Post AcGFdQLDfS0q7zKTTs by wauz@mastodon.bayern
(DIR) More posts by wauz@mastodon.bayern
(DIR) Post #AcCNd7QK1cnSSNF2rg by geraldew@fosstodon.org
2023-11-26T11:37:46Z
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Years ago, in some coding at my workplace, which means it was in VBA, I added spoken voice clips to let me know when processes reached various stage points.It just played canned spoken phrases that I'd made with a free program I found online.At the time I had a very large cubicle with few neighbours who were mostly absent. It let me get things running and then go work on another computer, but hear exactly when I needed to attend to the process running one - i.e. without watching it.
(DIR) Post #AcCNd8W1xsxPqMv7Oy by geraldew@fosstodon.org
2023-11-26T11:44:10Z
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To be honest I don't clearly recall why I stopped using the technique.It might have been because cubicles got smaller and denser, and a talking computer was a problem rather than a solution.But it might equally have been that I found it too hard to get the balance right - between constant chatter and prudent status updates and requirement of reactions. And thus the whole method annoyed me more than I felt it worth resolving.Or maybe my need for running long processes went away.
(DIR) Post #AcCNd9Ix205aI5oBea by geraldew@fosstodon.org
2023-11-26T11:51:44Z
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As it happens, all these years later, I'm back to writing a new application - and I've once again created a custom logging method for it.Wherein I have that same issue of needing to resolve just how much logging to do via what methods.And until I read a recent post on here, I hadn't even considered using spoken voice as part of that.I don't know if I will head down that path, either inherently or just to enable it, but it's been a curious joy to be reminded of paths I've trod before.
(DIR) Post #AcCNdABXl1l31PLmkK by geraldew@fosstodon.org
2023-11-26T11:57:37Z
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As either a programmer or a data analyst I don't use my ears at all. But listening to classical music I can recognise instruments, composers, musical eras and individual singers.Which then is more odd:- that I don't think to use that ability in my code or data work?- or that I don't have ready tooling too enable such approaches?
(DIR) Post #AcGFdQLDfS0q7zKTTs by wauz@mastodon.bayern
2023-11-28T09:33:09Z
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@geraldewWell, tooling to use kind of music to display data and related stuff would be, let's say, revolutionary.All our computing devices now are Von-Neumann-machines, and they are, by principle, very 'autistic'. The problem of user interface is the main 'flaw' of the concept. User interfaces for Von-Neumann-machines started with teletypes. This was the first bidirectional solution and any other since are nothing else than improvement of this concept.
(DIR) Post #AcGIgw4qQkYhHo2JGa by geraldew@fosstodon.org
2023-11-28T10:07:24Z
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@wauz Quite by coincidence, just before seeing your response, I had seen mention of:"Chicago’s Lyric Opera is aiming to make its performances more accessible via the SoundShirt, a garment that vibrates to match the music."Where that was via The Overspill from Charles Arthur@charlesarthurhttps://theoverspill.blog/2023/11/28/popular-science-magazine-journalism-end-start-up-2121/(i.e. an indirect link to not bite the hand that feeds)
(DIR) Post #AcGKh5PtuDpAA25JCK by geraldew@fosstodon.org
2023-11-28T10:14:45Z
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@wauz @charlesarthur but perhaps the more important part to quote is:“There are often technical solutions designed by people without disabilities for people with disabilities that do not solve barriers that we have.”Still, sometimes an unimportant usage (e.g. abled people finding it a cute play idea) can get the tooling made that can then be put to more important uses.Alas, to be clear, not that I have the skills to do that. Foldatry alone has taken me years to write in my spare time.
(DIR) Post #AcGKh6CoyKxKbkyNRw by wauz@mastodon.bayern
2023-11-28T10:29:46Z
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@geraldewWell, thinking it over again: there is computer software, that provides acoustical information for users. In some video games, where you have to react to complex situations very quickly, sound is a carrier of information. I found it very difficult to play a pinball simulation with sound switched off.@charlesarthur
(DIR) Post #AcGM3hCqBcSVggJxAW by geraldew@fosstodon.org
2023-11-28T10:45:08Z
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@wauz Well then "play" is indeed the word.Reminds me that way back, a younger me actually emailed Microsoft with a suggestion of how their V-Chat program could be used by geographically dispersed organisations with parallel mapping to local physical layouts. The idea being that a remote session chat would also enable comments such as "I also mentioned topic Z to Erica who is two desks to your right".Needless to say, nothing came of that (nor of V-Chat). See Wikipedia for when that was.
(DIR) Post #AcGNOwVkZtA1BrrQfY by wauz@mastodon.bayern
2023-11-28T11:00:04Z
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@geraldewMaybe gaming is the way to some progress in UIs. If someone could create a game, that is to be played just on acoustical information and is funny enough to intrigue sighted people, that would be the start of an acoustical UI system, that could become a standard for non-sighted users.We have a desktop variant of websites and now mobile device variants, why not acoustical variants? It just needs a solution that can become a standard