Information from the exhibitors
What can you expect to see on display at QAC Sight Village Birmingham 2010? Here is a taster…
Pamtrad Customs
Pamtrad Customs offer a range of products that are designed, adapted and discovered to improve the everyday lives of people who are blind or partially sighted. Here are two examples of the cutting edge technology they will be bringing to QAC Sight Village Birmingham:
The STEP-HEAR™
The STEP-HEAR™ is an information and orientation system designed to support the needs of visually impaired people. It consists of two units: Base and Activator. The Base is installed in key locations and loaded with pre-recorded information. The Activator, held by the user, vibrates to notify them that there is a STEP-HEAR™ nearby. Pressing a button on the activator will trigger the audible recorded information from the Base, also providing proximity and directionality to the location.
The aim is to make the STEP-HEAR™ available as standard throughout the UK in shopping centres, large public buildings, places of interest, airports, railway stations and public gardens. In fact, anywhere where a blind or visually impaired person might need to orientate themselves alone Pamtrad Customs want to put a STEP-HEAR™.
The iZoom USB
Today we do more and more on the move. Sometimes we need to check email or surf the web on computers that aren’t our own: maybe at a hotel, a library or on a friend or family member’s computer. Most professional screen magnifiers today offer a USB version, but all of them require you to install some software before they can run. Odds are if you're using a public computer you won't be granted installation rights.
A unique feature of the iZoom USB is that it doesn’t need to be installed on a computer. Just plug it in and it works. This is great for those places where you can’t download special adaptations to the computer you are using. It doesn’t upload anything to the computer and nothing can be downloaded to the USB stick.
Blazie
Blazie are well known in the vision impaired community for being able to provide complete access solutions for Braille, speech and screen magnification in the most demanding technical environments.
At QAC Sight Village Birmingham they will be launching several new products, including an exciting, modular designed Braille display from Ninepoint Systems of Austria. The unique concept brings greater product flexibility; enabling a standard 80 cell desktop display to be easily separated to a 40 cell module for laptop use away from your desk and further separated in to a 20 cell display for use with a mobile phone on-the-go. It is built in a lightweight, high quality aluminium casing with USB, Bluetooth and CBI connectivity.
Visitors to QAC Sight Village are invited to try out the new Cebra display and talk to Blazie’s team of professionals about the benefits this new concept offers. Or if Braille is not the right solution, visitors will have the opportunity to try out the free Voice Over Screen Reader on an Apple Mac or iPhone.
Professional Vision Services
Professional Vision Services is launching a couple of new innovations at QAC Sight Village Birmingham.
The Magnilink Go
This innovative portable device turns a normal mobile phone into a CCTV. It allows its visually impaired owner to use their mobile phone’s camera to either instantly magnify text or capture an image for speech output. The result: the user can read whatever they want, wherever they might be.
Magnilink Student – now Mac compatible
More and more people with low vision are on the move and want or need to take their computers and magnification with them. MagniLink Student is a portable CCTV with a combined reading and distance camera. But the real breakthrough is that it is now compatible with Apple Mac computers. It is the first product of its kind to work with Mac operating systems. The major advantage of this is large print, speech, and Braille drivers are in these systems as standard, giving users greater value for money.
Azabat Software
Azabat provides software for blind and partially sighted people of all ages and abilities. Amongst the products they are exhibiting at QAC Sight Village Birmingham is a new range of talking crossword puzzles - three volumes in fact. The puzzles come on a CD that you simply put into a PC. The programme starts with no installation and no configuration; it just runs and the speech is built-in. The puzzles are not computer generated but compiled by experts. For example, Volume 2 includes 70 crossword puzzles licensed from The Guardian and Volume 3 has 70 puzzles from The Daily Telegraph.
Enhanced Vision
Enhanced Vision is releasing a new product called the Transformer. This is a product designed for people with low vision and runs alongside a laptop. The Transformer offers both near distance magnifying as well as distance viewing and self viewing, which can be used to aid in applying make-up, shaving and general day-to-day grooming.
They will also be running a prize draw at QAC Sight Village Birmingham, offering the opportunity to win one of their Pebble magnifiers. The Pebble is a portable magnifier that magnifies up to 10 times. It is designed to fit into a handbag or onto a belt and is used for day to activities like assisting in shopping, reading menus, timetables and day-to-day correspondence.
Notes to Editors
Contacts
For all press enquiries, photographs, requests for interviews and any further information relating to QAC Sight Village Birmingham please contact:
Laura Johnson
laura@laurajanejohnson.co.uk
07803 926239
Information on the products and services being exhibited is available.
Event details
QAC Sight Village Birmingham
13th, 14th and 15th Huly 2010
The New Bingley Hall,
1 Hockley Circus,
Birmingham
B18 5BE
For further information visit www.qacsightvillage.org.uk or email sv@qac.ac.uk.
About QAC Sight Village
QAC Sight Village are the UK's leading exhibitions of technology and services for people who are blind or partially sighted. The events are an excellent source of information for employers, professionals and end users to find out first hand the latest technology, products and support services available to people who are blind or partially-sighted. Exhibitors are commercial companies and voluntary organisations from the UK and across the world.
About QAC
The QAC (Queen Alexandra College) is a national charity providing learning opportunities for people with visual impairment and/or other disabilities. Their mission is to provide the training, skills, facilities and information to enable their students to realise their potential and build the confidence they need to live and work independently.
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