So after the big reveal of Apple's new iPhone lineup, and their obvious bias toward better screens, cameras and image processing, it got me wondering about what AR Kit could mean for blind users of IOS. Could it have any benefits at all? Has anyone thought of how it might change our interaction with our IOS devices, or other people? Just thought it would be good to discuss.
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Comments
Time will tell
If you think of Apps like BlindSquare and Nearby Explorer, these are already the beginning of AR, although we don't point at objects with the camera. As for the now released ARKit, I think there will be no immediate use for us, but think of what happened when iPhone Edge came out 10 years ago. It didn't have VoiceOver and that device was therefore useless for us, but VO, Siri etc. changed it all...
There are rumours anyway Apple would be working on AR glasses to be released in 2018 or 2019. So, maybe this is the missing piece to make AR really useful for the blind: Just target a given object and the glasses would tell what they've detected and open the corresponding App (e.g.: Facebook if you have a friend nearby, KNFB-reader or another scanning App for printed texts, etc.
True that
Yes, I guess it is also going to be a better way of identifying objects etc. Another application, though this is purely conjecture, is audio AR. From that rumour pit that is the internet, it looks as though the second generation of air-pods might contain a pass through mode, meaning that as blind users, we can have information and awareness of the world around us, which is a pretty exciting idea. I always feel rather isolated whilst wearing headphones, this means we could have directions, descriptions, even extra sounds for things such as games based on what the iPhone is seeing or experiencing.
AR Glasses!
Honestly, as a low vision user, I'd love a pair of AR glasses, or, since I only see out of one eye anyway, a single glass that had a camera and a retina display I could use to use one of my magnification apps with. I mean honestly I'd plaster my iphone to my face with a headband if it were possible and not too socially unacceptable.