Hi all.
So I'm getting some hardware, a Novation Launchpad mini, not that it really matters. I'm assuming the box, or stuff inside it, has setup instructions of some sort, since they basically say you hook it up and then do setup, possibly on the web. So I assume it at least has to tell you where to go. I want to try and deal with all of this myself, using the iPhone for recognition stuff.
Will Be My AI handle this, or do I want something else? If so I'd like something fairly cheap and not a subscription. I know Voice Dream Reader is a subscription now, though I don't get it since I bought it ages ago, I can just use it. But I don't know if whatever Voice Dream Scanner is now would also be a subscription. Free would be awesome but I'm willing to buy an app, if it would be better for this kind of thing.
I'm thinking take some pics of the box, see what stuff's on there, open it up, see what's inside. Hopefully take a pic of the Launchpad Mini itself, see if it picks up any of the button labels or whatever. So some of that, e.g. the buttons, would probably be Be My AI, but can it do text?
That's what I don't know, so I'm wondering if a scanning app would be better for the OCR part, to deal specifically with the text. So I'm not sure if one app can handle it all, or if I want multiple apps. Or is there some other app, maybe an AI one, I'm not even thinking of? I have no idea so I'd love community recommendations.
Thanks in advance for any help everybody. I figure this will be an interesting test of the phone's capabilities. My wife will happily tell me all kinds of stuff about it, but it would be cool to be able to tackle it on my own and give her a break for once.
Comments
I'm not sure but.
You could try both BeMyEyes and Seeing AI for the text recognition and if it comes to it, call a volunteer.
What I'd do and a clarification
Like Brad suggested, I'd use Seeing AI and Be My AI.
It's unlikely that a subscription will be introduced for VD Scan. Voice Dream Reader was sold to another company, but the other two apps—VD Scan and VD Write—weren't, but as you can see, they now go by different names.
Launchpad
Hi, I have a Launchpad and in my opinion you'd be better off asking your very kind wife to familiarise yourself with it.
Because the layout of the buttons are in a grid and they are so close together I would say any OCR scanning software would have a hard time defining each individual button and the associated text.
Also, because the device itself changes what each button does depending on what layer of buttons are pressed, what DAW or music production software it's attached to, which way round it's orinated and other factors the text labelling each button isn't always accurate.
Basically what I'm saying is that it's a tricky bit of hardware to figure out on your own, even with the best tech in the world, sighted assistance will be your friend in this scenario, just for the initial setup and getting used to it's layout.
I Agree and a Tip
I haven't used the hardware in question, but I agree live, sighted assistance may be the way to go here. I called a Be My Eyes volunteer to get help with my inaccessible thermostat when I first moved back downstairs in this building, and although she was very patient and courteous she had a bit of trouble. Then I tried out Be My AI with the thermostat, and although it actually did read some of the buttons I still had issues. It seems a lot of times some of these manufacturers don't consider accessibility needs. Probably not on purpose, but who knows? There could be at least one manufacturer out there who really doesn't give a hoot.
New stuff and assistance.
I recently purchased a washer/dryer and it actually has good old nobs instead of a touch screen. And you don't need an app to use it. I just got sighted help and used bump-dots for labeling.
Why both?
Ha! I realized I was combining the names last night, but I couldn't remember what Seeing AI was called, just that it wasn't Be My AI.
Anyway, why both? Do they use different engines or such?
Re: Launchpad
My thought was to get whatever labeling is on the hardware itself, if it can get it, to figure out which pad is which, i.e. is one at the top left, bottom left, and so on, or however they're labeled. Once I have that, I assume the documentation will mention the transformation, maybe not.
Anyway yeah I'm fine with getting her to look at it and she'll happily do it. I just thought of it because you have to find the setup site, enter your serial number, stuff like that. So then I thought, hang on, there's picture stuff on the phone that will read text and stuff, maybe it can get some of this and I can just do it myself.
I mean if nothing else I'd verify the layout. I assume we don't have any accessible documentation on this thing, so I'll probably try writing some stuff up, for personal use if nothing else. Supposedly you can hook it up to iOS as well as a computer, so there's at least some relevance here. Anyway if there's stuff it doesn't get that's fine, I wouldn't expect it to get everything anyway honestly.
Try seeing AI
I would try seeing AI, I don’t know how be my AI would do and it doesn’t have the guidance that seeing AI gives you
Hope that helps