Hueyify Development Underway

Our blog may be a little quiet but doesn't mean that activity at Hueyify is quiet. We've been busier than ever with the main core energy focusing on accelerating the Hueyify project to completion.

Just came back from a trip away with the family to the beach-side feeling refreshed and energized. Highlight of the trip was building sand castles, being inspired and the discovery of a powerful idea which would take Hueyify to the next level.

Donations supporting Hueyify

I want to say thank you to everyone who has donated to http://www.hueyify.com/ cause and believing in what we are trying to achieve.

Your donation helps cover the expenses we are incurring to realise the project to help the blind and Autism people to more easily use the Internet for free regardless of location. Every bit helps!

If you have not yet had a chance to donate to support our cause then we will appreciate your donation. Why not forgo for a cuppa for a day and donate the proceeds to a worthy cause?

Hueyify and SPEVI - JAN 2015

Hueyify has been accepted as speaker for the SPEVI (South Pacific Education in Vision Impairment) in Jan 2015. Look forward to attending. More news later!!!

Hueyify - Is it Free? What Web Browsers? What O/S?

It seems with the media buzz this week we've had a few people reaching out to us from all over the world sharing their stories and asking questions.

Some questions that seem to come through was:

1. What hardware do we need to run Hueyify and fees?
   The Hueyify software and services is free for anyone who is legally blind / blind or has autism regardless of location. There are no fees or hidden cost or anything. This statement forms the very essence of what Hueyify stands for because we believe the internet should be accessible and fair to all given the importance of the internet in our lifestyles. We want to make a difference to those who need help to more easily access the Internet.
   
   We wanted Hueyify to be easy to set-up and kept as simple as possible and run on basic computer set-up without the need to purchase powerful computers. Hueyify was designed with these factors in mind.
   
   I also have a blind son and through him and speaking with others with disabilities I can see that there is a need to make the Internet more user-friendly. This has been reported in the media at StartUpSmart. Besides, those who are disabled may not be in a position to be able to afford software / services.
   
   At the moment we raising awareness on our plight and reaching out to communities and hopefully raise enough awareness and support and have people backing and donating to support our cause. Our donate page is located at Hueyify Donations.
2.  What Web Browsers does Hueyify Support?
   Hueyify should work with all major web browsers. However, we are only testing and working primarily with:
1. Internet Explorer
2. Firefox
3. Chrome
4. Safari
5. Opera
3. What Operating Systems does Hueyify Support?
   Hueyify will work on most O/S however for the initial release we will target Windows platforms and shortly later on Linux. If enough demand calls for it we will support UNIX and others.
   
   We will be targeting Desktops and Laptops as well as iPads (through WiFi). This is because these are the main devices that those disabled use. Later we will be moving towards Androids and iOS and mobiles (it is a little more tricky to get Hueyify working on these platforms).
   
   

Blind Person and Guide Dog at the Cross Road - who makes the Decision to Cross? The Owner or the Guide Dog?

When a blind person and the guide dog is at the cross road - who do you think makes the decision to cross the road? Personally I always thought it was the guide dog.

I mean that is the point of having a guide dog. Right? You would be surprised that it is actually the owner that makes the decision when to cross. At the cross road the guide dog is waiting for the command from the owner when to cross the road.

Let's Cross the Road

When given the command the guide dog will proceed to cross the road first checking whether it is safe to do so and if unsafe will refuse to cross the road. At this point they will simply wait for the next command. In other words the owner wouldn't say to the guide dog - "I want to cross the road - let's do it when it's safe to do so". That wouldn't work.

Clearly the guide dogs are trained for intelligence disobedience. That is to ignore commands that puts the team in danger. Having said that - it would be then up to the owner to figure out why was the command refused and issue the next command.

The correct procedure would be for the owner to listen for any oncoming cars and when deemed safe to cross the command is given to the guide dog to cross. If the guide dog sees it is safe then it will proceed to do so otherwise it will ignore command and wait for the next command. Obviously the owner would have detected the guide dog's refusal to follow the command and must repeat the whole process again or come to the conclusion that at the given location they can't or it isn't safe to cross the road.

Owning a Guide Dog

The truth is that guide dogs are simply not just awarded to blind people. A blind person must be qualified to earn the right of having a guide dog by at first completing and mastering O&M training (orientation and mobility). By completing the O&M means that the blind person is trained to navigate around. This includes traveling with the aid of cane and trained to learn/know where they are by memory and various strategies so they can navigate around homes, offices and streets.

Spot Quiz Test

Based on all we learned from above we can take a spot quiz of one question:

If a blind person and guide dog go for a walk. Who is responsible for knowing where they are at all times - the owner or the guide dog?


Bingo! You answered correctly - I hope? The owner must know where they are at all times and not the guide dog. And yes - I got that wrong too as personally I always thought it was the responsibility of the guide dog.

Legally Blind - What does that mean? Can you see or not?

Have you heard the term "Legally Blind" before? What does that mean? Is the person blind or not? Can they see? If you can see then you are not blind? By definition "blind" means not to see anything so surely a blind person cannot see at all?

What does it mean Legally Blind mean?

Generally the term "Legally Blind" is a term used to describe a person whose best corrected eyesight is at such a low level that their eyesight isn't deemed satisfactory to see properly. You can think of this as the gray area between actually seeing and seeing at such a poor level that the quality of sight isn't acceptable for most duties and task.

Some people in the legally blind category may detect light and shadows. Others may only see objects but couldn't read writing regardless of the size although some may be able to read with low vision magnifying glasses. So a legally blind person could possibly see people if close enough and know roughly where the head is but wouldn't be able to see your facial features etc. Very few people are in the total blindness category meaning they have no light perception.

The this isn't so clear then perhaps the following chart that I drew would help explain things more clearer.

How to measure Legal Blindness?

Legally blind is conducted by one of the two methods (which ever ends up being true):

1. In Australia, North America and most of Europe legal blindness is defined as visual acuity (vision) of 20/200 (or 6/60) or less in the better eye with best correction possible. This means that a legally blind individual would have to stand 20 feet (or 6 meters) from an object to see it with the same degree of clarity as a normally sighted person could from 200 feet (or 60 meters). This is the threshold / tipping point in order to be classified as Legally Blind.
   
   So a normal sighted person can see an object 60 meters away that a legally blind person would need to be 6 meters away.
2. Another test performed to determine legal blindness is the eyesight range that you can see when looking straight (i.e. determining whether you have tunnel vision or not). In general when people look straight ahead, they can normally detect objects to either side, or above or below the direction in which they are looking. This measurement is called the visual field. In normal sighted people, this is measured as 170 degrees. A person is "legally blind" if the combined visual field for both eyes is less than 10 or 20 degrees depending on the country. For Australia it is 20 degrees.

Some people may claim they are legally blind if they are tested without their prescribed glasses or any corrective measures to their eyesight. This would be incorrect as you would need to measured by the best eye limits with the prescribed glasses or any corrective measures to your eye.

So if you were totally blind in one eye (no light perception) and with your other eye you can hardly see but with your glasses you perform better than visual acuity (vision) of 20/200 (or 6/60) and have better than 10 or 20 degree visual field then you wouldn't be classified as legally blind.

Why have the term Legally Blind?

Governments generally want to determine the "Legal Blindness" to determine the eligibility of social security benefits that a person may be entitled to because a person in this category would generally would find it difficult to work and generate an income to support them self. Such benefits is offered in most Western countries.

The above helps determine road safety too as clearly having tunnel vision or unable to see objects that normal people see at 60 meters away that you can't see 6 meters away would make driving cars etc a real hazard and dangerous on the road.



Please let me know if you spot any errors in the above and I will correct it.

Three Inspirational Blind People that Inspire me!

When my son Huey finally lost his eyesight at the age of 4 it was the day where I really felt I hit the bottom. No amount of words can explain the feelings for that moment and the impact it had on the whole family.

Yet at the time we were immensely grateful as Huey was alive as he just had life and death surgery and we weren't sure what the prognoses would be over the next few weeks. As events would show the doctor's saved his life but were too late to save his eyesight.

Did I give up hope for Huey? In all fairness I would say: absolutely not! There was no question that Huey was part of our family and still will be treasured and loved. However, I was more worried with Huey's future and how to survive given that life is full of challenges. Adding the loss of eyesight is one big challenge to overcome in addition to the other challenges that life brings to us. As father we want the best for our children knowing that one day they would lead their own life and follow their own dreams, hopes and goals.

I do recall having questions such as do blind people work? What careers do they choose? In a hindsight these may have been ridiculous questions. I do recall searching on the Internet for people who are blind. Might sound pathetic but in doing so I did find blind people that were highly inspirational to me and provided all the hope that I needed.

Over time the these are the three inspirational blind people that inspire me.


Kevin Kern: is an American pianist, composer and recording artist of New Age music. He was born legally blind. I must say I am a big fan of his music as it is presented in a style that relaxes me particularly in the early hours where I am burning the midnight oil. My favourite is the "beyond the sundial" and this is simply a beautiful piece of work!

Jacob Bolotin: fought hard to change the perception people had towards understanding the capabilities of blind people. And he went on to become the world's first totally blind physician that was fully licensed to practice medicine. And this going way back to the early 1900's. Truly inspiring!

Huey Springer: who is my son inspires me. Together we've formed a project based on his idea which is all about improving readability and making the Internet more user-friendly. Our story and project is about living with blindness, disabilities empowerment, learning and being inspired to start a project to help my son and others who are legally blind or vision impaired. In many ways Huey inspires me to be a better father by sharing his hopes, dreams and journey through the project to help others.



Thank you for reading.