Hello Applevis users
We are QR Speak, LLC. We have developed playing cards that are easier to use for the blind. Our application, "Cards That Talk", was developed for our family member who could no longer read braille due to a physical limitation and recently lost his vision. We developed this app to read a code that is printed on the back of our special deck of cards. These cards are smooth, professionally printed and easy to shuffle. The app "Cards That Talk" can be downloaded free of charge from the Apple App Store. Here is a link to the app https://appsto.re/us/0JO4ab.i
These custom playing cards are available to be purchased from our webpage "www.qrspeak.com" and will be immediately shipped to your door.
They cost is $16.95 plus shipping.
Thank you in advance for helping us spread this valuable technology to people with vision loss.
How it works
-Get the "Cards that Talk" app from the Apple app store.
-Buy your Cards from us at www.qrspeak.com
-Place your apple device (compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod) in an elevated location i.e. a stand, so that the rear camera is facing the table or hold it in your hand.
-Launch the app and press the start scan button
-Place the back of the card under the camera of the device so the card is face side down (there is a sharper edge in the upper left hand corner of the card to tell which is back is facing you.) and the value of the card will be read to you.(a headset, wired or bluetooth, can be used for privacy)
-Once the app is in scanning mode, it will continuously scan every card back that is visible to the camera without having to touch the device to scan the next card.
-Enjoy playing cards again.
The app is compatible with voiceover and will also work with a bluetooth braille display.
Please visit our website www.qrspeak.com or email us any questions you may have at susan@qrspeak.com
Update the our You tube video Moved. Here is the link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQtvdkWrKBY
Comments
A suggestion
This sounds quite interesting for people who cannot read braille or see large print.
I do see one problem with your proposal: what about card games that do not involve the standard pack of cards? Unless you plan to support other common card games such as Uno, Cards Against Humanity, 1000 Miles and all of the other card games that people would want to play, you would only be helping a small group of people. An alternative that I see is for people to buy the cards that they want to play with, and you to design the QR codes which people can stick onto the cards themselves.
good but needs improvement
As my subject line states, The application along with the cards are good. The cards hold up well to gameplay. my only concern is there is not any indication of whether the cards are Face up, or facedown. This led to delayed time when trying to read the QR code. A suggestion would be to put the QR code on a piece of tape or something of that nature, so that it can be tactilely felt. another problem that I ran into was low lights and like the app and not being able to pick up the QR code from the card. I would suggest a feature and which the which which cameras light would be able to automatically come on when not enough light is present. lastly when in the application when you double tap on the scan button, voiceover does not announce that you have started scanning. The button still reads as start scanning. other than those three observations, this app has great potential for people who cannot read braille or do not have enough vision to read the cards.
My solution to cards against Humanity.
After much deliberation, I purchased a Pen Friend to use to label the backs of the cards. I was able to read them surprisingly well with the Goggles app and used my old optsicon on the few I was unsure of. This is an expensive solution, but I will find other uses for the Pen Friend at work and maybe home. I was thinking it would work well on microwaves and other machines.
Cards That Talk update
Thank you for for all of your advice and feedback. We have been working to address all of the issues that you have brought to our attention. Here is what we have been able to address so far.
We have modified the physical cards so that the top left of the card is slightly cut so that you can feel the difference between front and back. If the cut is in the top left or bottom right, the card is face down and ready for scanning. However, if the cut is in the upper right or bottom left, it is face up.
To address the low light problem, we have added a light function that can be turned on or off depending on your preference. This will allow the camera to pick up the code easier and faster in low light settings.
The third issue that we have addressed is the start scan button in voice over mode. In the latest update to be released in a day or so, it will now say the value of the last card that was scanned.
All of your advice and suggestions are given full consideration and we hope that we are able to accommodate more suggestion in the future as well. At this time, we are looking into producing other games as well and, we will keep you posted on this progress.
The new app will be ready for download within the next couple of days and includes the changes as stated above. The improved cards are also ready for purchase on our website. As always, feel free to contact us to address any questions or concerns that you may have.
Also, there is a podcast posted on our website of one of our customers using the app for an active demonstration.
Here is the direct link to the podcast. A special thanks to Curtis Jackson for producing it for us.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lYEs9C00XY0
Thank you
QR Speak
www.qrspeak.com
susan@clevelandhuber.com
812-250-1775