<![CDATA[
January 21, 2012, blind male user BS (Nokia N86):
> I have recently been using the vOICe on my nokia n86 to walk around my
> property. I have not used my cane as most of the time I have been carrying
> things with one hand. Also even when I haven't been carrying things I just
> haven't had my cane around. I have been able to find open gates and avoid
> trees as well as avoid bricks and cement blocks that have been laying around
> the ground. I have also been able to walk between buildings and find the
> stairs leading to them without trailing the walls. Just thought I would
> post this since I have not been using the software in a couple of months.
> It's amazing just how much you don't forget even after a few months of not
> using the vOICe.
]]>
Beware: The vOICe is not a replacement for cane or guide dog,
as mentioned in the disclaimers, and you should never rely on The vOICe for
your safety!
This blind user stated separately that this particular
report was about a very familiar place.
<![CDATA[
February 23, 2011, blind male user BS (Nokia N86):
> While cleaning up a rental I was using the vOICe to find left over carpet
> scraps, packaging, etc that had been left on the floor. My mother and I are
> renovating a home for rent, and she wanted me to clean up the living room since
> that was where all of the stuff was put. I had my n86 with me so I ran the vOICe.
> After getting an idea of the sound of the carpet that was supposed to be there
> I then went arround the room and picked up the scraps to be thrown out. I was
> rather surprised at how simple it was even without headphones, but I guess
> like anything else as long as the skill is used it won't fade.
]]>
<![CDATA[
September 23, 2010, blind male user BS (Nokia N86):
> I was at my girlfriends house one day. She wanted me to get a clock down
> off the wall for her so the battery could be changed. Given that I knew that
> this clock like most of her others was round I decided to try to find it with
> the mobile phone version of The vOICe. I aimed the camera at the wall and
> within a few seconds found the clock in question and grabbed it down without
> first having to search the wall with my hands.
]]>
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August 17, 2010, blind male user BS (Nokia N86):
> When we first got to our hotel I was exploring with the vOICe and not my
> cane. The room had a couch coffee table and a couple of other chairs and
> tables in the first part, and the bedroom was separate from the main area of
> the hotel room. I stood in the door of the bedroom with the vOICe running on
> my n86. The first thing I found was the bed. I recognized it without even
> touch it. I followed it arround to find a chair on the far side of the room.
> Then I headed back to the door and went towards the head of the bed. I heard
> a low flat tone which I presumed to be the night stand. I walked over to it
> just to varrify, and I was correct. I am surprised I was able to do so good
> with the software as I actually have not used it in about two months.
]]>
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July 12, 2009, blind male user BS (Nokia 7610):
> My family was planning a party for the fourth of July which is independence
> day in the states. We were painting some picknic tables, and I decided to
> try the vOICe to see if I missed any places on the table I was working on.
> Due to the darkness of the paint which was grey I was able to determine
> where I had missed so I went back to touch up the paint.
> Also there were some scrap pieces of wood laying arround which my mother
> asked me to pick up. I again used the vOICe and found them. This saved me
> from having to do any searching with my hands. We had some other people
> helping us to get ready for the party, and they were impressed with the
> capabilities of the software. I had to explain how it worked, and even
> though they have their sight they were amazed.
]]>
<![CDATA[
April 19, 2009, blind male user LC (Nokia N82):
> I've started playing with the vOICe again today, after getting hold of a
> Nokia N82 and from my brief experimentation, the results were pretty cool!
>
> With the 3d stereo feature on, rotation at -90 degrees, scan interval set at
> 1000 MS and anti-stutter option on, I walked round the house with the phone
> held at head level in front of me with the two speakers facing upwards. I
> found the way that doorways were represented quite intuitive and the stereo
> sound certainly helps with the mind having to do less conscious spacial
> translation.
>
> I'm looking forward to trying it outdoors soon!
]]>
<![CDATA[
July 22, 2006, early blind female user MT (Nokia 6620):
> I've been using my cell phone most of the time when going out. I don't
> even get so much as a comment. I have taken all kinds of pictures.
> Everything from pictures of people sitting across from me in the waiting
> room to instruments in the doctor's office. I guess the most
> significant thing is that I have finally and thankfully learned to
> track, that is to associate the sounds with objects, some familiar and
> some not familiar. The two most striking examples of tracking to me,
> were the big column I took a picture of in the air port, (at very close
> range, because that's what caused me to be interested in it) and the
> wall of instruments which I also took a picture of. I'm not really sure
> if the picture came out as good as the revelation of Oh my god, I *saw
> that, then used my hands to find out what I was seeing. In other words
> I've gone from using seeing with sound and saying "Oh I see something...
> or Ok, this is a block in my hand and this is what a block looks like
> with seeing with sound, to Oh, I see something--don't know what it is
> yet, but hey, it's a column that's all bumpy. Cool!" Or "I see a lot
> of things where there should have been an examining table or a wall.
> I wonder what's there. Oh wow, these are the doctor's instruments and
> machines. Cool!"]]>
<![CDATA[
January 22, 2006, early blind female user MT (Nokia 6620):
> I spend Saturday evenings in a little chapel praying and seeing, since I
> figure that God gave me a gift to be able to use this neat software to
> see, so I can look at lots of things in the chapel. Anyway, I noticed,
> among other things that the edges of the pews made a neat sound. and
> as I was walking around I noticed that I could tell where they were by
> the noise they made, so without using my hands and/or a cane, I was able
> to center myself between two pews so that I didn't bump into one as I
> was walking in to sit down.
> Just kind of a nifty thing.
]]>
<![CDATA[
December 4, 2005, early blind female user MT (Nokia 6620):
> Well, today I had an neat experience. In our church (I'm Catholic)
> there's a custom/tradition of perpetual adoration where there's a little
> chapel off the main part of the church that's open 24 hours a day and
> Jesus is exposed in the sacrament. Anyway, there are six candles three
> on either side, and I saw the candles. I wasn't sure at first what I
> was seeing but then I reached out with my hand, and felt the two
> candles. Strange, I'm thinking, because I distinctly hear three beeps.
> So I put my hand out and am exploring and on the other side there are
> three candles so I look and sure enough that other candle is slightly
> behind the two I had seen before so I didn't immediately see it with my
> hand. It's a good example of how tactile and vision worked together to
> determine something. Incidentally I was also able to see the flames
> from the candles and to see the blobs of the candles and the light from
> them. It sounded so cool that I exited the voice and snapped a picture
> which if it didn't get blurry when I did it, I can upload if that's
> possible.
]]>
<![CDATA[
September 9, 2005, late blind male user JB (Nokia 6620):
> I can walk around my back yard without running into the trees and some
> of them are about 2 foot thick, and today I was walking down the street
> in front of my house and looking for the Mail box and thought I found
> it but when I tapped it with my cain it was the Garbage can that I had
> forgot to retreve after the trash truck came.
]]>
<![CDATA[
November 30, 2004, early blind male user JL (Nokia 6620):
> I made spaghetti sauce today. i needed a red and green bell pepper. I never
> thought of doing it before but I picked up my phhone and turned on the voyce
> color identifyer. it let me know that i did in fact have a red and a green
> pepper. Life is getting better and better. hahaha!
]]>
<![CDATA[
March 8, 2005, early blind female user DN (Nokia 6620):
> I have only been using the version ported to Symbian
> phones for just a few days, but already I can:
>
> * Identify a few buildings on campus
>
> * Tell which side of a page has print on it.
>
> * Tell whether my guide dog is going around a car
> parked across the path or a group of people in the way.
>
> * Locate one of those semi-transparent bus shelters
> while my dog attempted to zoom past without stopping.
>
> I scan and OCR a lot of material in my job so knowing
> which side of the page has print saves me time. I get
> lost on the big campus where I work too, so getting
> lost less was the real incentive for using this software.
> I'm a computer tech for a community college with a large
> campus. Already the vOICe has helped me navigate in
> subtle ways that are hard to put in to words. For example,
> I could tell when a line of shrubbery I was following
> turned in to a fence, only of course I didn't know it
> was a fence until I stopped my dog and used my cane to
> check it out. And today, I couldn't tell the difference
> between a concrete wall and a concrete flight of stairs,
> but I could tell that the wall was different somehow.
> Later, an area I normally travel was blocked by a
> temporary construction fence, and again, I could tell
> that something about the area was different. Basically
> my golden retriever keeps me safe but the vOICe lets me
> feel like I can tap more information in my environment.
]]>
<![CDATA[
April 20, 2005, early blind male user JL (Nokia 6620):
> My son was waiting for an envelope from the state. this
> was a package letting him know when he can take a test
> for the EMT certification here. He called asking if
> any mail had come to our house for him. I told him that
> several things had come. He said the envelope he was
> looking for was yellow. I turned on my phone and sure
> enough, it said it was yellow. he came over and it was
> what he was waiting for. once again, my color detector
> save the day.
]]>
