Thursday, September 19, 2019
Tuesday, September 10, 2019
Seeing AI By Microsoft – Free Software Showcase
Seeing AI by Microsoft combines the power of AI and the cloud to deliver an intelligent app that narrates the world around you. The app helps the visually impaired and the blind see or get around or navigate their world with better ease.
The Seeing AI App is for the blind or low vision community that have problems functioning in a world made for people with good vision. It provides productivity and ease of tools for labeling utilities, obstacle or object recognition, and reading printed text. While there are many apps out there that can do the same things, there is no one single app that can do everything it does.
How it Works
The app uses the phones camera and computer vision to analyse what is in front of the phone including objects, text, and people. It then relays the information to the user via the computer assistant that communicates through your phone’s speakers.
It is divided into several navigational channels corresponding with technologies that would make life easier for people with a visual impairment.
These channels are Scene, Person, Currency, Product, Documents, and Short Text (the Scene and Person channels are still in development).
Short Text – The feature uses the phone’s camera to search for printed material. Once it finds it, it uses optical recognition software to translate the printed material to machine text that is read out to the user through the phone’s speakers. It can be great if you are going through your mail, reading menus, or need to find a hotel room number.
Document – The feature uses optical recognition software to read documents. All you need to do is aim your camera phone towards the page of a document and the software will provide prompts when the corners and edges are all visible to the camera lens. Once they are all visible, it will prompt the user to hold steady and then automatically take a photo that will be sent to the cloud servers for processing. Once it has been processed, it uses voiceover to read out the document, including the formatting.
Product – This comes with a barcode scanner that makes it easy to scan the barcode on products to identify the product and details such as ingredients, directions, and any other pertinent details. Locating the barcode can be quite the hustle which is why the Seeing AI beeps when it spots it and increases the rate of the beep when you move closer to the barcode. Once it is close enough to the code, it will snap the code and using AI will identify what the product is, including the details.
Person – Seeing AI uses object recognition software to recognise people’s faces. If you have a library of photos of family and friends, the app will tell you when one of those people is near when you point the camera at them. The app guides you to center the face of the person and then tells you to snap the picture. It will then estimate their emotion such as frowning or smiling. If the person is in your image database it will also read out their name once their face is in focus.
Currency – The app uses object recognition software to identify the denomination of the currency through and then reads it out to you (unfortunately this currently only recognises US dollars).
Scenes – This is an ongoing project in beta with experimental features that you have to turn on in settings. When you take photos the AI recognises the objects, then gives a description of it such as “probably a man sitting on a couch” or “street corner with signs”.
Recognise Images in other Apps – It uses object recognition software to identify objects in apps on your phone such as WhatsApp, Twitter, and Mail.
Other features include an audible tone for corresponding to the brightness of the surrounding; description of the perceived colour and reading out loud handwritten text.
Where to download…
The Seeing App is currently only available on the App Store where you can download it onto your iOS devices for free.
For further information on the Microsoft Seeing AI app and for video demos of each function click here.
Further information on our DSA assessment centre.
The post Seeing AI By Microsoft – Free Software Showcase appeared first on A2B Assessments DSA Needs Assessment Centre.
Saturday, August 31, 2019
Friday, August 16, 2019
Monday, August 12, 2019
Calm Harm Stops Self Harm
The Calm Harm app is an iOS and Android app developed by Consultant Clinical Psychologist Dr. Nihara Krause. Using principles derived from Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), the app teaches impulse control, emotional regulation and tracking of underlying triggers so that users can be more equipped to overcome the urge to self-harm.
Who the App is for?
If you are a student with mental health difficulties and you sometimes feel the urge to self harm then this app might be able to help. The app is designed specifically for young adults who are looking to be free of the physical and emotional pain of self-harm.
How Calm Harm Works?
According to DBT, the urge to self-harm is like a wave that is most powerful at the outset and diminishes as the person resists it.
The app aims to help users to ‘surf the wave’ of self-harm, through a choice of several activities. The activities are in the following categories:
- Distract – The user can select a range of activities to distract themselves
- Comfort – The user can select from activities that provide comfort in times of distress
- Express – The user gets to express themselves in several ways to relieve their feelings
- Release – The user provides several ways of releasing tension that they can use instead of self-harm
Self-harm can be an uncontrollable urge that is driven by a wide range of reasons specific to the individual. The app recognises the individual complexity in the nature of self-harm and provides a range of activities to suit different needs.
Since what may work at one time may not work the next time, there are many activities to try out depending on the personality of the individual. The different activities are also categorised so that it’s easy to decide which one to use depending on the intensity of emotions being felt. The app works on an incremental strengthening of the users will.
Calm Harm also comes with additional features that include a list of resources, including country-specific hotlines and websites to gain access to material related to psychological health and social support to deal with family problems, self-harm, and associated issues. Users can also get to personalise their activities, keep a personal log, and maintain a personal emergency contact list. The list may include important people to call such as adults or friend that can offer support when they need it.
With its multiple methods to release anger, to calm and to distract combined with the many resources the app offers, it provides a powerful toolbox to deal with the wave of self-harm when it arises.
Where To Download
The App is available for free on both the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store.
All the best,
The post Calm Harm Stops Self Harm appeared first on A2B Assessments DSA Needs Assessment Centre.
Thursday, August 8, 2019
Specsavers Are Offering Free Eye Tests
You only get one pair of eyes, so it’s essential that you take good care of them. Huge eye-care brand Specsavers are offering free eye tests if you go to the branch on or before August 31st 2019. If you have been feeling like you have been straining your eyes lately or you just want to check everything is A-OK like it should be, this is a great opportunity.
As a student, you might not feel you have the extra money to throw at this kind of thing, and now you don’t have to. If during the eye test they discover your vision is not so good, then you can begin the process to improve your vision either in the form of glasses or contact lenses.
So how does the free eye test actually work? Start by entering your postcode on the Specsavers website and find the nearest store to you that offers this deal. Select a store, print a voucher and then book your appointment. During your appointment, show that voucher for everything to be completely free of charge. Don’t have a printer? That’s fine, you can simply show the voucher on your phone or tablet.
An eye test does not take long to do and it should be pretty easy to fit into your day-to-day life. It’s definitely worth it. You don’t have long left to secure your slot so if you’re interested do it ASAP.
All the best, A2B
The post Specsavers Are Offering Free Eye Tests appeared first on A2B Assessments DSA Needs Assessment Centre.
Monday, August 5, 2019
Adjusting To Life After University
Adjusting to life after university can be an exhilarating experience. There is a feeling of immense pride that after years of skipped meals, all-nighters and serious stress over exams you have finally attained your objective and graduated. You feel great for about three weeks and then things start to change. You get a pervasive feeling of loss and a heightened sense of uncertainty as you no longer have the familiar schedules and routines that you had as a student. University does provide a cocoon of familiarity and community with mentors, teachers, and friends that provide advice and support. It is not uncommon for students to become anxious and even depressed after graduation. However, you do not have to feel lost after graduation, follow these tips to ease the transition from student university life to adult professional life.
Make New Friends
Not being with friends that you have spent years with can be one of the most difficult things to cope with after graduation. You need to be creative in keeping in touch with your uni friends, if you’re all in different cities try and get a WhatsApp group together and make the effort to meet up when you can.
What will help you, even more, is creating new friends in your professional circles. While making friends is not so easy as compared to when you were in college and university, it can still be done. You can start with your colleagues and you will be surprised at how many close friends you can make. You can also make new friends while engaging in social activities such as sports clubs and the gym.
Be Patient
One of the biggest disappointments you may experience may be having to adjust to a life or job that is not aligned to your passions. After graduation, you may have to work in a job that you have no passion for and live below your expectations. As an adult with new responsibilities, you may have to take whatever is offered and be patient to build on that. Job offers are typically few and far between and hence even if you have to take boring jobs, you have to be patient. Use these opportunities as a stepping stone for bigger things more aligned with your expectations or passion.
Set New Goals
In college, you may have gotten by doing all nighters a few days before exams and been able to get away with missing classes, but in real life, you will need to set new priorities. It is no longer about passing exams that are a few weeks away but more about adult responsibilities. You need to set new goals such as paying off your loans and saving money. To regain the sense of striving towards something and achievement, you should set a goal such as going back to school for postgraduate studies or saving enough for a deposit on a house or apartment. Having goals will give you a sense of purpose and increase your drive making you adjust faster to adult life.
Turn Uncertainty Into Opportunity
Decide to be positive about the challenges you encounter in your professional and social life. Acknowledge that turmoil is natural and is likely happening to most of your friends too. As such, you should take any challenges as opportunities to build yourself towards professional and personal excellence. For instance, if you are having problems grasping complex concepts at work, do not take it negatively but as a learning opportunity. Seek out mentors and more experienced colleagues to help you with the challenge and learn a new skill in the process. If you have been rejected by a hiring manager when you thought the job was in the bag, call the company and ask for feedback on how you could improve in the future.
Accept Your Changing Identity
Your identity has been tied to your education for most of your life. As an adult professional you need to acknowledge that this is changing fast and your professional life is becoming more important. While it may be an uncertain time as you try to find yourself, acknowledging your changing identity and embracing it will help reduce anxiety and go a long way to help you adapt to changing circumstances. Be reasonable with your expectations such as what job you can get and how fast you can move up the ladder. You can get a good job right from the start but the important thing is to not get disappointed or frustrated when you start spinning wheels.
Conclusion
Adjusting to life after university can be a daunting and frustrating experience. However, it does not have to be, given that a lot of people that went before you had the same experience and came out just fine. By being patient, adopting new habits and acknowledging your new and changing identities and circumstances, you can come out of the experience stronger. By following the tips in this article you can enter into responsible adulthood and achieve a lot in your professional life.
All the best,
The post Adjusting To Life After University appeared first on A2B Assessments DSA Needs Assessment Centre.