Day 4434: Help for the blind, and the Kiku.

"Concerns": mixed papers collage.

       

 

  

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Click:  Hall and Oates, She's Gone.

  

 

 

2GN2S

 

David Deneher/Field of Vision

Handheld sensory device is helping the blind 

For visually impaired sports fans at stadiums around the world, following a match often means relying on commentators or those around them to describe the action. Now, an Irish startup is looking to create a more level playing field.

A blind fan tests out the Field of Vision devices.

Dublin-based Field of Vision has produced a handheld, haptic feedback device that it says can help blind and partially sighted fans not just hear, but “feel” the action, enhancing the live experience.

Tim Farrelly, Omar Salem and David Deneher developed the Field of Vision idea during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Custom-built cameras positioned in each corner of the stadium use artificial intelligence (AI) to track key details from a match. Within roughly half a second, this information is transmitted to a white, tablet-sized device embossed with the shape of a sports pitch, which weighs under a kilogram and rests on the user’s lap.

Declan Meenagh was a big fan of the device. 

David Deneher/Field of Vision

Declan Meenagh, a supporter of Dublin football club Bohemians, was born with a genetic eye condition that limits him to 5% vision. Meenagh cannot see beyond the crossbar even if sat in the front row behind the goal at the team’s Dalymount Park stadium.

Club volunteers who describe matches for visually impaired spectators allow him to follow along via an earphone, but he can miss key lines when the crowd gets loud.

He said that a test run with the Field Of Vision tablet added new levels of context to proceedings on the pitch.

“Actually feeling where the football is and what’s going on is just a real game changer,”

Read the whole story here. 

The Kiku

In Japan, the beauty of the chrysanthemum or kiku (菊) represents longevity, rejuvenation and nobility. The kiku is also admired because it begins to bloom just as other flowers are starting to succumb to the cold and frost of autumn and so its bloom is a pleasant reminder to be resilient. There is a saying from an old Chinese poem that I read which typified this idea of being hardy in the face of adversity: “The autumn chrysanthemum braves the frost.” 

This metaphor reminds us that one’s true beauty comes out when they stand bravely in the face of adversity. As the seasonchanges, the kiku knows that the autumn cold is also coming but it still stands tall and blooms despite the fact that it too will succumb at some point to the cold. 

This idea of carrying out one’s duty despite imminent death is very samurai like. Does a martial art make one resilient or does it reveal what is already one’s nature? I am not sure. What I do know is that studying a martial art can change a person’s life because it teaches them how to understand themselves better which in turn makes them better human beings. 

 

  

 

A 2  minute video, Shoebill Stork,  here

 

 The shoebill stork is a remarkable looking creature, but it’s under threat. Now, hand puppets designed by a Muppet puppeteer are being used to train hand-reared chicks for release into the wild in Zambia

 

  

 

Just because ...

  

Bare-throated Tiger-Heron

 

Wednesday's Smiles ...