I'll link to an MP3 of the full interview in a minute (there's also a summary video below), but first here's a bit of background on the story...
Mel is constantly tormented by 'Ron'
The segment is an interview with a 25 year old girl, Mel, who constantly hears the voice of a male character who calls himself 'Ron'. An interesting thing about the article is the distinction that Mel is not Schizophrenic, but rather, that she hears a voice.
A range of sensory experiences commonly known as ‘auditory hallucinations’ but are not always experienced as ‘auditory’, and includes visual, tactile, smell etc (internal or external) sensations also. It also includes living with distressing beliefs associated with these experiences. So basically, it’s defined as any extra ordinary perceptual experience which is perceived as separate from oneself.
The following video is a short 9 minute summary of the interview, but if you have a little more time listen to the full 30 minute interview (no captions available). It's interesting to hear that not all voices are negative, although most are.
Soliloquy on Fiverr.com is advertising his captioning services of your Youtube videos for just five dollars (that's U.S. dollars I presume, but still a bargain).
YouTube automatic captioning can be terrible sometimes, but fortunately you have the option to upload a text file with your audio transcription. If you want proper captions on your video but don't have the time to type in the dialogue yourself, I can transcribe it for you accurately. I will provide you with a text file that you'll upload to your YouTube account, and their speech processing algorithms will do the rest.
SenCity is a once-in-a-lifetime international event that is finally premiering in Australia.
The event goes beyond music with all senses being stimulated including: expressive dancers, a SenseFloor, Taste sensations, Video projections, light effects, sign interpreters and hairdressers the music event transforms in a overall experience.
The event is primarily targeted at a Deaf and hard of hearing audience, but of course is also open to the hearing community to open up wider social networks for the deaf. Although many deaf can't hear the melody of music they can feel the emotion of it through their other senses – touch (vibration), sight, smell and taste.
Through the use of special techniques such as “Vibrating dance floor”, we can let deaf people feel the music the way others hear it. Therefore vibrating sensors are installed under the dance platforms and plugged into the amplifiers so that the entire dance floor responds to the frequency of the music.
The lyrics are interpreted into sign language by so called “Sign-Singers”.
“Visual-Jockey”and "Food Jockey" provide more positive sense impressions.
Furthermore the nose of the party guest will be stimulated. The fragrance compositions of the “Aroma-Jockey” evoke similar emotions as the music does.
Additionally in the Sense Chill Zone, side performances are provided, e.g. Hair dressers, Make-up artists and massages. - SenCity Sydney
SenCity
27th August 2010
Home Nighclub
Darling Harbour
Twitter powered captioning for Live streaming video
The concept of combining video and twitter feeds for recorded events was first proposed Tom Smith in February 2009[1] after experiencing Graham Linehan's BadMovieClub[2] in which at 9pm exactly on the 13th February 2009, over 2,000 Twitter users simultaneously pressed 'Play' on the film 'The Happening' and continued to 'tweet' whilst watching, creating a collective viewing experience. - Twitter Subtitling, Wikipedia
First Thoughts on iPad Potential for People with Intellectual Disabilities
An iPad, with a simple-to use interface similar to those presented by augmentative communication apps, would be a lot less expensive than single purpose AC devices or multi-function computers. - John Rochford at Clear Helper
Quote of the week
By Shane Morris. He has such a funny dry sense of humour sometimes:
Q: You’ve been involved in the industry for quite some time, and seen it mature. Where do you see it going from here?A: "I think of it this way: once we were in the business of telling people their baby is ugly. Then we progressed to advising people how to make their babies more attractive. Nowadays I help companies work out what sort of baby they want, or whether they’d actually prefer an Xbox." - UX Design: What it is, What it Takes, and Where it’s GoingAnd this just made me laugh...Do websites need to be experienced exactly the same in every browser?
After some tweaks and updates I've finally uploaded my most recent presentation on Lean Usability for Startups. The presentation was originally given at the WebDu Conference in Sydney a few months ago.
The presentation includes:
definitions
low cost techniques all startups should consider using
low cost and free tools available on line
tips on conducting user research
tips for reducing costs
This is by no means an exhaustive list, and I plan to follow up with more techniques and tools over the coming months.
The presentation concludes with 12 Lean Usability Principles, including:
Remember the Minimum Viable Product process (focus)
Embrace failure/ design iteratively
Talk with people that accurately fit your user profiles
Talk with your target audience as early & as often as possible
