Vision forward's Tech Connect Live

Vision Forward
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  • Updated Biweekly

Join Luke Scriven and Cory Ballard, Assistive Technology Specialists at Vision Forward, for Tech connect Live! This free event every other Thursday at 11:00 AM CST features a live demonstration of an assistive technology product, followed by an open question and answer session and general discussion. Come find out how devices perform when they’re put on the spot – and how Luke and Cory perform for that matter! This informal event is a great place to come and get a real experience of assistive technologies, all without having to leave the comfort of your own home.

  1. 2d ago

    Transcribe Audio with AI using Plaud! | Tech Connect Live!

    0:00 Start 1:15 Welcome, Ice-Breaking via Emoji 4:00 Comments and The Order of Names 6:30 Introducing Plaud AI and its uses 10:00 Why use Plaud? Memory Degrades over time 12:15 Plaud Pin is a magnetic pin or wrist-worn microphone system 16:30 You can use your phone itself for recording on the Plaud App 17:30 5 hours is the maximum length of audio file, longer recordings will be multiple files 18:00 Note Pro has better microphones, credit card sized, very small screen with no menus 20:30 Legality of recording audio without first getting full consent from all parties 21:10 Plaud One is a headphone but otherwise similar to Note Pro in capacity and quality 23:00 Plaud Pin is very convenient, one button activation without even unlocking your phone 24:00 Once recorded, you get a transcription which differentiates between speakers 25:30 Templates are available for specific purposes like Meetings, or Appointments etc 26:15 Auto Flow is a setting where you can have Plaud auto email you specific things 28:30 Get reminder emails for our Livestream by emailing TechConnect@vision-forward.org 31:30 Create reusable custom templates or import existing templates to help Plaud 32:15 Different costs for the physical devices. 33:00 Different Tiers of Subscription Cost, Starter, Pro, Unlimited, and Team Plan 34:30 Visual of the Plaud App, very subtle visual indicators for the Plaud Pin. 36:00 Musing on modern surveillance, differences in consent laws between states of USA 38:30 Plaud App navigation of recent notes and options 43:00 Example of how a summary sounds using our own ice breaker conversation earlier 46:00 Accessibility is okay, but its better when you are sending things through email 48:00 Wrap Up Review of Plaud, Plaud.AI website, 49:00 Claud vs Plaud (funny story) 50:15 Top Commenters Celebrated 53:00 Upcoming topics for the produced videos and livestreams

  2. Aug 13

    Tony Gebhard's Interactive NVDA Coach is great for training Screen Reader Use! | Tech Connect Live!

    0:00 Start 2:00 Introducing today's Guest 5:00 Tony Gebhard's Personal Story 8:00 Music Production in the Modern Age 11:00 Writing his own music at 12, the adolescence band experience 16:00 Learning Digital Music Editing via Logic Pro, Audacity, Garage Band, 19:30 Tony's Views on AI, how to synergize AI with a Screen Reader 23:00 Various AI options available now: Claude, Codex, Chat GPT, 25:00 Making things Edited with AI vs Generated/Created by AI 28:30 Website Design, first Word Press, then Hosting a Server 32:00 NVDA Coach talks to you like an instructor would, step by step 35:30 Step by Step how to find and get the Coach running properly 40:00 Tony's Book: "No Sight Required: The Blind User's Guide to AI 46:00 Where to find it, printed or read aloud etc 50:00 Wrap Up, TonyGebhard.me and upcoming Tech Connect Videos 53:30 Outro

  3. Jul 30

    Discussing Apple WWDC 2026 and the WeWalk Smart Cane | Tech Connect Live!

    0:00 Start 1:00 End of our Intro Music 4:00 No guest today, unexpected miscommunication etc 6:00 Intro to Apple World Wide Developer Conference, typically this is all software focused updates and announcements 7:45 Apple Intelligence had some big promises but largely disappointed 10:00 Apple refines what others create, doesn't blaze trails themselves 11:00 Apple is now outsourcing its future AI to Google Gemini 14:30 WeWalk Smart Cane and Glide by Glidance 20:30 Personalized Siri, Has Apple Mismanaged Siri for 15 years? 25:00 Siri can answer questions about what your phone's camera can see, dictation updates and customizing Siri's tone and rate of speech. 29:00 Hoping that dictation gets better at understanding punctuation 31:00 Liquid Glass, added customization beyond just disabling it 35:00 Is AI infrastructure inflating the costs of consumer electronics? 41:00 HumanWare's new QWERTY Braille Note Evolve device 44:30 Why is putting in a Contact with Siri so difficult for Apple to do? 51:30 Top Three Commenters in the Chat

  4. Jul 16

    Tovala Smart Oven with CEO David Rabie! | Tech Connect Live!

    0:00 Start 1:00 England's World Cup Update 2:00 Wildfires causing air issues, geographic hazards 4:45 Introduction to the Tovala Smart Oven System 5:00 Promo Code VISIONTECH, Discount equivalent of $250 off oven, 50% off meals 6:30 Introducing CEO David Rabie, 9:30 Headquarters in Chicago, and more Food Facilities in Utah 12:00 Higher Quality Meals with varied textures via various Smart Oven Settings 14:00 Cooking up a Salmon Filet with steam, sauce and soul make such a big difference 15:30 Subscription Deliveries of Meals, shipped Weekly, cheaper if you order larger servings 17:00 The oven has no touch screen, just physical buttons with sound confirmation 18:30 Oven turns off automatically for better safety, no sighted help needed for setting it up 20:00 Step By Step Process for Scanning the Code and so on 24:00 The inception of accessibility came along with the scanner 27:30 Dietary Filtering of Available Meals, Vegetarian, Low Carb/Sodium, and much more 30:00 What are the most popular meals that folks order and reorder? 35:00 Promo Code VISIONTECH 38:30 Ending Music

  5. Jul 2

    Glide by Glidance with Amos Miller! | Tech Connect Live!

    Episode Notes Notes go here 0:00 Begin 0:10 False Start 2:15 Into Music 3:30 Cory Welcome 6:00 Ice Breaker with Amos Miller 7:00 Introduction to the Glide device 9:30 Why invent Glide? What need does it fill? 14:00 Nudging adjustment encourages freestyle navigation 17:30 Trailing a wall, sidewalk etc is done via responsive resistance indicators 21:00 Letting the Glide guide you, accepting the device's resistance as turning guidance 30:00 Within Line of Sight you can ask Glide to "Find a" door/window/etc 31:00 Glide understands surfaces based on cost, cement is preferable to grass, road is possible 32:00 Street Crossing, seeking ramps, constantly improving our understanding of curbs 36:00 Temperature and environmental effects on battery life, works better in the cold than heat 41:00 Still working on getting the Glide to find a door on par with a guide dog's intuition 48:00 Sign Up for Newsletters, Updates, Training and getting yourself on the Wait List for Glide! 49:30 Upcoming changes, new videos every Thursday!

  6. Jun 18

    Maggie IVR makes your iPhone a Wearable Magnifier w/ CEO Elizabeth Evans | Tech Connect Live!

    0:00 Start 3:30 Introduction for Elizabeth Evans from Maggie IVR 6:00 Maggie started off using the iPhone 15, but currently on 17 7:00 High pixel count provides great magnification. How many pixels in a megapixel? 9:00 History of creating Maggie IVR, philosophy of piggybacking off the brains of the iPhone 12:30 Currently it uses the iPhone 17 Pro for three cameras, no Max because of weight 13:30 Multi-Hour wear means that comfort has been a focus for Maggie IVR 16:30 Maggie is just for Low Vision Users, not for no-vision users. 18:00 Voiced Menus have many options to lower the volume and change languages 20:00 This device is not AI focused, but instead focused on being the best magnifier out there 28:30 Demo wearing the device and discussing VR style light blocking and Low Light adaptations 33:00 Maggie Modes: Color switching for contrast, TV Connect Mode, 35:30 Overheating? 4 to 5 hours of use, with minor environmental battery considerations 40:30 Website has loads of specific info as well as photos of the device and use cases 42:00 Top Commenters, Upcoming videos 43:30 Ending Song and Dance

  7. Jun 4

    "There's No Vision Like Low Vision" w/ Author Tom Perski | Tech Connect Live!

    Episode Notes 0:00 Start 4:30 Introducing Tom Perski 10:00 Cory comparing his own loss of vision around 13 years old 11:00 Luke and Tom discuss various Catch Phrases and their meanings 15:00 ACB Conferences and Getting to know others 20:50 Tom was Diagnosed at age 18, Undergoing Serious Testing via ERG electroretinogram 28:00 First Stargardt Meet Up In Person 29:00 Cory discusses his own experience meeting and connecting with others 34:30 Tom met his wife while he was on a cruise along with 200 blind passengers 40:00 Religious Topics 45:00 The Working world via Wheaton Eye Clinic 49:00 Upcoming Content, Sequel Book??? 51:00 End

  8. May 21

    Find what you've been looking for with the OOrion App and Meta Glasses! | Tech Connect Live!

    Episode Notes Notes go here 0:00 Start 6:30 Introducing Axelle from OOrion 11:00 Origin Story of OOrion 17:00 No Internet required, but optional generative AI uses internet 20:30 App Interface: Visual Question, Search Object or Text, Nearby 22:30 Testing Object Detection 24:30 Search Object 27:30 Example of finding a complex shape such as a Cat 29:30 Changing the Speaking Rate, voice, etc via settings 31:30 Meta Glasses Integration 35:50 Searching your environment for specific Text 40:00 Generative AI with Internet Connection 42:30 Location Specific Accommodation 47:00 Wrap Up Review 49:00 Ending of this week's Show This podcast is powered by Pinecast.

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About

Join Luke Scriven and Cory Ballard, Assistive Technology Specialists at Vision Forward, for Tech connect Live! This free event every other Thursday at 11:00 AM CST features a live demonstration of an assistive technology product, followed by an open question and answer session and general discussion. Come find out how devices perform when they’re put on the spot – and how Luke and Cory perform for that matter! This informal event is a great place to come and get a real experience of assistive technologies, all without having to leave the comfort of your own home.

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