(AP) -- Blind people generally use computers with the help of screen-reader software, but those products can cost more than $1,000, so they're not exactly common on public PCs at libraries or Internet cafes. Now a free new Web-based program for the blind aims to improve the situation.
Related stories:
Online service lets blind surf the Internet from any computer, anywhere
Visions of future technology don't involve being chained to a desktop machine. People move from home computers to work computers to mobile devices; public kiosks pop up in libraries, schools and hotels; and people increasingly store everything from e-mail to spreadsheets on the Web.
Learning to shape your brain activity
A study in the Oct. 1 issue of the journal
Sleep shows that the successful manipulation of sensorimotor rhythm (SMR) amplitude by instrumental SMR conditioning (ISC) improved sleep quality as well as declarative learning. ISC might thus be considered a promising non-pharmacological treatment for primary insomnia.
New Bluetooth system orients blind and sighted pedestrians
(PhysOrg.com) -- A new Bluetooth system designed primarily for blind people places a layer of information technology over the real world to tell pedestrians about points of interest along their path as they pass them.
Self-flying Stanford robocopter learn tricks though observation
Brow clenched in focus, expert radio-control pilot Garett Oku, of Mountain View, Calif., guided a 4-foot-long model helicopter through a dizzying sequence of aerobatic tricks, punctuated by an upside-down tailspin called an ``inverted hurricane.'' Then he dropped the controls.
Scientists Watch As Listener's Brain Predicts Speaker's Words
(PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists at the University of Rochester have shown for the first time that our brains automatically consider many possible words and their meanings before we've even heard the final sound of the word.
Pervasive games promise to spice up daily life
(PhysOrg.com) -- In the movie The Game, the character is hounded by villains and left for dead in Mexico in an intense version of an alternative reality game. Minus the Hollywood bravado, games that merge the virtual with the real could be the next entertainment revolution, helped by European researchers.
Seeing through the skin
Feeling blue? According to Prof. Leonid Yaroslavsky from Tel Aviv University, the saying may be more than just a metaphor.
Keeping an eye on intruders
Electronic fingerprinting, iris scans, and signature recognition software are all becoming commonplace biometrics for user authentication and security. However, they all suffer from one major drawback - they can be spoofed by a sufficiently sophisticated intruder. Writing in the
International Journal of Biometrics, Japanese researchers describe a new approach based on a person's reflexes that could never be copied, forged, or spoofed.
