Month: May 2015

“We all have our challenges in life – physical, mental and emotional. Some are bigger, some are smaller, and some need more assistance than others to overcome.”
-GoodNet

This statement could not be more true. With this being the digital age, we have a plethora of technological tools that can help and enrich the lives of those with disabilities. According to GoodNet, there are more than a handful of mobile apps ranging from helping the blind and deaf, to people with speech disabilities and autism.

These are 7 of the best apps for people with disabilities:

1. Talkitt

Talkitt is an app that can help those with motor, speech, and language disorders. The app allows the user to use their own voice, and translates language that may be difficult to understand into speech that is understandable.

2. Be My Eyes

Be My Eyes is an app that can help those who are blind or visually impaired.  The app connects users with sighted volunteers who help via video chat. Volunteers can help with tasks such as reading, or helping the user around a new area.

3. Avaz

Avaz is an app that can help those with autism, Downs syndrome, Cerebral Palsy, Angelman’s syndrome and other speech disabilities. The app allows the user to improve language skills by “speaking” using pictures and high-quality voice synthesis.

4. RogerVoice

RogerVoice is an app that can help those who are deaf or hearing impaired. The app uses voice recognition and converts voice to text. This will transcribe a phone call into a text message.

5. LOOK AT ME

LOOK AT ME is an app that can help those with autism. The app helps to improve socialization skills by turning interactions into a game. This will help the user with making eye contact, remembering faces, and expressing themselves using facial expressions.

6. HearYouNow

HearYouNow is an app that can help those with hearing difficulties (who don’t use a hearing aid).  The app is supposed to help the user hear in public settings such as a restaurant or a party, but can also be used while watching TV or listening to the radio. Using headphones, the sound is controlled and amplified per ear.

7. Stepping Stones

Stepping Stones is an app that can help those with developmental disabilities, learning disabilities, auditory processing deficits, or anxiety. The app allows users to create visual guides to make sense of daily routines, helping increase independence as well as life skills.

According to Mashable, Alibaba, a Chinese owned company, will be coming out with a facial recognition product called “Smile to Pay”.  This will allow users to pay for online purchases just by scanning their faces. With growing password and security concerns, Alibaba believes this new technology could be the future of online payment.

As we all know, mobile payments have been the buzz for a while now, especially with larger companies such as Apple, Google, and Samsung. Apple has even included fingerprint scanning so users can pay with ease.  Alibaba’s idea is similar when it comes to making payments easily, but we will see after more testing if the product is as reliable as fingerprint scanning when it comes to making secure purchases.

This interesting new feature is still in development, but whenever it does launch, it should be making a big splash in the mobile space.

The idea of a smart home has been on our minds for a while now, and recently, we have taken small steps that could soon make this a reality. According to Mashable, GE will soon be coming out with LED lights that will be compatible with Apple’s HomeKit software. You will be able to use Siri to control these LED lights by just using your voice.

Lately there has been some major talk about how blue lighting is better for us during the daytime, and amber lighting is better for us at night. The blue lighting suppresses the output of melatonin while amber lighting allows for a better transition to sleep. GE’s Align Technology, paired up with HomeKit bulbs will enable users to set the lighting to match up with their sleep cycles. Pretty neat, right? Users will have the ability to sync and control the lights with any iOS device when the HomeKit enabled lighting system is offered later this year.

This new and innovative lighting system is extremely exciting for many different reasons, especially because this could be a major stepping stone when it comes to the potential development of smart housing. We can’t wait to see what’s next.

The idea of a smart home has been on our minds for a while now, and recently, we have taken small steps that could soon make this a reality. According to Mashable, GE will soon be coming out with LED lights that will be compatible with Apple’s HomeKit software. You will be able to use Siri to control these LED lights by just using your voice.

Lately there has been some major talk about how blue lighting is better for us during the daytime, and amber lighting is better for us at night. The blue lighting suppresses the output of melatonin while amber lighting allows for a better transition to sleep. GE’s Align Technology, paired up with HomeKit bulbs will enable users to set the lighting to match up with their sleep cycles. Pretty neat, right? Users will have the ability to sync and control the lights with any iOS device when the HomeKit enabled lighting system is offered later this year.

This new and innovative lighting system is extremely exciting for many different reasons, especially because this could be a major stepping stone when it comes to the potential development of smart housing. We can’t wait to see what’s next.