Internet access is open: LUWRAIN technology helps blind users
Stepping into the future and expanding the boundaries of their capabilities, humanity not only improves technology, but also makes it more accessible. Modern smartphones and computers are the most complex devices, but most people easily use them, thanks to simple intuitive control systems, such as Windows or Android.
Unfortunately, not all information systems are adapted for people whose health capabilities do not allow using all 5 ways of perception.
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Until recently, blind and deaf-blind people could not fully use most of the communication tools. According to statistics, only one out of 20 people with visual disabilities can use a computer.
However, the technological solutions of the rehabilitation industry made touchscreen smartphones available, replaced the keyboards with braille displays, allowed the blind to control the system with voice, and for those who do not see or hear, they read the information tactilely.
A Tomsk team of LUWRAIN programmers is working on one of such tools today. The project developers have set an ambitious goal - to provide the ability to work with a computer for people with visual impairments, including completely blind and deaf-blind users.
LUWRAIN is a Java-based user environment in which non-visual ways of human-computer interaction are involved. Feedback is provided by voice or, if necessary, through a Braille display.
The platform is designed as a distribution kit and includes a sufficient and expandable set of applications with the help of which a blind person easily interacts with his computer.
LUWRAIN supports TXT, HTML, DOC, DOCX, XLSX formats and reads HTML and PDF without feedback. Thus, the platform allows a person to work with most text documents, explore web pages and communicate on the web without using sight.
The LUWRAIN development team is headed by Mikhail Pozhidaev, a scientist from Tomsk State University, who completely lost his sight in his student years due to an incurable disease. To continue his studies at the Faculty of Computer Science, he developed for himself a special program that allows him to freely interact with the computer.
Now, having successfully completed his studies, Mikhail wants to help other people. His student program has become the working prototype of the future LUWRAIN, which has been developed for more than ten years.
With the help of the created platform, the scientist leads the page in Vkontakte, communicates with friends, and also conducts negotiations with the administration of the social network. The fact is that Vkontakte is currently reworking the dialogues using the newly released VK.ME messenger, and so far access to the dialogs in LUWRAIN has been granted to Michael only as an application administrator.
Together with the developers of the social network, Mikhail wants to work out the correct sequence of actions when reworking the dialogues. This will avoid unnecessary work.
“Community activity here would be very appropriate, because companies are somehow important to know all the mechanisms that can allow people with visual impairments to communicate. There are a lot of questions about whether spam will not be sent precisely through the communication mechanisms of the blind? ”, The developer himself explained on this subject.
On May 23, an updated version of LUWRAIN was released, in which the user content and work logic was rewritten under JavaScript. Java has a common framework for applications, including controls.
Now, program users and interested developers, if necessary, will be able to independently make changes to the program code, adjusting it to their personal needs and preferences. Valid scripts can be found in the source code in the extensions / js directory and in the distribution in app / data / js.
Working with JavaScript involves the use of a mechanism that the developer called hooks. This is a kind of junction point of Java code and JavaScript code, when Java code delegates some of its work to the hook. After conducting a series of experiments, the creators decided that this concept was the most elegant and convenient for further development.
The purpose of the hook and the interpretation of its work depends on the nature of the application. It allows you to adjust the pronunciation of the text, facilitates interaction with the Internet. In particular, JavaScript has implemented the ability to query Wikipedia and read the response.
Error screens and information about files in the commander are also provided by hooks, while reading mail, hooks build letters in chains and put them into folders.
The current version for Windows is now packaged in a self-extracting distribution.
That is, it is enough to run the LUWRAIN file and it will be automatically installed on the computer and will be launched. In the future, you can work with it as with a normal program — launch it through the Start menu or the desktop, and delete it using the Control Panel.
In turn, a script is available for Linux that downloads and unpacks the latest version.
In the updated version of LUWRAIN, separate copies of the registry are now being created to update the data in it with loss of compatibility. For the user, this is seen as a new installation of the program, but at the same time all the old settings are saved.
In the near future, developers plan to refine the reading and viewing of documents, making them even more intuitive and convenient. Improved will be the player with the automation of listening to audio books, as well as work with text files.
The updated version of LUWRAIN is completely free and already available for download on the official project website .
Unfortunately, not all information systems are adapted for people whose health capabilities do not allow using all 5 ways of perception.
')
Until recently, blind and deaf-blind people could not fully use most of the communication tools. According to statistics, only one out of 20 people with visual disabilities can use a computer.
However, the technological solutions of the rehabilitation industry made touchscreen smartphones available, replaced the keyboards with braille displays, allowed the blind to control the system with voice, and for those who do not see or hear, they read the information tactilely.
A Tomsk team of LUWRAIN programmers is working on one of such tools today. The project developers have set an ambitious goal - to provide the ability to work with a computer for people with visual impairments, including completely blind and deaf-blind users.
LUWRAIN is a Java-based user environment in which non-visual ways of human-computer interaction are involved. Feedback is provided by voice or, if necessary, through a Braille display.
The platform is designed as a distribution kit and includes a sufficient and expandable set of applications with the help of which a blind person easily interacts with his computer.
LUWRAIN supports TXT, HTML, DOC, DOCX, XLSX formats and reads HTML and PDF without feedback. Thus, the platform allows a person to work with most text documents, explore web pages and communicate on the web without using sight.
The LUWRAIN development team is headed by Mikhail Pozhidaev, a scientist from Tomsk State University, who completely lost his sight in his student years due to an incurable disease. To continue his studies at the Faculty of Computer Science, he developed for himself a special program that allows him to freely interact with the computer.
Now, having successfully completed his studies, Mikhail wants to help other people. His student program has become the working prototype of the future LUWRAIN, which has been developed for more than ten years.
With the help of the created platform, the scientist leads the page in Vkontakte, communicates with friends, and also conducts negotiations with the administration of the social network. The fact is that Vkontakte is currently reworking the dialogues using the newly released VK.ME messenger, and so far access to the dialogs in LUWRAIN has been granted to Michael only as an application administrator.
Together with the developers of the social network, Mikhail wants to work out the correct sequence of actions when reworking the dialogues. This will avoid unnecessary work.
“Community activity here would be very appropriate, because companies are somehow important to know all the mechanisms that can allow people with visual impairments to communicate. There are a lot of questions about whether spam will not be sent precisely through the communication mechanisms of the blind? ”, The developer himself explained on this subject.
On May 23, an updated version of LUWRAIN was released, in which the user content and work logic was rewritten under JavaScript. Java has a common framework for applications, including controls.
Now, program users and interested developers, if necessary, will be able to independently make changes to the program code, adjusting it to their personal needs and preferences. Valid scripts can be found in the source code in the extensions / js directory and in the distribution in app / data / js.
Working with JavaScript involves the use of a mechanism that the developer called hooks. This is a kind of junction point of Java code and JavaScript code, when Java code delegates some of its work to the hook. After conducting a series of experiments, the creators decided that this concept was the most elegant and convenient for further development.
The purpose of the hook and the interpretation of its work depends on the nature of the application. It allows you to adjust the pronunciation of the text, facilitates interaction with the Internet. In particular, JavaScript has implemented the ability to query Wikipedia and read the response.
Error screens and information about files in the commander are also provided by hooks, while reading mail, hooks build letters in chains and put them into folders.
The current version for Windows is now packaged in a self-extracting distribution.
That is, it is enough to run the LUWRAIN file and it will be automatically installed on the computer and will be launched. In the future, you can work with it as with a normal program — launch it through the Start menu or the desktop, and delete it using the Control Panel.
In turn, a script is available for Linux that downloads and unpacks the latest version.
In the updated version of LUWRAIN, separate copies of the registry are now being created to update the data in it with loss of compatibility. For the user, this is seen as a new installation of the program, but at the same time all the old settings are saved.
In the near future, developers plan to refine the reading and viewing of documents, making them even more intuitive and convenient. Improved will be the player with the automation of listening to audio books, as well as work with text files.
The updated version of LUWRAIN is completely free and already available for download on the official project website .
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/454728/
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