Talking Dialer: Eyes-Free Communication Device

5:40 PM

Mr Dollar'Ria

Video: Talking Dialer: Eyes-Free Communication Device

1 Video: Talking Dialer: Eyes-Free Communication Device

Device Used: T-Mobile G1 from HTC

The MotoRola Droid does not have a call button. Instead, Use the search capacitivebutton, i.e. the button on the extreme right, in place of the call button.

So now, let's use the stroke dialer for something practical ---let's make phone calls with our smart phone!Well, we know Marvin would disapprove if we just made phonecalls, so rest assured, we'll do a lot more later!

Pressing the call button on Android phones launches thebuilt-in dialing application. When using the Marvin shell,pressing this button launches the Talking Dialer application--- if you are not using Marvin as your home screen, you canlaunch this dialer as you would launch any Android application.

The Talking Dialer announces dialing mode upon start up.You can start dialing using the technique described in theprevious video on stroke dialer --- if you make a mistake, simplyshake the phone to erase. Once you have finished dialing, pressthe call button to initiate the call. The application speaksthe number you're about to dial, and makes the call once youpress the call button to confirm.But you say


Dialing phone numbers is so passe'!

--- well, there is still hope for the Talking Dialer. Inaddition to dialing mode, the Talking Dialer provides an easyto use Talking Phonebook that provides eyes-free access to yourcontact list --- we will cover this in our video on the talking phonebook.

Author: T.V Raman<raman@google.com>

Date: 2009-03-30 Mon

HTML generated by org-mode 6.08c in emacs 23

Posted in

Stroke Dialler For Android

5:36 PM

Mr Dollar'Ria

Video: Stroke Dialer For Android

1 Video: Stroke Dialer For Eyes-Free Keypad Input

Device Used: T-Mobile G1 from HTC

The stroke dialer enables one-handed keypad input using thetouch-screen --- and that without having to even look at thescreen. Here is how it works --- we start with a briefdescription of the problem that asks the rightquestion. The answer becomes self-evident as you follow thisvideo.

1.1 The Problem

On-screen keyboards typically show some buttons on the screenthat you activate by touching the screen. To activate suchbuttons, one needs to look at the screen, because the buttons areplaced at specific points on the screen, i.e., they areabsolutely positioned. So what if you want to activate suchbuttons without looking at the screen?From the foregoing description, it's clear that the only reasonone is forced to look at an on-screen keyboard is because thebuttons are absolutely positioned. So let's relax thatconstraint, let's use relative positioning to place thebuttons.

We'll start with a keyboard we're all familiar with, thetelephone keypad. Since we're using relative positioning,let's place the center of the keypad wherever you firsttouch the screen.So, to dial a 5, you just touch the screen.

Now, you know where 5 is --- it's where you first touchdown. But look, since you know the layout of a phone keypad, youcan now find all the other digits relative to the 5. So forexample, 2 is directly above 5 --- so to press 2, youtouch down on the screen, and stroke up before lifting yourfinger.similarly, you stroke down for an 8, or diagonally up for a1.

In real life, we both hear and feel as we press physicalbuttons. This form of synchronized auditory and tactile feedbackis essential for creating user interfaces that feelrealistic. The stroke dialer produces a slight vibration as thefinger moves over the various buttons that is synchronized withan auditory tick to achieve this effect. It also producesspoken feedback to indicate the button that was pressed.

To conclude this video, let's dial a few numbers.

Author: T.V Raman<raman@google.com>

Posted in

Introducing Marvin --- Eyes-Free Interaction On Android

5:33 PM

Mr Dollar'Ria

Android Eyes-Free Introduction

1 Video: Introducing Project Eyes-Free For Android

Device Used: T-Mobile G1 from HTC

Project Eyes-Free turns your Android into an eyes-freecommunication device with one-handed, single-touch access tocommon tasks. Applications from this project can be usedstand-alone; they can also be used together through the Eyes-Freeshell. This collection of videos will cover the latter scenario.

We will refer to the eyes-free shell as Marvin in honor ofDouglas Adams' famous paranoid android--- our Marvin says


Brain the size of a planet and they expect me to make phone calls?

The Marvin home screen provides single-touch access to useful information via acollection of talking mini-applications. In addition, commonlyused applications can be placed under shortcuts for quickaccess. Finally, the call button automatically launches theeyes-free Talking Dialer --- all of these applications arecovered in detail in subsequent videos.

Author: T.V Raman<raman@google.com >

Posted in

An Introduction To YouTube Channel EyesFreeAndroid

5:26 PM

Mr Dollar'Ria

The next set of articles on this blog cover the videos we have posted to channel EyesFreeAndroid on YouTube. Each article links to a particular video thathighlights a given aspect of eyes-free interaction on Androidusing the built-in screenreader and related access tools.In thefuture, I'll make sure to post such descriptions as soon as thevideos are uploaded, so watch this space! ( at the time thevideos were posted last year, I did not have this blog)

Posted in

Eyes-Free G1 --- My First Talking Android!

8:59 AM

Mr Dollar'Ria

In the first article in this series, I'll cover the T-MobileG1 from HTC, my first accessible Android.Note: I've since moved on to the MotoRola Droid, but that is fora future article in this series.

I'll try to use a consistent outline for these articles where possible --- in general, you can expect articles covering a particular Android device have separate sections that address the hardware and software. Note that the softwware bits --- the Eyes-Free Marvin Shell and our free screenreader TalkBack, our common across all all Android devices.

The G1 Device And Eyes-Free Use

Here is a brief summary of my experience with the G1hardware:

The G1's keyboard is easy to use once you get used to thelayout, you can effectively touch-type with two thumbs.
It is possible to do many functions without having to pullout the keyboard, thanks to the track-ball and buttons on thefront panel.
The front panel has 5 buttons and a trackball:left-to-right, these are:Call, Home, Menu, Back, andHangup.
The menu button is something you will use very oftenwith Android applications. When you try out a new application,pressing menu lets you explore the application via the track-ball.
The track-ball takes some getting used to, it can move overmultiple items in lists if one isn't careful.
This was the first time I used a touch-screen, and the G1opened up many user-interface innovations.

Eyes-Free: Marvin Shell And TalkBack On G1

The Marvin Shell is my default home shell on all my Androiddevices. Note that TalkBack works fluently with the defaulthome-shell that comes with Android; however the Marvin Shell hassome nice touches that make it ideal for efficient eyes-free use--- for examples, see YouTubechannel EyesFreeAndroid.Here is a brief summary of my G1 setup, along with examples ofperforming some sample tasks. A word of caution first on whatdoesn't work yet:The browser is not yet TalkBack-enabled, and as aconsequence, browser-based applications such as GMail will notwork (yet).

I have option accessibility checked (see theAndroid settings menu). Within that same menu, I have TalkBack,SoundBack and KickBack enabled.
I also have the Eyes-Free Shell available on the AndroidMarket installed, along with the suite of Eyes-Free applicationsthat accompany it.
Pressing the Home button on the front panel switchesto or restarts the Eyes-Free Shell.
Many common actions can be performed by touch-gestures on theEyes-Free Shell, see the relevant YouTube Video.
You can enter Marvin's application launcher bystroking down on the home screen. Once in that launcher, you canuse the circle dialer to quickly jump to a particularapplication; you can scroll the list with the track ball. Onceyou've found an application, you the call button on thefront panel to launch the application.
Here is the StrokeDialer for keypad input in action. As an example, I strokeright to get a Y and that selects the YouTubeapplication. Launch it by pressing call on the frontpanel.
When you launch the YouTube application, TalkBacktakes over --- as the end-user, you continue to get spokenfeedback and typically are never aware of the transition.
Note that many Android applications use the touch screen forrapid interaction. Taking a few minutes to get oriented with thetouch controls for an application you plan to use often can make task completion more efficient. Caveat: we dont yet have an exploration widget to aid in this --- typically, I've had the user interface described to me. Notice that once you know that the YouTube UI uses a landscape orientation and that the bar for controling playback appears on the bottom, you can easily use your finger to slide along the bottom of the screen to control playback.
TalkBack provides fluent spoken feedback for many commontasks, such as Instant Messaging using Google Talk, or for SMSusing the built-in Messaging application.
Another useful Android feature to leverage is the StatusBar --- here is where applications post notifications,e.g. a missed call, or an upcoming calendar appointment.
You open up status bar by bringing it down--- think of it as pulling down a screen. Place your finger atthe top of the screen and stroke all the waydown.
You can now use the track-ball to scroll through anyavailable notifications and hear them spoken. This isparticularly useful with Google Calendar.

And of course, there is much more to say than will fit in asingle blog article.

Posted in

Welcome To Eyes-Free Android

8:01 PM

Mr Dollar'Ria

I'll blog about my use of Android phones here.The tools I use are being developed as part of project Eyes-Freeand you can meet up with other users on GoogleGroupEyes-Free.All code developed as part of project Eyes-Free is OpenSource, and the core Access API, and associated adaptivetechnology is part of the Android platform starting with Android1.6.

What You Can Expect To See On This Blog

Android runs on a variety of mobile phones and devices varywith respect to their various hardware features, e.g., keyboards,trackball etc. This blog will focus on tips and tricks forgetting the most out of various Android devices, based on mypersonal experience.

Posted in

The Beauty and the Beast - Apple MacBook and Dell XPS M1710

5:37 AM

Mr Dollar'Ria

A couple of years ago I bought a Dell XPS M1710. At the time this was one of the fastest laptop computers around. It is primarily designed as a gaming/multimedia laptop. The design is made to appeal gamers (see picture). As a developer I need a high performance computer. So this was a perfect choice for me, at least this was what I thought. As it turned out it, it has not been as good as one could imagine. There have been many problems with it during the years. The biggest problem are the fans. When running Windows Vista they are quiet at first. The first time you use Maven, or similar, the fans are up to full speed within seconds. I have tried several fan control applications but these did not solve the problem. The problem only manifested itself in other ways. I also tried to use Linux. With Linux things are much better. Linux does not seem to strain the CPU so much as Windows Vista. Fortunately Dell support gave me two new fans. Another problem is the battery. At full capacity they last for about 2 hours during normal work. after about 18 months a needed to buy a new one. This is not really acceptable. Speaking of power; I had to replace the power supply as well. As with the fans this was replaced by Dell. Thank God I had paid extra to get full support. Or I should thank my colleague Darius who convinced me to pay some extra bucks to get the full support.

Before Christmas it was time to buy a new laptop. I was a little tired of the bad quality of my Dell computers, so I decided to try something new. I decided to buy me an Apple MacBook Pro instead. By selecting a 15” screen I was able to fit in a Solid State Drive (SSD) within budget. Although not so big, it is only 128 Gb. But since I use an external hard-disk for data, this is not so much a problem.

Now here I am sitting by my brand new MacBook and writing this article. I have about 7-8 hours battery capacity. According to the specification I have only 7 hours capacity, but I think the SSD gives me some extra time. The SSD is supposed to use less power than a normal drive. Of course this would degrade over time, but it is in par with my Asus netbook computer. So for I am very satisfied with my new computer. It was not so hard to get used to as I initially anticipated. Many people have told me about their frustration when switching to an Apple computer. I am familiar with Unix and Linux and many things could be achieved in a bash shell. In my daily work I use VirtualBox to run Ubuntu Linux. My fear was that the performance would be to bad and get annoyingly slow. But so far I am not frustrated by slow speed. In fact I was surprised. I have been using VirtualBox on my old XPS, but it was to slow to be really joyful. What more is there there to say? The MacBook works like a charm and is really fun to use. It is fun to compute! ;-)