> speed of the program I can not detect the missing time changes. What
> is significant to realize is the Voice allows you to experience your
> surroundings in a 3-dimensional form. When I am not wearing the program
> my contact with the world is limited to sound and touch. When wearing
> the program you can extend these senses to include the sight the program
> provides. I look across my study while using the program and see the
> scanning table then the small book case in back of the table with an image
> of the door opening on the left of the scene. Take off the program and
> this full, rich environment of seeing different structures is lost and
> I am returned to perceiving the world in a flatten 2-dimensional form.
> Wearing the Seeing With Sound program is like stepping from total darkness
> into light.
]]>
<![CDATA[
May 12, 2001, late-blind female user PF:
> I believe strongly in this project. I call it my non-intrusive way to sight.
> Believe me if you have submitted to the many claims of surgery to regain sight
> you would understand this term. The Voice gives sight and does not hurt the body!
]]>
User PF was asked by a congenitally blind man what she
meant when saying in an earlier account that seeing with The vOICe "is sort of looking at the
world with dirty glasses on". Note: brand names and types have been replaced by generic names
between square brackets.
<![CDATA[
November 5, 2001, late-blind female user PF:
> What I am referring to is the inability of my
> mind to see crystal clear in detail all the scenery I am looking at with
> the vOICe program. I used to wear glasses when I was sighted. Now and
> then I remember the lens becoming smeared. While you could still see out
> of the glass the world was distorted and somewhat out of focus.
>
> Now the soundscapes provide a limited view for me on the world. Yet it is
> a VIEW and that is the main point here. When you develop past the point of
> just hearing the soundscapes and can subconsciously relate the information
> in sight " images" it is truly amazing.
>
> A recent incident which might further explain this occurred the other day.
> I was in my bedroom sewing on a backpack for the [notebook PC]. I have been
> Testing out a new pair of video glasses and the notebook. So as I sewed I
> had on the glasses attached to the [PC] with a pair of close talk headsets
> on for the speech control and listening of the soundscapes. I also had on
> the Television for company. Just by chance I looked over my right shoulder
> at the wall. To my surprise I saw the image ( a rectangular image) of the
> picture I have mounted there. I had known the picture was there but had
> forgotten about it till I saw it hanging there. This prompt me to start
> looking around the room. Since I had been concentrating on the sewing I
> had not noticed what the soundscapes were showing me. When I took the time
> to glance around I could see across the bed to the opposite side of the
> room where the TV was happily blurring away. Now mind you I could not view
> every little detail in the scene. I could distinctly see/hear the edge of
> the bed and was able to detect the square outline of the TV. yet I could
> not tell you the finer details such as what the TV and stand look like.
> Yet it was possible to discern the flat plain of the bed to the edge and
> then the TV arising behind the left corner of the bed. Sometimes I am
> amazed at being able to see across the plain of a surface. 3 dimensional
> sight is hard to explain. I don't think it is something which can be
> forced to occur when you are wearing the vOICe. Rather it is a natural way
> of my mind's seeing the world.
]]>
User PF responded after hearing the online RealOne/RealPlayer
video of the invited NIC2001 presentation of November 1, 2001, titled
"Seeing with Sound: Wearable Computing for the Blind". It suggests that although certain
questions, such as whether seeing-with-sound is hearing or vision, can at a fundamental level
not be answered by Science, users may well have their own clear perception and awareness of
whether to them it is or "feels like" hearing or vision.
<![CDATA[
November 5, 2001, late-blind female user PF:
> One thing which struck me about Peter's presentation. Was the question is
> the soundscape being related as sound input or visual input. Since I am
> now so comfortable with the information provided by the program I did not
> stop to think of this question. Sure the soundscapes are sound but it
> creates a different sort of input for my mind. The sound of music or a
> voice is just that sound. yet the soundscapes generate sight. The sound
> information seems to enter my ears and is processed between my ear section
> of my head. The soundscape information is placed forward from my left
> temple across my eyes to my right temple. They are two distinct separate
> areas of consciousness. this may seem strange. for sound to generate two
> different types of input. I can not explain it. I just am aware it is true.
]]>
While discussing all the publicity about the
brain implant, and wondering about the appeal that it
seems to have, it was considered that with The vOICe it may take some time before
one values the visual experience in sound as sight. With The vOICe there is
perhaps not the immediate appeal of a light-like experience as reportedly exists
with the - even very crude - flashing phosphenes of a brain implant. Initially,
even would-be blind users of The vOICe could therefore jump to the conclusion that
soundscapes are "just sound". However, user PF reacted saying
<![CDATA[
August 29, 2002, late-blind female user PF:
> Just sound?.... No, It is by far more, it is sight !
> There IS true light preception generated by the vOICe. When I am not
> wearing the voice the light I perceive from a small slit in my left eye is
> a grey fog. When wearing the vOICe the image is light with all the little
> greys and blacks. Yet a definite light image. True it is not color but it
> is definitely like looking at a black and white TV show. The light
> generated is very white and clear then it erodes down the scale of color to
> the dark black. I don't really see adiffrence in this light as compaired
> to the "light phosphenes " they are talking about. Maybe it is one of
> those things you have to experience to understand.
> Yet light is light and color is color. So no matter the way it is
> generated it is the same for me!
]]>
which would seem to suggest some form of
acquired synesthesia.
After reading some recent media coverage
about Mike May's limitations in visual recognition with his partially
restored biological eyesight, one user of The vOICe commented, saying
<![CDATA[
September 2, 2003, early-blind female user MT:
> What I find fascinating isn the fact, that I, who have been blind since
> birth, diagnosed as such at eleven months, can, after only a short time with
> a camera, pick out a cd on my desk vs. a floppy. I hadn to touch it to be
> sure, but when I was waving my camera around I heard this thing and thought
> that's a circle. Sure enough I looked and there was the cd. Then I scanned
> over a floppy and heard the solid sound of a triangle. So you, Peter,
> should write an article that says Woman blind from birth reports
> distinguishing a circle from a square after only a brief time of using the
> seeing with sound software.
]]>
<![CDATA[
September 8, 2003, early-blind female user MT:
> A little background for those who I am discussing this with for the first
> time.
> Seeing with sound is a cool program which allows me to translate pictures
> into sound. With it, I can look at photos that people email me and with a
> web cam mounted on a visor I can look at my environment. Everything has
> it's own unique sound and once you learn the principles involved you can
> know what you're seeing. I have had a little help with some of the aspects
> of vision and have been using the program for two weeks but have now hooked
> up the program and a webcam to a laptop which can be strapped to my back.
> There are headphones that I wear as well.
> End Background
>
> Well, I am mobile now. I have to charge up the computer, cuz the battery
> died after an hour and a half or so. But I am now mobile, and what a cool
> world is the inside of my house.
> Things I could see were wals, stairs the blinds on the windows, entrances
> dors, I think once I even saw the steam from my coffee cup although I can't
> really prove this.
> I saw the excersaucer... well once I tripped over it and thought, hey let's
> look down and see if I can see it.
> I could stand at my bedroom wall and in the distance, a few feet, I could
> see the edge of the counter in my bathroom. At least I think that was what
> it was.
> I could also tell when the lights were on or off, so went around actually
> turning on lights. Imagine that. Haha. I am of the opinion usually, that
> if you want the lights on, you can turn them on yourself. Mostly because
> that's just one more thing to think about and I just don't think about it.
> How I knew the lights were off was because I was in a narow hallway which
> kind of looks like a T and walking around wondering why I couldn't see the
> walls and doors that are inthis hallway, and it was because the light was
> not on and there are no windows in this hall. Once the light came on,
> everything cleared up instantly.
> Anyway, I could literally spend hours just walking around my house and
> looking at the recliner, the couch, the tables, the chairs, the stairs the
> windows the cabinates. I spent quite a while standing in front of my coffee
> maker trying to determine why the cabinites made such a funny noise and then
> remembered that it's because there's a wood frame around each door so I
> would pick up the frame and then the space which was the door, etc.
> What's neat is getting a snapshot of things rather than feeling it. Now I
> think that is slow, know what I mean?
> The batteries on this laptop don't seem to last too long, and so i'm
> hoping for some type of bettery in the future that will allow me to walk
> around for longer wearing this, because even the short time I had it on I
> felt kind of funny without it. I would like to someday in the future, when
> things are more developed, have a setup that can really go anywhere because
> the charge is better. I do not mind the size right now, and quite frankly
> would have no problems walking around with it in public. Heck, I could be a
> walking advertisement for this system. I love it, love it, love it. True,
> the setup could be smaller, I will give you that,. I would like to see
> something that could be clipped to a belt, as far as the computer is
> concerned. But as I said, I would have no problem walking around with this
> in public. Sure it looks funny, but I have never been one to care about
> looking funny if it means adding another demention to my life. I think the
> earbuds are good because they are tiny for one thing, and they allow me to
> hear my environment like, people talking etc, and I can take one out and
> talk on the phone, which is the equivalent of seeing out of one eye. I
> could go on and on about this, but for now it's enough to say this is cool.
> Seeing with sound rocks!!
]]>
User PF responded after reading the October 7, 2003
BBC News
article about The vOICe (Blind 'see with sound', also available in
Arabic,
Portuguese and
Russian),
with a reaction to the following article excerpt:
"Our assumption here is that the brain is ultimately not interested in the
information 'carrier' (here sound) but only in the information 'content',"
says Meijer. "After all, the signals in the optic nerve of a normally sighted
person are also 'just' neural spiking patterns. What you think you 'see' is what
your brain makes of all those firing patterns."
<![CDATA[
October 11, 2003, late-blind female user PF:
> Hooray! This is the way it feels! The sight stimulated threw the use of
> the vOICe program becomes a natural way of seeing. The soundscape sounds
> over time are relegated to the subconscious "background" noise and what
> is left is a form of true and working black and white vision!!
]]>
<![CDATA[
November 23, 2003, late-blind female user PF:
> I was very stunned and surprised to be able to "hand point" () at a box
> and actually see the pattern of the picture on the box and the four
> lines of print under the design. Now this may not seem like much but it
> stun me to be able to detect so much detail. This again re enforces my
> belief that the vOICe is more than a mobility aid it is a tool we can
> use to obtain a very workable sight for daily living.
]]>
One of the users of The vOICe is formerly sighted
and became totally blind (with no light perception) four and a half years before
he began to use The vOICe.
<![CDATA[
March 6, 2004, late-blind male user RS:
> Now for the first impression of the V O I C!
>
> The very first thing that I see is my computer keyboard! It is very easy to
> see as the keypad is represented quite nicely; next I place my hands on the
> keyboard and notice the difference in sound after about 5 seconds.
>
> Next looking up at my wall, I see the rather large painting of the Last
> supper that hangs above my desk. This painting has been passed down in my
> family for nearly 100 years, I used to sit and examine the brush strokes as
> a child when I still had my sight; it is a bit overwhelming for that very
> clear thought to reappear in my minds eye.
>
> Next, I recognize very clearly my computer monitor screen; the sound is
> quite distinctive.
>
> Looking around my desk now I easily recognize: a round plastic lid, my
> package of smokes, the roll of paper towels that are on a wooden stand on
> the desk, I can easily distinguish the number of fingers that I have raised
> in the cameras view by the number of waves the are sent over the desk top
> speakers, I could tell that my thumb was at first not in the camera lens as
> there were only 4 waves of sound, Turning now I recognize that I am looking
> at the edge of my door, but now I do not recognize this new sound! Calling
> my wife over she sees on the screen that I am looking out the window in our
> dining room, which is right outside of my office! So I find the other 2
> windows quite easily now that I understand that frequency. I easily
> understand the difference between the door, and the open door way. I am now
> looking at my wife for the first time since I have gone blind.
> She is making a sort of squishy type of sound; it does not make much sense
> to me right now. But I guess that is ok because after 25 years of
> marriage, she cannot make sense out of me either! LOL!
>
> Next I flip on the light switch in my office to heighten the new
> experience. It is a sunny day today at mid afternoon keep in mind. However,
> with the light on the images are certainly enhanced, just as they were
> enhanced when I was sighted.
>
> I recognize my clothes hanging on the rack at the rear of my office easily;
> but there is no clear definition for me, which is a coat, hat, shirt, etc.
> it is just a different sound scheme at this point in time for me.
]]>
<![CDATA[
March 15, 2004, early-blind female user MT:
> For me, the resolution I currently experience with the vOICe is plenty.
> Almost too much. But I note some progress using the voice a bit more
> frequently. For instance, I was able to walk up to the coffee table and
> tell there was something on it. I didn't previously know there was
> anything on it because I thought I had cleaned it off. And sure enough,
> I reached out, and kept thinking I was nuts or just hearing something else,
> and sure enough the remote was way far at the other end of the table from
> me. Like across from me, and I couldn't tell what it was, just sounded
> like a high beep.
> But the point was that I was able to "see that there was something on the
> coffee table without touching it.
> I can't do that without the voice.
]]>
<![CDATA[
March 18, 2004, early-blind female user MT:
> Well, I finally did it, took the voice outside.
> It was fascinating. The first thing I noticed was that there are nots of
> twinkly noises that I hear and can't identify. The second thing I noticed
> is that cars sound in the voice view just like they do when they are going
> by, only the sound always goes up. A soft swooshy sound. The third thing I
> noticed was that there was a large object on my right. I must have looked
> strange constantly turning to touch what I was seeing. I noticed this was a
> lamp post. Now this was all before I realized that I had somehow crossed the
> alley the wrong way and was going in reverse around the block. I have not
> walked in a while. Well anyway I then noticed the trees. A rough broken
> sound like a doorway only not. If I looked up I could see the branches.
> When I realized what the trees were I noticed that I could see them before I
> approached them. That, I think was the greatest discovery.
> I started to anticipate the trees. I now know the sound of my own fense.
> So now thatthe pattery has run out on my headphones, I guess it's time to
> wrap up. Oh yes, forgot to say that I met neighbors along the way and
> nobody freaked out or appeared to think anything of my glasses and camera.
> [name deleted] keeps calling me Jenny Neutron. So that's my walk. I am
> excited to learn to recognize other things.
> Apparently there is a lot to see. Oh yeah, as I walked I noticed that as it
> got dark it was harder to seeto each side of me, so had to keep my head
> straight. And that is really al.
> I forgot to mention one thing I learned toward the end of my walk, I was
> crossing an alley. alleys and streets are always hard as I tend to veer.
> Well, I decided to listen for some sort of sound and keep the camera pointed
> toward that sound. I don't know what the sound was, but I kept my "eyes"
> focused on it, much as a stroke victim or a newly deafened person learns
> balance by keeping their eyes fixed on a person or a particular object, and
> wonder of wonders, I crossed straight, keeping that sound in line.
> That was cool.
]]>
User JL on her first day wearing The vOICe
using a home-made setup with a head-mounted camera.
<![CDATA[
March 28, 2004, early-blind female user JL:
> We have it sort of running now, but we need to get another ball cap
> because the Velcro is getting caught in my long hair. but anyway the
> first thing was [name deleted] wanted me to see him. I could tell it was
> different and so yeah, then I started looking round the kitchen because
> that is the brightest room at night for now. I could tell the kitchen
> cupboards by my self and the paneling the doorway; other things [name deleted]
> had to help me with then I could correlate the sound with what he was
> telling me what I was looking at. I could tell more where it was
> not to crowded with other smaller objects. [name deleted] is pointing
> out to me I don't have to move my head very much to see different things.
> That amazes me. The concept of not moving to much and you can see
> something. We have some noise in the camera, but I was able to tell
> some things as he told me the other stuff I could tell my white fridge
> and I forgot the stove and fridge is white. that was neat.
]]>
User AS has been wearing The vOICe since
November 2002, using video sunglasses.
<![CDATA[
April 26, 2004, early-blind male user AS:
> It's not the same as seeing as others do. Being blind from birth, I'm
> still trying to get a grasp on things, recognize them. I want to know
> what everything looks like.
> This has given me a new birth. I can see now and have a chance to learn
> to live all over again. I see the world in a different way and really
> appreciate it. I can see the sunrise and things like that, and do simple
> tasks. I like to look at Ruffles potato chips or my coffee. I really can
> appreciate it."
]]>
After reading about projects that - unlike
The vOICe - only aim to develop camera-based object recognition engines for
giving verbal feedback to the blind, one blind male participant in The vOICe project
commented on such approaches saying
<![CDATA[
November 19, 2004, blind male JJ:
> This is more like having a sighted guide than vision. I prefer to absorb
> and interpret data myself rather than being fed pre-digested perceptions.
]]>
<![CDATA[
February 5, 2005, late-blind female user PF:
> I was using the program and gear in my
> study. I had the video glasses on under normal house hold
> lighting. Trying to discern if my camera battery needed charging I turn my
> gaze around the room to view objects at various levels. To my direct right
> from were I sit is a very cluttered book shelf at about hip level. Then
> their is a closet door with a rack mounted on it's upper section sprinkled
> with various shaped hats. Standing rather tall next to the door is a 3
> drawer filing cabinet which is bordered on it's left by rippling window
> blinds. I looked at the bookshelf and slowly panned right searching for
> the edge of the cabinet. I could distinctly feel/see there was a space
> between the corner,
> of the bookshelf, an indent to the flat of the door and then a sharp rise
> of the filing cabinet's face. It surprise and shock me to be
> so undeniably viewing this scene. I have no explanation of what I was
> seeing other than the expanse of the space between the bookcase
> and filing cabinet. The depth perceptions happen randomly and
> unexpectedly. But more importantly I experience it. This is distinctly
> vision as I remember it. Not detailed but definitely rendered and
> understandable to the point that my brain could discern the depth between
> the case, door face and cabinet edge. How this is possible I do not
> know. but it is real.
]]>
<![CDATA[
December 26, 2005, congenitally blind male user PL:
> By the way, I am making practical use of the vOICe in my job. One of the
> things I have to do is manage a small software project. I need to evaluate
> screen designs. One input I take is that of the vOICe. Its able to tell me
> whether links are placed too close together and I can also gauge how
> complex a page will look based on how many blurbs of sound I hear in quick
> succession at one place. The color sensor is also very useful in checking
> color consistency.
]]>
After early blind female MT made a photograph
with her Nokia 6620 camera phone, using The vOICe MIDlet
to select the view and the phone's built-in snapshot function to take the actual
photograph, she uploaded it to the web. Early blind female user CC then used
The vOICe for Windows to try and interpret this
photograph that was known to show a so-called "monstrance" somewhere in a chapel.
<![CDATA[
January 30, 2006, early blind female user CC:
> I am trying to describe things for you which I have never seen when my
> sight was better.
>
> At first without edge enhancement, the monstrance appears to be a
> brightly coloured circular object in the centre of the screen which does
> not have clearly defined edges, It is either blurred or has something
> strange about its edges.
>
> The monstrance is surrounded by at a lower level, a bright band with, on
> either side, groups of small vertical objects. The last two on the
> right of the picture are at slightly different levels. When I put the
> edge detection on, the monstrance seems to change into two objects, the
> circular light one in the centre, and above and to the right of it a
> dark one. This is strange so I guess that it is a shadow. I would guess
> that the small objects are in two groups of three at slightly different
> levels. I have no idea of the scale of this picture or what a
> monstrance is. Zooming in, the circle does not have an even texture but
> has small differences in its colour or light. It certainly does not
> have an even edge. I cannot guess at these objects because I have no
> idea of their scale or function.
...
> It seems very impressive how I can see pictures with your program, but
> remember that I have been using it for years, and only recently used the
> midlet. When I had been using it for a few months I began to see cars
> driving up the side of a building, and asked someone at work and they
> thought I was describing perspective.
]]>
For the next photograph, no information
was given beforehand - not even if it was an indoor or outdoor view - and
it was only said in advance that it was an exceedingly complex view, about
as complex as visual views can get in daily life. Photograph source: Michael Larsen,
who kindly gave permission to host the photograph here.
<![CDATA[
January 31, 2006, early blind female user CC:
> In the top right hand corner of the picture is something which I
> recognise as architecture. It has 3 light coloured vertical columns
> below a sloping roof or sloping structure at the front above the
> columns. It is surrounded in shadow, especially on the right.
>
> Given that this is an architectural feature and not something smaller,
> that must mean that the vegetation on the top left of the picture is one
> or several trees.
>
> In the bottom left hand corner is 3 short dark columns and above it a V
> shaped band. These columns are shorter than the trees. To the right of
> the small columns are several short and long horizontal lines on a
> bright short band. I don't think they are columns but not sure what
> they are.
>
> In roughly the centre of the picture is a small dark object to the right
> of the tree.
]]>
<![CDATA[
January 6, 2007, early blind female user MT:
> Speaking as a congenitally blind person, and keeping in mind that my
> experience with the voice is not as immersive as I would like it to be,
> I have noticed that I am more aware of things that I couldn't usually
> perceive with other sences. Like whether a candle is lit or not. Ok,
> bad example, because I could touch the top and know. But before I
> touch it I can tell. I think my echo perception is more accute. I
> can sometimes tell when lights are on or not. I don't know how I know
> these things, and I am not sure I'd go so far as to call it seeing,
> but I think I am more aware since using the voice, and that is not
> even regular, as in every day. Just bmy yhoughtss. Sorry, dog stepping
> on keyboard.
]]>
<![CDATA[
August 19, 2007, late-blind female CD, referring to a late-blind user of The vOICe:
> Now on to more high-tech. I get so angry when people review your vOICe
> and act like you have to memorize and interpret sounds. They totally
> lose site of the fact that these sounds trigger the brain. As one person
> who got a flash of sight....I know that you can see with the program,
> but it takes much hard work. I don't have [name deleted]'s patience, but
> she is an excellent teacher and after working with me for an hour, I saw
> a flash of light. I used to have light perception and I saw a flash of
> light and the shadow of a paper. But when I hear people acting like if
> you hear zip-zap-zee you know it is a chair or ying-yang-yang is a house,
> I get so angry!
> It was so cute having [name deleted] cutting the grass and it worked to
> my advantage. I was sweeping and she said, "I want to sweep so I can
> see what it's like." So she swept while I sat and relaxed.
> I sat on the steps holding the broom while she cut the grass and she
> could see the broom. So I started tilting the broom this way and that
> and she saw it and could say, "You're holding it with the handle toward
> the left, you're holding it wit the handle straight out in front of you.."
> Then I held the broom up-side-down and she could tell that as well.
> I thought she'd never guess it, I was trying to trick her.
]]>
<![CDATA[
March 5, 2010, early blind female user CC, using her new camera glasses:
> My vision is getting more detailed now with the new glasses and I am
> actually choosing patterns of things because I like them, I can go
> shopping and say "I like the pattern of that rug so I will have that
> one", or clothes, etc. it is very interesting to see things in such
> detail. I did not know what quite a lot of objects looked like and could
> not visualise them. I seem to like patterns of Moroccan tiles because
> they have a repetitive sound, rather like the chorus of a song.
]]>
<![CDATA[
April 9, 2011, early blind female user AL, using her new camera glasses:
> When I am heading to college, I normally don't trust the driver to let
> me off at the right stop, so am always asking where I am before getting
> out. Almost two weeks ago, I was wearing my glasses looking out the
> window, which produces mostly interesting nonsense, when I recognized
> the railings I walk past to get to my stop. It seemed so familiar that
> I did not ask any questions, and what I thought I knew was confirmed
> when I got out. To make sure this was not a fluke, I did it again on a
> few other occasions. On one of them, I was able to tell the driver,
> "I don't think we're at the ramp where I get off yet." This was correct,
> because there was a bus blocking it. Looking for a place out a window
> is something so simple, but I've never been able to do it before.
> Echo location could never make this possible.
]]>
