i have developed a app that convert color to sound, is it useful?

By tscmga4ios, 15 November, 2012

Forum
iOS and iPadOS

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/color2soundfree/id577414124?mt=8

Is it useful? i want to convert a picture to sound. The app just convert a pixel of a image to sound , and you can move your finger to pick pixel. it requried ios5 or later .

It just take a screenshoot of the imageview , and scale the image in half. And it picks 16 pixels around the finger , and convet the pixel color th HSV, use the H S V compont to adjust 3 sine wav of different frequncy. 

i find it is hard to use  for me .but fun to use. 

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Comments

By Sean Terry on Tuesday, November 27, 2012 - 01:32

Hi, That sounds very nice, but, I still am having trouble understanding how this particular app works and what it is capable of. I would love for someone to create an app just like TheVOICE. I forget who created the original one for pc and the symbian platform. But, It would be so awesome if it could be done for iOS. The cameras at least on the iPhones can work flawlessly with it!!!!!!!!!! What does anyone else think?

By tscmga4ios on Tuesday, November 27, 2012 - 01:32

i know that app. i steal the idea from it . it can guide someone for real time . this is my first app for iOS , it is not good or useful.i want to test new ideas and update it ,for example use 3d sound , or convert image from the camera for real time , or use speech for color . but i am developing a game for iOS now. i work at home . is theVoice useful? i have used that app , i find it's sound is not taste good , and i don't think we can get information from the ear so quick. so my app is just using less information , you can get information slow , but clear . it theVoice useful ? or can guide people ? if some one really need it ,why not make one some day , after i finished my game .

Hello. Y'all are talking the voice from seeingwithsound.com right? Ye, I'd really love it if there was an app for iOS for it! Then I could truly get away from Android. I will try this app you've made though, is the sound in sterio, or something? What are the rules for conversion of image to sound? Is it like the way the voice does it?

i am testing it! It works like the voice .but I find it is hard to use in complex environment . It is fun in simple light conditions. I can use it to find led light,my macbook logo,window. It has a one second delay. I can't use it to walk fast. And it consume battery power fast.

By Sean Terry on Tuesday, November 27, 2012 - 01:32

Hi, I downloaded the app. I really do like it. I was just hoping that I might be able to scan things in real time with the camera and just continue to touch the screen as I moved the camera around. That does not yet seem possible. I'm hoping someday that something like the voice can be made.

Hi, this is Sean. So you are making the app to seem like the voice from seeing was sound? I would really like that. Is there anyway that you can make it do the stereo effect like seeing with sound does? Thanks. Hope to see the app improve!

Waiting for review.It takes 10 days.It is not free ,0.99 dollar to upgrade to support stereo output. It had stereo output before I saw you reply,and already added a in app purchase item called enable stereo. I am too lazy to disable other functionality. It scans one,two,or four,times per second . And it can slow down the scan rate automatically using the accelerometer. It has switch to prevent lock screen. And save settings automatically. I have test it on ipad2, ios6. It supports iOS 4.3, iPhone ,iPad.

The current version of this app does not have live camera sound support. Are you telling me that the new one will have it? I would love to try out this new application, especially with the stereo support!

I make a new one.called "voice vision". Because a new app appears on the AppStore top list .The download count drops everyday . The new one is the same as the vOICe. It has live camera support. It get a frame of the video from the front camera up to 4 frames per second. It sounds like noise .It works better at night.

By Rajesh Malik on Tuesday, November 27, 2012 - 01:32

Is this app compatible with any of the models of the iPod Touch? It does sound very interesting and I will look forward to trying it out.

By tscmga4ios on Tuesday, November 27, 2012 - 01:32

iPod touch4.

By mehgcap on Tuesday, November 27, 2012 - 01:32

Hello, I can't tell you how exciting this is, I've wanted an iOS version of the vOICe for years! However, I would like to know if you followed the same design as the vOICe in soundscape implementation? The vOICe uses pitch for height, volume for brightness, and plays one column of sound after another from left to right in a very fast sequence. This second-long (adjustable) burst of sound is known as a soundscape. How does your implementation work? I tested the vOICe briefly and had no problem in all lighting conditions, so I'm not sure why your program would struggle in daylight. I'm no expert, but I'm happy to try to answer any questions you have. There is also a mailing list for the vOICe, seeingwithsound-subscribe@freelists.org I believe is the subscription address.

By tscmga4ios on Tuesday, November 27, 2012 - 01:32

This application convert image from the front camera to sound . It scans from left to right ,one to four times per second .A pixel from the image generate a tone at pitch from 440HZ to 10000HZ,the brightness controls the loudness of the tone. The pixels from the top generate hight pitch sounds , and the pixels from the bottom of the image generate low pitch sounds . There are about 50 pixels generate sounds at the same time ,like 50 peoples sing together with different loudness。 I just copy the design of the voice. It works in daylight.

This sounds promising. Once you release it, please update this forum. I am not sure if you realize this, but people use the vOICe for actual day-to-day activities, like walking around or seeing where their bus stop is, finding a doorway or dropped item, and more. It is a serious program that many rely on, and bringing it to iOS is a very valuable contribution. Once you have it in the App Store, how can users contact you with feedback? I'm sure things will have to be adjusted as people experiment with it, such as the pixel group sizes, and options added in. Again, many use this as a serious tool, not just a novelty, so thank you in advance for your work on this app and I hope you will be open to improving it once it is in the hands of users. As to battery, it is constantly pulling a live feed from the camera, so I'm not surprised it uses a lot of power. Do you have it streaming constantly, or do you take a still photo every second and translate it? Is there any sort of processing delay?

By tscmga4ios on Tuesday, November 27, 2012 - 01:32

There is a "app support" button in the "ratings and reviews" , appstore customer reviews ,next to the "write a review" button on appstore. A app must have a group of users,otherwise no one will know it. I have tryed to take a still photo every second. But the camera shutter sound cannot be switched off. Haha, some countries have laws requiring camera phones to make audible sounds .so I get a frame from live video stream. It has a delay , 1.0 , 0.5, 0.25 second. 0.25 second is ok. It use a lot power . The sound is 44khz ,two channels.i am using a ipad. I will improve it.but I am lazy. Apple is lazy too,it take 10 days to review a app.

Okay, thanks. Do laws governing cameras really apply, though, since this is not capturing a photo to store it? Could the shutter sound be disabled, and therefore a still photo be used, in countries where that is allowed? At least some would benefit that way. Any work you can do in shortening the delays would be great.

Hi, I have a request. This may not be possible as iOS is different then the Symbian phones. But, as the voice is free for both Windows and Symbian devices. Couldn't this application Be free as well? Also as usually we keep the camera in the back of the phone for these things couldn't the back camera be used for the live feed?

By mehgcap on Tuesday, November 27, 2012 - 01:32

I'd be okay with paying a dollar for this, provided I got a demonstration first. I like the idea of paying to enable stereo soundscapes; if you have to charge for this, which I understand, then offering a free version with less features is a great way to go. Perhaps you can implement a second feature pack, such as color filters and other image manipulation, and charge for that as a second purchase. I would not use it, but it's there. I don't think a dollar or two is asking too much, but that's me. In fact, part of the reason Peter (the original creator of the vOICe) never did an iOS version is the cost of time and money, so charging for this does make sense. You said the back camera was not used. I hope this is a configureable option, as I too would expect to use the back camera. Besides, that is the higher-resolution one, so if we ever had a zoom option, good resolution would be important. Also, it would be hard to adjust options while the soundscapes play if the front camera were used.

By tscmga4ios on Tuesday, November 27, 2012 - 01:32

It use the front camera,the camera on the back . I am too lazy to add a switch. I will not change the prices, it is fun to see the money come in,and fun to buy a beer use that money, i really like to see the money coming in, and what I have to do is sleeping in bed and wait! I don't know why Chinese not buying it! I will not spent time on it before some one from china buy one.

Well, for what it is worth, I ask you to include an option to switch between the cameras. I feel the app will be much more useful with this option in place. As I said, many blind people rely on this sort of technology daily, and adding it to their iPhones is extremely useful, so it may as well be done as well as possible. If you spread the word about this among blindness organizations in your country, I'm sure you would see an interest, once you explain how it works and what it can be used for.

That's great to hear, and it makes a switch less important, at least to me. Still, the options would be welcomed; what if the user is trying to soundscape his own face, or hold up something to be sonified? In any case, keep us posted on the app's arrival in the App Store; I look forward to it!

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/voice-vision/id580057898?mt=8 . It has been approved today. " Note that it may take up to 24 hours before your app is live on the App Store. This delay is dependent upon any app availability issues."

Hi all, I am thrilled that someone has developed a version of the vOICe for IOS. I will be getting an iPhone 5 on Friday and this is going to be the first app I put on to the phone. Different platforms support different pricing models so I am ok with paying the price. This is indeed serious technology. It is the same as an artificial eye that does not require any surgery. Some have commented that the soundscapes do not sound pleasant. There is a defined mathematical mapping that the vOICe uses which has already been explained in the posts above. However, what has not been explained is the underlying mechanism of the vOICe. The vOICe works on sensory substitution that is, encoding one sense using another sense. In this case, we are encoding visual information as audio. All input to the brain is converted to electrical impulses. The electrical impulses generated by the soundscapes are the same as those generated when the brain gets input from the eyes. This activates the visual cortex so you should be able to see. Studies have confirmed this using FMRI scans. Please see http://www.seeingwithsound.com for more information. The vOICe is good for indoor navigation and for a range of other things such as viewing pictures, finding objects that you have dropped, acquiring aditional information about your environment etc. I know of one user who uses it for detecting whether people are sitting correctly on a horse. He is a volunteer at a place that does thereputic horse back riding. Blind photographers use it for taking pictures and for lining shots. I have even used it to detect how much distance a new driver is maintaining with other vehicles. If I can sense a vehicle, then I know that the inter vehicle distance is too little. Yes, it is crude but useful when you need to evaluate drivers. I will give more feedback once I have bought the application. I use the vOICe extensively on the pc and on my Nokia phone and hope to be able to compare soundscapes. User adoption is a tad tricky due to the initial learning curve. However, I am trying to remedy that situation by setting up a training wiki. IN the mean time, see my blog at http://techesoterica.com for more information on adventures that I have had with the vOICe. Regards Pranav

By Ken Downey on Sunday, January 27, 2013 - 01:32

I have a bunch of ideas about the voice. Take them or leave them--but I hope you take more than you leave lol First, a screen sonifier would be very useful. This would continually take snapshots of the screen at every start of scan. I know it might not work well on older phones, but on the 4s and certainly the 5 I'm pretty sure it would. This would allow us to see, with sound, pictures on the net, as well as the layouts of our favorite apps. Another helpful thing that the VoICe does is to sonify the area just around the mouse pointer, so we can know what part of the screen we're on. Sonifying the area around the finger touching the screen would do the same, and might also give us additional information about those favorite yet sometimes illusive apps. Next, a contrast feature would be helpful, to help separate the darker things from the brighter and make the brighter stand out more. Reverse video would also be nice. The brighter something is, the quieter it sounds in reverse video. I definitely would like slower scan speeds, and the ability to scan columns by finger movement. If your finger is on the left edge of the screen, only that column gets played and so on. The ability to use the torch would be helpful sometimes. It could flash when the new snapshot is taken. I know this would be lots of work and am already willing to pay a reasonable amountfor the upgrades.

By Maria Georgakarakou on Sunday, January 27, 2013 - 01:32

Please help me clarify what this app does exactly. I know it is really useful to blind people but I would like to understand why it helps, before I actually buy it. I am totally blind now but used to have some vision when I was a child. Will I still be able to use the app effectively, thanks very much in advance.

Hi all, As promised, I have some initial feedback on voicevision. 1. I am not getting as much information as I am used to both with the pc version and the version that runs on Nokia phones. What is the field of view of the iPhone camera? What is the resolution of the soundscapes? Is the 64 by 64 matrix of pixels being rendered? 2. What is the starting pitch being used? The mapping of pitch to height needs improvement since I suspect the base pitch is higher than what is used in the version of the vOICe on other platforms. Please note, I am using the full version of this program. Ken, I like your ideas. Most of what you suggest is already doable with the pc version of the vOICe. Regards Pranav

I would like to have the ability to take pictures from within voicevision. I need the ability to point the phone at an object, frame the shot using voicevision and then take its image. I could then use it for services such as WizViz.

Instead of or in addition to taking pictures, could the app be used in the background? This way, you could use the regular camera app, or whatever camera app you prefer (or even use gps while walking around), but still hear the soundscapes. I don't know if this is doable since the app would need control of the camera in the background, but if it is at all possible, I would like to suggest that it be implemented. Thanks.

Thank you . I am updating the color2sound. Taking a picture is easy . Run on background isn't good. Apple may rejected it.And it is impossible to access the camera from more than one app at the same time.

We've been talking about voice vision, not color to sound. I don't know why we keep talking about voice vision in the car to sound thread, but we have, and that's the AppWare talking about. Thanks for trying to fix things! You rock.

By Isaac Hebert (not verified) on Sunday, January 27, 2013 - 01:32

that's a cool app is this app on the app store yet?

By Sean Terry on Sunday, January 27, 2013 - 01:32

Hi, if I'm not mistaken, I do believe Color to sound was to replace voice vision. That's why I think people are confused. I believe voice vision is no longer in existence.

Hi all, 1. Please see the 26 September post in this threadfrom tscmga4ios about renaming the app to "voice vision". This is why I have mentioned this app. 2. Many thanks for adding the camera functionality. 3. I have made an initial comparison video between the vOICe running on the pc and the "voice vision" app running on the iPhone to show Dr. Meijer. There are differences in the soundscapes and I am seeking his advice on what to tell tscmga4ios to make the soundscapes exactly like those of the vOICe. The video is in my dropbox and you can get it at https://dl.dropbox.com/u/3688386/00025.MTS The video has been taken with a Sony cybershot TX7 camera. I point the iPhone at my window and do the same with the glasses on the pc. More of the wall is included with the pc version though. You can play the video using either VLC Media player or windows live movie maker. In voice vision, is the video synchronized with the soundscapes? 4. Mehgcap, I completely agree about making it so that voice vision continues to run in the background while other apps are running. tscmga4ios has explained his constraints and I am not sure what we can do. I do plan to write to accessibility@apple.com and see if we can get some help from there. Pranav

By tscmga4ios on Sunday, January 27, 2013 - 01:32

Thank you for your video.I bought a touch4 today to test bug. Now I have a ipad2 and a touch4 , a mac book,a sharp d4, windows.

Hi tscmga4ios, I look forward to the fixes. I plan to make another video soon with simpler objects. Is there anything specific that you would like me to cover? Thanks for purchasing additional test devices and happy developing.

I will add these futures. 1.slow down 2.share photo 3.try to catch up with the origin pc version. Other ideas. Now, I can test it using iPod, I am sure it will works at iPhone now.

Thank you for your useful information. I have read the web site very carefully . There is a interest article that can find a pixels distance from camera .http://www.seeingwithsound.com/extra/AV-eng.pdf ,This is important to visual impaired . The theory . A camera has a focus , or depth of field .http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Depth_of_fieldhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Depth_of_field,that is when a camera is focus at near objects , the pixels of far objects will blur or unclear . 

The iPhone can auto adjust the focus, but there isn't a public API to get the distance . 

I have a tip to find  near object . The objects nearby has continues long edge , the background objects's edge isn't,becuase they are blocked by nearby objects.

happy new year.

Hi tscmga4ios, This approach works well in the lab but is not very reliable in the real world. Ideally, you need 2 cameras for robust distance detection and depth perception. The biggest flaw with this approach is that some objects are naturally blurred. You could make it an experimental feature and see what happens. The most important thing is to get accurate soundscapes. If you have questions, please post them here and I will pass them on to Dr. Meijer. Alternatively, please feel free to contact him directly or via the seeing with sound mailing list. Many thanks for your effort. Pranav

By Pranav Lal on Wednesday, February 27, 2013 - 01:32

Hi again tscmga4ios, I was wondering, if once you finish the application, could you post a short video preview to allow us to check the accuracy of the soundscapes? Just show voicevision sonifying a diagonal line and then a strate line. We will need the audio and video first. I can't promise it will help but I would prefer to catch any bugs before launch. Once you get the soundscape generation right, the application is low maintennance and you can continue to move forward and add features at your ease. Pranav

By tscmga4ios on Wednesday, February 27, 2013 - 01:32

http://www.fileconvoy.com/dfl.php?id=gffb7d0a1459558f6999226423ed9f91d6e28cecee It is mono. Running on my iPod touch 4. I believe the pitch is correct . it is from 500Hz to 5000 Hz , 64 sine waves. With edge enhance . The objects are laptop ,mouse,hand,room,ipad,beer lid. The video is about 144x192. I will add more image filters ,and stereo sound. And run on 192x144 mode, and take picture ,blabla...

Hi, The soundscapes most definitely sound more natural so we are getting there. We need stereo to be absolutely sure but I have sent a message to the seeing with sound mailing list so we should have feedback in the next day or so. The texture information is also much better. We did some more checking. I believe there is no video there. We need video and audio to be absolutely sure but you are definitely on the right track. Pranav

I have found a bug . The soundscape is wrong .Too many noise. I have add share photo, and four image filter ,edge mode,motion mode, colour mode, grey mode, and video rotation .

New version is ready. It is much better. And I want get more money ,I don't know how to make more users know my app . It is not sells as I expected , I want more users . I get 1000 downloads total now , and 10% users paid .i get about 100$ for my two apps . The color2sound I get 18 $ . the first 100 users get it at price 0.99. I think these users are rich ,becuase the first version was bad.But i don't want them purchase twice .Becuase they supported me. I need about 8 a day, 2 for telecom,2 for rent house,3 for food. I know Tap Tap See has 3000 downloads at the first day. I want to advertise my app.I know there are at least 2000 users left.