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A ring that reads text for the blind
STORY: Meng Ee Wong is visually impaired and with the help of a new device called the "finger reader," hes' reading a book in a whole new way.
(SOUNDBITE) (English) VISUALLY IMPAIRED PROFESSOR WONG MENG EE WHO IS USING THE FINGER READER, SAYING: "It felt strange. Certainly it felt strange, because it's not accustom for someone with visual impairment to read text in that nature." And that's exactly why it was developed. Researcher Suranga Nanayakkara from the Singapore University of Technology and Design says there is a gap in assistive technology for the visually impaired.
(SOUNDBITE) (English) SURANGA NANAYAKKARA, ASSISTANT PROFESSOR AT SINGAPORE UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY AND DESIGN, SAYING: "There are so many smart phone apps out there that claim to be accessible and claims it to be more user friendly for people who can't see, but the reality is that if you observe a blind user trying to use a smart phone they have to go through tedious steps in getting something done." So Nanayakkara and researcher Roy Shilkrot from the MIT Media Lab developed the finger reader. The ring-like device is strapped onto the user's finger. A camera positioned on the top of the ring scans the text. And as their finger moves across the words, a computer program identifies what the user is pointing to and then converts that into audio that is read aloud by a synthesized voice. Since pointing in a straight line is not natural for the blind, the device has built in checks for the user.
(SOUNDBITE) (English) ROY SHILKROT, PH.D. CANDIDATE AT MIT MEDIA LAB, SAYING: "While it's reading it will also give you different cues on how to stay in line properly. So if you are staying in line or go too far above or below the line ... when you can't see it and you need to trace it it's kind of hard. So all of these cues are delivered either with the vibration or with audio, a continuous audio tone helps you scan properly." The team are still carrying out tests with a number of subjects and expect the device to be fine tuned in about two years. And that's great news for Wong, who says the capability to read menus or other text could be life altering.
(SOUNDBITE) (English) VISUALLY IMPAIRED PROFESSOR WONG MENG EE WHO IS USING THE FINGER READER, SAYING: "So much information is around us, so much information is handed to us spontaneously. And to be able to access that information I think would be a tremendous game changer for person's with visual impairments to have access to that information." So while it may feel like an oddity, this is something Wong could get used to.
Source: http://www.reuters.com/video/2014/08/25/a-ring-that-reads-text-for-the-blind?videoId=340766584&videoChannel=6
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Founded by Russian entrepreneur Dmitry Itskov in February 2011 with the participation of leading Russian specialists in the field of neural interfaces, robotics, artificial organs and systems.
The main goals of the 2045 Initiative: the creation and realization of a new strategy for the development of humanity which meets global civilization challenges; the creation of optimale conditions promoting the spiritual enlightenment of humanity; and the realization of a new futuristic reality based on 5 principles: high spirituality, high culture, high ethics, high science and high technologies.
The main science mega-project of the 2045 Initiative aims to create technologies enabling the transfer of a individual’s personality to a more advanced non-biological carrier, and extending life, including to the point of immortality. We devote particular attention to enabling the fullest possible dialogue between the world’s major spiritual traditions, science and society.
A large-scale transformation of humanity, comparable to some of the major spiritual and sci-tech revolutions in history, will require a new strategy. We believe this to be necessary to overcome existing crises, which threaten our planetary habitat and the continued existence of humanity as a species. With the 2045 Initiative, we hope to realize a new strategy for humanity's development, and in so doing, create a more productive, fulfilling, and satisfying future.
The "2045" team is working towards creating an international research center where leading scientists will be engaged in research and development in the fields of anthropomorphic robotics, living systems modeling and brain and consciousness modeling with the goal of transferring one’s individual consciousness to an artificial carrier and achieving cybernetic immortality.
An annual congress "The Global Future 2045" is organized by the Initiative to give platform for discussing mankind's evolutionary strategy based on technologies of cybernetic immortality as well as the possible impact of such technologies on global society, politics and economies of the future.
Future prospects of "2045" Initiative for society
2015-2020
The emergence and widespread use of affordable android "avatars" controlled by a "brain-computer" interface. Coupled with related technologies “avatars’ will give people a number of new features: ability to work in dangerous environments, perform rescue operations, travel in extreme situations etc.
Avatar components will be used in medicine for the rehabilitation of fully or partially disabled patients giving them prosthetic limbs or recover lost senses.
2020-2025
Creation of an autonomous life-support system for the human brain linked to a robot, ‘avatar’, will save people whose body is completely worn out or irreversibly damaged. Any patient with an intact brain will be able to return to a fully functioning bodily life. Such technologies will greatly enlarge the possibility of hybrid bio-electronic devices, thus creating a new IT revolution and will make all kinds of superimpositions of electronic and biological systems possible.
2030-2035
Creation of a computer model of the brain and human consciousness with the subsequent development of means to transfer individual consciousness onto an artificial carrier. This development will profoundly change the world, it will not only give everyone the possibility of cybernetic immortality but will also create a friendly artificial intelligence, expand human capabilities and provide opportunities for ordinary people to restore or modify their own brain multiple times. The final result at this stage can be a real revolution in the understanding of human nature that will completely change the human and technical prospects for humanity.
2045
This is the time when substance-independent minds will receive new bodies with capacities far exceeding those of ordinary humans. A new era for humanity will arrive! Changes will occur in all spheres of human activity – energy generation, transportation, politics, medicine, psychology, sciences, and so on.
Today it is hard to imagine a future when bodies consisting of nanorobots will become affordable and capable of taking any form. It is also hard to imagine body holograms featuring controlled matter. One thing is clear however: humanity, for the first time in its history, will make a fully managed evolutionary transition and eventually become a new species. Moreover, prerequisites for a large-scale expansion into outer space will be created as well.
Key elements of the project in the future
• International social movement
• social network immortal.me
• charitable foundation "Global Future 2045" (Foundation 2045)
• scientific research centre "Immortality"
• business incubator
• University of "Immortality"
• annual award for contribution to the realization of the project of "Immortality”.
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