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Available on:

(click to download)

Supported languages:

English

Cost:

Free

Allows a visually-impaired user to put specific questions to sighted people, and then receive spoken answers from them in nearly real-time (sometimes in less than 30 seconds).

Approved by

Languages

English

Countries of use

Any in which the user is familiar with English

Cost

Free

Developer

Rochester Human Computer Interaction (ROC HCI), USA
(Based in United States)
http://www.cs.rochester.edu/hci/pastprojects.php?proj=vw

Funder

Same as technical developer

Medical Adviser

Same as technical developer

Features

Allows networking with other people like me / Family / Friends

Improving communication

Support to deal with symptoms/disabilities

Information

Summary

Allows a visually-impaired user to put specific questions to sighted people, and then receive spoken answers from them in nearly real-time (sometimes in less than 30 seconds). The sight-impaired user takes a picture with their phone, speaks a short question to the 'human cloud' on social networks, and then, hopefully, receives answers from sighted individuals (some of them volunteers). The user can also try sending the photo to an IQ engine, which attempts to recognise the content of photos (automatic image processing), or post the picture and question on Twitter.

Tags: Disability

Reviews

Reviewer: Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB), UK
Review: “We at the RNIB heard from someone who’s been using ‘VizWiz’ for a while: “I was very excited when I first heard about this app, particularly the bit about getting answers to questions from web workers, and from people on my Twitter account. This meant that I could ask a wide variety of questions, not just the usual “What's this?” I’ve used the app quite a few times now. At times, I did get a ropey Internet connection, which meant that I couldn’t get any answers. However, once I got the connection, then I only had to wait about a minute for the answers to my questions. I think, to be honest, this app would work better with an iPhone 4, as it has a better camera and a flash—which means that you get better quality pictures. So, say for asking questions about colours, the picture would be a more accurate representation of the colour. However, I have used the app successfully for many things, including finding out how many slices of cold meat I had in a packet—which you probably couldn’t find out if you used something such as ‘oMoby’. So, I’d definitely recommend this app to anyone wanting to find information”.
Source: Source no longer available
Usage: Not specified
Weblink of reviewer: http://bit.ly/1cGYIzx

Reviewer: No Eyes Needed, USA
Review: “The ‘secret ingredient’ which makes ‘VizWiz’ stand out from the crowd is its ability to get results from a fully-sighted human. Let me tell you, it’s an incredible experience to have someone respond to a question in under 45 seconds. This is a solid, capable solution that I’ve been excited to put through its paces. If you need any more proof that this app is not only stellar, but a huge asset to the blindness community, you need to download it, and put it to the test. It’s free, so you have no excuse not to give it a shot. I do know that with creative solutions like this, the blindness community will continue to forge greater independence, and push technology to a fuller potential. The idea of harnessing the ‘human cloud’ strikes home, and is an idea far outside ‘the box’.”
Source: No longer available
Usage: Not specified
Weblink of reviewer: Website down

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