Hello World! Since I became totally BLIND, my skills in computer science has directed me to many computer vision tools, such as Envision and Supersense, however, I discovered a tool that actually BENEFITS me! ☺️
The beneficial tool I am talking about, is called, The vOICe, which promotes sensory substitution or vision substitution, which allows the HUMAN brain to process the audio representation of visual information by means of computer vision technology. In other words, The vOICe is a bionic eye! ☺️
I’ve installed The vOICe app on my Xiaomi Redmi 9T smartphone 162 days ago, yet began using it 12 days ago. ☺️
Last night, when I could not sleep, I decided to tinker with The vOICe settings on my Xiaomi Redmi 9T Android smartphone. I discovered that the announced options were the exact opposite, in my terminology, and so I quickly adapted to the menu stylizations. I accidentally toggled on “say color names” and “say object names”, only to discover I didn’t require them as the soundscapes were no more, and so, I toggled them back. I discovered “edge detection” is not enabled at app launch, so I toggle that option to hear additional tones to the soundscapes. I don’t know what “Foveal view” means as it’s not in my vocabulary, but I presume it has something to do with the camera; I don’t immediately recognize any difference with the soundscapes. I’m not using “talking compass” nor “talking locator”, so I made sure they’re not enabled or making any sounds. I set “shake action” to toggle mute/unmute. Then, for “other settings”, I unchecked “use face detection”, “use text detection” and “use vibration features”. Then, I shake my smartphone to unmute and place it across my defective eyes in landscape position, and listen to the soundscapes with the onboard device’s stereo speakers while moving my head in random positions. — This is how I discovered HOW to use The vOICe tool! ☺️
Shortly after I became totally BLIND, I discovered my previously-superb “night vision” capability was not fully-dependent on my eyesight, as my supersensitive binaural hearing was being used by my mind’s “targeting system”. Long ago, when I was still in the USA, I frequently drove my car with my headlights off when it was completely dark & clear outside, while I wore my dark sunglasses with the car windows open. Also, when I was homeless, I was able to navigate a forested park in total darkness without my flashlight turned on; even raccoons & other nocturnal animals couldn’t understand how I can “see” them in complete darkness! Of all these years, 30 years to be exact, I believed I had superb “night vision”, but my recent SCIENCE experiments had proved otherwise. When I put on my noise-cancelling hearing protectors (to avoid hearing animal noise pollution), my “mental imagery” is gone, causing me to collide into objects when navigating in my bedroom to the bathroom. Yes, “mental imagery”, which seems to only work when my eyelids are open and nothing is blocking my ears, and both seem to, have to be “true” for me to navigate without anything in my hands! — Basically, it seems my human brain is dependent on my supersensitive binaural hearing ability in substituting my defective eyesight! Unfortunately, nobody understands WHY I’m always complaining of LOUD noises!
Last night, after listening to a couple of audio podcasts about The vOICe by Seeing with Sound, I began realizing my human brain is already doing that, subliminally. I also listened to a YouTube video of a BLIND man using The vOICe to navigate a course in competing with another person having retinal implants, and I immediately began recognizing my human brain is already “seeing with sound”! ☺️ Though I am a scientist, I cannot explain how my human brain allows me to SEE without my eyesight!
My latest discovery is, The vOICe tool COMPLIMENTS what my human brain is already doing! ☺️ I believe my human brain is using my supersensitive binaural hearing ability as multi-directional sonar, but I have no means of proving that fact, even to another scientist. Surprisingly, it seems The vOICe is the electronic version of what my brain is interpreting, yet enhancing or complimenting it, potentially giving me “bionic” capabilities. Therefore, my computer vision, computer science project use of The vOICe is officially launched! ☺️
Also, last night, my half-sighted wife & I were discussing how I can benefit from The vOICe use, she stressed that she cannot afford to buy me any more gadgets, such as Vision 800. I told her that I strongly believe I will be able to function BETTER if I’m able to use The vOICe all the time, but I’m already understanding, the required money will never happen during the remainder of my life despite I have made a breakthrough. I require 🇵🇭₱22,000 (🇺🇸$425) for a new pair of Vision 800 glasses from Huawei online store, here in The Philippines. On eBay, a new pair of Vision 800 glasses from China costs 🇺🇸$212 or used from USA for 🇺🇸$60 average price, and are subjected to up to 300% taxation by Philippines Bureau of Customs (BoC). Unfortunately, BoC is the “roadblock” preventing me from obtaining the technology I require.
Technically, I require apparatus that can hold my Xiaomi Redmi 9T Android smartphone directly in front of my defective eyes, in the landscape position; I discovered this, also last night. I remembered seeing motorcycle helmets with corded stereo speakers back in the day when I was an amateur radio operator; my smartphone could be mounted on the front visor. Despite I’m now totally BLIND, I can still design or craft, aka “improvise” what I require for the face-mount of my smartphone, but I don’t have anyone to build for me; though such a creation would look awkward in public, I would be benefitting from technology. I currently have two different virtual reality “Google Cardboard” goggles ordered, to arrive any day now, for me to experiment with my idea of a head-mount design; I already instructed my wife’s nephew to cut a camera hole and to take a photo of me wearing my SCIENCE project. ☺️
Prior to composing this blog post, I updated my Amazon Fire HD 8 tablet with my updated The vOICe settings I am already using on my Xiaomi Redmi 9T Android smartphone. I also bookmarked the web app of The vOICe on my Apple iPhone 12 mini into Apple Safari & Google Chrome web browsers, for alternative science experiments. ☺️
When I read through many The vOICe articles, especially on the one about childhood education, I began to remember what is taught in preschool and kindergarten, to fully-understand the concept of The vOICe; those are the primary educational levels for instructing “object recognition” and “text recognition” SKILLS. For me, as well as others to understand the concept, a newly born human baby does not immediately-know what they are seeing with their eyes, but their human brain is in “learning” mode, the initial development of cognition skills. I remember the preschool toys I had 50 years ago, and what those toys were teaching me. After recalling what I had learned before I reached the third grade in elementary school as being my basic foundation of life, I immediately began understanding HOW I can benefit from using The vOICe on a daily basis! ☺️
For me to clearly understand what “sensory substitution” is, I read through two audiobooks from Bookshare.org, called “Terminator Salvation” & “Terminator Salvation: Cold War”. ☺️ Both audiobooks explained what Terminators did when a sensor malfunctions, and what it must do to complete its task or mission. Though those audio books are science-fiction, they explain how to benefit from sensory substitution, for both human and machine, including how machine can substitute human organs. Yes, I read about a human with a machine anatomy that believes they are HUMAN. ☺️ — It’s an interesting concept that The vOICe began years after the first Terminator movie! ☺️
Surprisingly, sensory substitution was strongly emphasized in the science-fiction productions, “The Six Million Dollar Man” & “The Bionic Woman”, both of which, were my childhood favorites.
Prior to my blindness, I was an independent developer of embedded systems (digital electronics), in which the use of “sensors” is the foundation of every circuit design, such as the simple on-off switch. However, my electronics hobby began before I entered electronics, when I was working with fragile silicon solar cells and a electric direct-current (DC) motor for making a fan in 1980, after learning about the radiometer I purchased from the Museum of Science & Industry in Chicago, when I was 10 years old. Every electronic sensor I learned since my beginnings of science, helped me become a successful embedded systems developer! ☺️ — Now that I’m totally BLIND, I can still use my SKILLS in “sensory substitution”. ☺️
Why am I preferring The vOICe over Envision & Supersense mobile computer vision apps for BLIND persons? Because I need to repair my own cognition SKILLS, which were severely damaged when I became totally BLIND. Though optical character recognition, object detection & scene describer functions are helpful, I prefer sensory substitution over someone else’s interpretation of the environment, as if I’m back in kindergarten. ☺️ Instead of having someone’s AI code tell me what the camera sees, why not utilize the cognition skills my human brain already has? Exactly! ☺️
As a scientist, like other scientists, I have many objects that are not identifiable by any computer vision to date! ☺️ Why not? Every object detector code depends on a database, meaning, the more objects to be detected means the database gets larger in file size; that’s why Envision’s “Describe Scene” function depends on a remote network server for processing. Alternatively, The vOICe allows the human brain to process “mental imagery” from the outputted soundscapes, improving cognition skills at the same time! ☺️
For those that are wondering, I am available to be a test patient in another scientist’s science lab, provided at no expense to my wife & I. For international traveling purposes, I’m a US citizen, my wife is a Filipina citizen, and we live in the Philippines. My bedroom, which is air conditioned all the time (except during power outages, or course), also contains my mini/micro SCIENCE lab. And YES, I do SCIENCE projects, every day! ☺️
Thanks for reading my latest blog post! Have a Great Day!
🇵🇭🇺🇸👨🦯🦽 📱⌨️📻🎧 📚🪀🧮
FLASH UPDATE (April 30, 2022): Now working The vOICe Android app on my vivo Y51a smartphone! ☺️ Standard The vOICe scans SUCCESSFUL. Color identification is fast & accurate! Text identification is very fast & too accurate! ☺️ Shake operation isn’t working. I presume other functions are operational, yet pending tests. I purchased this smartphone, exclusively for operating with The vOICe app! ☺️
BREAKING NEWS: ABORT ADVISORY! The vivo Y51a is a FAKE! It’s really a vivo Y51, MODIFIED to resemble the newer model with FAKE version 7.1 instead of 5.2. This device is no longer in my inventory!
Being totally BLIND makes me vulnerable for buying buying FAKES! 😔
Marcos Miranda's SCIENCE Blog 