Blind Bargains Audio: Featuring the BB Qast, Technology news, Interviews, and more

We've been lucky enough to capture the success of the Be My Eyes team on our microphones for years. And while the BBQ doesn't have 6 million volunteers, and 200,000 Blind or Low Vision users, we are happy to record another fantastic milestone in their amazing story. J.J. had Will Butler, VP Community, and Alexander Hauerslev Jensen, CCO, by the scaled down Blind Bargains Suite/Room/Alcove to chat on what's happened since our July 2019 interview in Las Vegas...

In July 2019, Joe caught up with Kimberly Cline at her LVI America debut In Las Vegas to talk about her excitement for future Video Magnifier products. And that enthusiasm is echoed by Charlie Collins, Director of Sales, when he speaks to Shelly about the new MacViewer device. The pair talk about the specs of the unit, discuss the new improved toolbar experience before noting that the Video Magnifier is also available for Chrome OS and Pcs as well...

The team at AIRA started off 2020 with the recent news surrounding a change in ownership and the sunsetting of the Horizon product. J.J. caught up with Troy Otillio, CEO of AIRA, outside the Exhibit Hall floor to discuss several topics regarding the service. Listen in, or read the transcript below, as the pair talk about the future of AIRA and answer some of the questions sent into us by our Twitter followers...

Shelly found the Golden Chorale buffet booth of Video Magnifiers in the CSUN Exhibit Hall. And Jeff Gardner, CEO of Irie-AT, goes through the serving line with her pointing out all the good stuff from their new friends at Clover. There is a myriad of display sizes for that finicky reader in your life. But don't fill up on reading devices as the company has many more categories of Assistive Technology available on their website

There sure are a lot of ways you can read your DAISY formatted materials these days. However, for some, many common options may be too complicated to learn or use effectively. That's why the ability to use a Digital Assistant could aid many when it comes to reading books and newspapers. J.J. spoke with Daniel Ainasoja, Sales Manager for pratsam, about their new Smart Speaker Service being shown publicly for the first time at CSUN...

The Optelec Compact brand has come a long way from its flip out handle days of a decade ago or its original touch screen display option. Shelly got a chance to view the newest iteration and get a guided tour of the units features with vispero's Educational Specialist Michael Wood. The pair cover the differences between Easy and Advanced Modes, they discuss the Speech features as well as the OCR functionality of the new 10 inch display model...

J.J. becomes the Keymaster in this interview. Okay, "Ghostbusters" movie references aside, J.J. did find that some retro names in A.T. have been updated in some cool new ways. He spoke to Jarek Urbanski, CEO of Harpo, about the soon to be released Mountbatten Tutor and gets an overview of the device's menus and feature set. And if that wasn't old school enough, the duo discuss the return of the Jot a Dot. For those listening to the audio, and not reading the transcript below, J.J...

We've interviewed makers of Smart Cane tech before on Blind Bargains, however, not many of those previous interviewees were featured in Time Magazine for tech innovation. That's why Shelly caught up with Kursat Ceylan, Cofounder of WeWalk, to discuss what sets this approach apart from others. Tune in, or read below, to find out more about the companion app and features for this mobility aid...

Visual Interpreter services are one way to gain access to meetings and notes. But the ability to work with a service that might better understand your specific field of study might just give you the edge over a broader all-purpose option. J.J. spoke with Daniel Goerz, CEO of Note Taking Express, about their notetaking platform and service in order to learn more about what sets this solution apart from others we ve covered on the BBQ podcast...

Last month David Bradburn, President of Zoomax USA, shared at ATIA a sneak peek of a new product that would make its debut in Anaheim. Shelly caught up with David on the CSUN Exhibit Hall floor to learn more about the new member of the Acesight family and gets a tour of the controls, the specs and who might best find the VR approach most helpful for accomplishing common reading tasks. To learn more about the Acesight family of products, or to find your nearest Dealer, visit the Zoomax website