Blind Bargains Audio: Featuring the BB Qast, Technology news, Interviews, and more

HIMS announced a new 20-cell BrailleSense Polaris at CSUN and we anted to learn more about it and how it stacks up with its bigger sibling.

We present to you a Blind Bargains first, as two of our contributors team up for a special conference interview and a one-of-a-kind special tasting. J.J. and Shelly talk to Lindsay Yazzolino, Tactile Design Consultant for Touch Graphics about a talking tactile map and other tactile innovations, and then try to identify braille chocolates using their tongues.

Altix is a Polish company focused on accessible tactile experiences including games and educational aids including a forthcoming talking and tactile globe. Shelly speaks with Janusz Mirowski, director of Altix to learn more about the globe and the other products on display at their booth.

We've been following the progress of Be My Eyes since they launched in 2015, and now the service boasts over 1,000,000 users and volunteers who speak 182 languages. J.J. speaks with Hans Wiberg, Founder and Christian Erfurt, CEO of Be My Eyes about their recent partnership with Microsoft and other future opportunities for growth, as well as how Be My Eyes fits in the landscape with other paid services.

AudioEye is one of many companies doing website and document remediation, but their approach seeks to help millions of sites at once with a focus on content management systems which are used by many website designers. Joe speaks with Todd Bankifeir, Chief Executive Officer of AudioEye to learn more in this podcast.

The ScripTalk Station from En-Vision America has been identifying medications for over a decade, but soon iOS users will be able to do the same from their phones.

NuEyes bills themselves as electronic glasses for low vision. The lightweight glasses run Android and include features like bar code scanning and OCR. Shelly speaks with NuEyes Co-founder Justin Moore to learn more about this wearable and what sets it apart from the rest.

The Buzzclip is a device which can be used to track movement or lack of movement in front of you, now up to 3 meters away.

The ElBraille Windows braille computer has been getting some updates, and both the 14 and 40-cell models are now available for their respective 4th generation Focus braille displays. J.J. speaks with Adi Kushnir from the Elita Group to learn about the latest developments with the 14 and 40-cell models, available from Freedom Scientific. You can find out more information about the device on ElBraille's home page.

Indoor Navigation is often about the journey, and one company has journeyed far in their quest to make the indoors accessible since we last spoke with them. Shelly speaks with Idan Meir from Right-Hear to learn about the latest updates to their accessible navigational solution including a new beta version coming out this summer and possible features for locations without beacons.

A lot has happened since we first covered the Canute multi-line braille reader in 2015. Ed Rogers, Founder and Managing Director of Bristol Braille Technology and Dave Williams, the Chair of the Braillists community speaks with J.J. about the imminent release of the now 360-cell, 9-line braille display, targeted for release this year, and some of the advantages of a multi-line unit including math equations, tables, and musical scores.

The Blind Bargains Crew has put on their track shoes to keep up with all the news that has been generated by Aira in the early portions of 2018. From the announcement of the Aira Employment Program to the ability to use the service in some grocery stores, the team at AIRA is listening to their subscribers and providing solutions to their needs. Greg Stilson, Director of Product Management, joins Joe Steinkamp to discuss in more detail these events and how they tie into the upcoming release of the Horizon version of the product. rolling out in May of this year. Greg also notes what is in store with Aira at CSUN 2018. Learn about how the company will transform the area with Aira City San Diego; Aira Horizon Smart Glasses; introduction to the capabilities of Hey Chloe [TM] Aira s new artificial intelligence (AI) platform; and much more that you can read about from this CSUN blog post.

The last show before we start our pilgrimage to the West coast has us thinking about long flights. J.J. in the spirit of the season, not Spirit Airlines mind you, takes us on a brief tour of an In Flight Entertainment System in this episode. Our Legal Correspondent is back for a listener email in "Sound Off" and we'll check in on one of the subjects from last week's "Last Word". Fold your tray tables and place your seats in the upright position... BBQ 137 is heading towards the runway.

Buddy Brannan is back and he is here to show off the new addition to his ever-growing Braille Display collection. We'll then delve into how non Google made Google Home units work. The tip will give you the need for speed, "Sound Off" has a request for Buddy and the "Last Word" will make you forget all about those Furbies from a few weeks ago.

It happened to be Pancake Day at the time of recording. We aren't sure if having some form of a pancake would be a good accompaniment for the show, however, expect to hear a lot more about pancakes the closer we get to CSUN. That's because Richard Walker's Pancake House is a "must find" in San Diego. Enough about food. This week we finish up our ATIA coverage with an interview with John Taylor from IRIE_AT about a new smartphone option, discuss Video Magnifiers in "Sound Off" and talk about pancakes in the "Last Word". Hey wait, how did that get there? Oh well, grab a pad of butter and slather on the syrup for episode 135 of the delicious BBQ.