Amazon is known to put the customer first in whatever it does. In September 2019, it launched its new feature of “Show and Tell” to help the worldwide 1.3 billion people who live with a type of vision impairment.
The ML-enabled technology has been rolled out onto Alexa devices within the US. All customers need to do is say “Alexa, what am I holding?”, after which Alexa replies with whatever the customer is holding in her hands. This step has been considered revolutionary as the people targeted have these kind of identification problems extremely frequently – be it unpacking their grocery bag or trying to figure out what kind of herb or spice is left on the counter.
Of course Amazon is not the first company within this space. Microsoft launched Soundscape, which uses audio-based technology and is supposed to give blind people more confidence in their everyday-life. It literally describes anything the user turns towards, including its distance and whether it is a building, a park or whatever. The technology tracks movement via the phone and uses 3D audio cues to share street names, stores, building sites – literally anything one can see on a mobile phone map.
In fact, even though these applications have Machine Learning embedded, they mostly make us of technology already on our phones anyway. 3D audio leads to the phone making sounds in a way that it comes from the destination’s direction. Especially as visually impaired people are extremely strong when it comes to imagining things in their head, this helps them see a map in their mind.
As cheesy as it may sound but I think it’s crazy what has happened in recent years with regards to helping people with limited eyesight, movement, hearing or any other disabilities alike. No matter how creatively I try to think – I cannot even imagine what will be next if technological advancement continues to evolve so rapidly, even if it is simply using current technology more wisely. Can you?
References:
Slashgear – Microsoft Soundscape
Venturebeat – Alexa Show & Tell
About Amazon – Alexa Show & Tell
Hey Annika, what a cool implication for this audio based technology. I think its really exciting to think about all the things that technological innovations can offer. As you wrote, due to the quick development of technology, is hard to imagine its impact on day to day life. However, i think it is important to also consider the mental and social impacts of these type of applications rather then only the functional impact. As shown in the video of your post, Soundscape gave the woman the ability to share the experience of sight seeing, giving her a more participating feeling. For future generations, there are certainly going to be improvements in the prevalence and forms of disability as medical interventions extend life and improve results for people with disabilities of all ages. Both young and old now have many different experiences of life, particularly with respect to technology. As people with disabilities live longer, greater differences between their cohorts in need and the capacity to apply technological solutions to their disabilities should be taken into account. Furthermore, are individuals with disabilities always able to use the new technology in their advantage. For example, it is clearly identified that people with vision disabilities have a high level of computing and Internet expertise backlog, rather than lack of will, that has prevented access to computing and Internet-related technologies. Maybe Federal and state government policy should be tailored to the needs for specific skills of individuals with a disability to make these type of technological innovations more successful in the future.
Agree, E. M. (2014). The potential for technology to enhance independence for those aging with a disability. Disability and health journal, 7(1), S33-S39.
Hollier, S. (2006). The Disability Divide: A study into the impact of computing and internet-related technologies on people who are blind or vision-impaired (Doctoral dissertation, Curtin University).