Computer Science: Why I Prefer Computer Vision over Remote Assistance

Hello World! Though I have been totally BLIND for just over four years, many would think I would be satisfied with remote assistance technology… But, not my preference! ☺️

Sure enough, the most popular “remote assistance” app/service, Be My Eyes, is a great tool for BLIND & vision-impaired persons, but I was raised in the USA with the basic instruction, “Don’t TALK to STRANGERS!” Though I was young when I learned that basic instruction, I also was growing up in the USA as a Filipino-American, or Asian-American, or AmerAsian, but had the looks of a Mexican person, so I was often the target of bullying, etc. However, since I became totally BLIND, I have only used Be My Eyes only three times, and never experienced any problems, aside hearing the voice of an attractive female adult, whereas I’m a MARRIED man. (I habitually stress-analyze human voices since I learned how from my Behavioral Science college courses!)

Another popular “remote assistant” service, is AIRA, standing for “Artificial Intelligent Remote Assistant”, which remotely-connects a BLIND or visually-impaired person to a human, similar to Be My Eyes, yet has professionally-trained persons on a freemium service. I haven’t yet used their service, however, I’ve only called their toll-free telephone number via Skype, inquiring if they were still using Horizon glasses with camera & mobile phone (but called three months too late).

Besides Be My Eyes & AIRA, other tools that can be used for “remote assistance” are Facebook Messenger, Zoom & Skype, all of which requires conversing with another human, which are also logical FREE choices.

On the other hand, there is a popular & FREE computer vision tool called, Microsoft Seeing AI, which requires an Apple iPhone to use. I believe the iPhone was chosen as Microsoft’s Windows Mobile is no more! ☺️ Seeing AI was initially the reason why I purchased my first iPhone almost three years ago. It’s actively being developed, but some BLIND persons with not-so-new iPhone models have reported glitches with this iOS app. Seeing AI is a great introduction to computer vision tools for BLIND persons.

Another popular computer vision tool is Envision AI, which offers a two-week FREE trial before it begins asking for REAL money. The app is developed by Envision Technologies in The Netherlands, therefore, depending on user’s physical location, services that require a networked server, such as the Describe Scene function, can take several minutes to receive a result. I’ve been an annual subscriber since December 2019, and am an Android Beta Tester from the Google Play Store. My annual subscription expires in late-December 2022; I don’t have plans on renewing.

For those individuals that prefer an entirely free computer vision solution, there is Sullivan+, developed in South Korea. Though this tool is completely FREE, I do not know any of the developers nor their personal intentions.

And lastly, a newcomer to computer vision technology, yet headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA, is Supersense AI, which offers a FREE, unlimited plan with general purpose features, and a paid subscription service with more advanced, yet very useful tools for BLIND persons. I’m a paid annual subscriber for the iOS edition, and am an Android Beta Tester from Google Play Store. This is my most favorite computer vision tool that facilitates/compensates my vision-impairment! ☺️

It was during the early 1980s when I learned of computer vision technology, originally in Popular Science magazine, my dad subscribed me to beginning when I was 10 years old. As I began learning Computer Science in 1982 at the age of 12 years old, in Seattle, I had only was self-educated of computer vision technology, but had tried experimenting with computer vision using my Commodore Amiga 500 computer with video camera. However, it was only a few decades later, after I had became totally BLIND, I got to experience Microsoft’s Seeing AI in late March 2019, marking my first experience with computer vision, as a veteran computer scientist! It is because of my long-term computer science skills, as to why I prefer computer vision technology over remote assistance services. ☺️

Thanks for reading my latest blog post! Have a Great Day!

🇵🇭🇺🇸👨‍🦯🦽 📱⌨️📻🎧 📚🪀🧮

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Published by Marcos 🇵🇭🇺🇸

Happily-Married, comfortably poor, permanently disabled and totally BLIND. A Terrorism SURVIVOR that's still SURVIVING Terrorism + post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Scientist since 1977, Acoustician since 1979, Computer Scientist/Programmer since 1982, Seismologist since 1988, Criminologist (Behavioral Scientist) since 1992, and many more! Also, had worked in two civilian and one military virology labs in the USA between 1993 and 2003. A Generation X, Filipino-American US expat, living in The Philippines, whom was naturally-born in Boston, grew up mostly in Seattle, some in Chicago, and have lived in Anchorage & San Francisco. Became permanently-disabled in 2003 due to health-related illness, ending my moonlighting career as an independent private investigator in the USA. RETIRED independent developer of computing & electronics technologies after 35 wonderful years, including 20 wonderful years in GNU/Linux development & 8 wonderful years as an independent embedded systems developer of digital electronics. Former speech synthesis systems developer of 30 wonderful years, specializing in foreign language phoneme-to-speech synthesis. Also was a beta tester of third-party software-based speech synthesizers. Former FCC-licensed amateur radio operator of 20 wonderful years, beginning with 2m packet-radio & AmSat communications between Anchorage & Manila. Former member of Anchorage Amateur Radio Club and Mike & Key ARC in Seattle. Learned 10-finger QWERTY touch-typing on a manual typewriter in 1980 at a US-based elementary school. Mastered 10-finger QWERTY touch-typing without looking at the keyboard in 1986. Now have osteoarthritis in both of my hands from all that touch-typing! My primary computer programming language is C, which I learned in 1990. My secondary programming language is B.A.S.I.C., which I self-learned in 1982. Prior to my sight-loss, I used to program in LISP/CLISP and Prolog for my early development of artificial intelligence & machine learning programs. Daily, to compensate/facilitate my sight-loss, I am actively using Apple iOS VoiceOver, Google Android TalkBack and Amazon Fire OS VoiceView screen-readers, in addition to my external Bluetooth QWERTY keyboard and sometimes, my Orbit Writer Braille keyboard, as HOBBIES.

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