Full Transcript
Jeff Thompson:
Welcome to Blind Abilities. I’m Jeff Thompson. If you ever had that problem of too much money, too much cash, too much stack, and you’d have trouble identifying which bill is which, well, the US Bureau of Engraving has the answer for you. Not one, not two, but three solutions. You can get one of the two apps, either the EyeNote, that’s E-Y-E-N-O-T-E for your Apple device or the Ideal Currency Identifier for your Android device. There’s also a standalone device called the iBill Reader that you can apply for and they’ll send it to you for free. By the way, the apps are free too. Get them now and you won’t have any problem counting your stack.
Jeff Thompson:
While at the convention, John Dowling, our teen correspondent for Blind Abilities, interviewed Lydia Washington. She works for the US Bureau of Engraving. Yes, the place where money is made. And they’re going to be talking about the EyeNote, the Ideal Currency Identifier, plus the iBill Reader. And stay tuned right after John and Lydia have their conversation, we’ve got a demonstration of the EyeNote app and the Ideal Currency Identifier app as well. Now here’s John Dowling and Lydia Washington. Hope you enjoy.
John Dowling:
Welcome to Blind Abilities. My name is John Dowling and I am here at NFB 2019 here in Las Vegas, Nevada. And I’m here speaking to Lydia Washington. Lydia, how are you?
Lydia W:
I’m fine. How are you today?
John Dowling:
I’m good. So what do you do?
Lydia W:
Well, I am the Media Liaison and Team Lead Public Affairs Specialists at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing.
John Dowling:
Okay.
Lydia W:
We actually make United States currency and I deal with the media, I answer questions for the public. I also interact with the public regarding our new currency reader program we have.
John Dowling:
Okay. Wow. So how does that work?
Lydia W:
Well, basically the Department of the Treasury by the States’ government is giving away free currency readers to blind and visually impaired US citizens. We also have two mobile apps available as well, the EyeNote for iPhone users and the Ideal Currency Identifier for Android users.
John Dowling:
If people would want to get one of these money readers, how would they go about doing that?
Lydia W:
Well, anyone can download the mobile apps for free. In order to get the currency reader itself, the iBill Currency Reader, you have to go to our website and you can download the application there, fill it out, mail it in, and we will send you an iBill Currency Reader. If you are a member of the National Library Service, all you have to do is contact them directly and they can also send you one.
John Dowling:
Okay. Wow, that’s great. So if people want to reach you, where would they reach you at?
Lydia W:
You can go directly to our website at www.bepbobedwardpoll.gov.
John Dowling:
Oh, thank you.
Lydia W:
Okay.
John Dowling:
Thank you, Lydia. It was nice speaking to you.
Lydia W:
You’re quite welcome and thanks for talking to me.
John Dowling:
Yeah, thank you.
Jeff Thompson:
The EyeNote app for iOS devices, it works on the iPhone or the iPad, is free from the App Store and you can just download it. And when you first open it up, it’ll ask for permission to use your camera. And once it opens up, it’s ready to go. It’s just like seeing AI, just starts reading. However, this is all it does and it does it really well. So just set a dollar bill or a $20 bill or set a note that you don’t know what it is, and just pass the camera over the top of it by about eight inches up, and it’ll instantly tell you what the denomination is and it’ll tell you if it’s front or back as well.
Jeff Thompson:
And for you Android fans, don’t worry, you’ve got the Ideal Currency Identifier. This works the same way. Just open the app and it’s ready to go. And here’s a quick demonstration of EyeNote.
EyeNote:
EyeNote, E-y-e-N-o-t-e.
Jeff Thompson:
EyeNote, on an iPhone using the voiceover accessibility feature.
EyeNote:
EyeNote. EyeNote.
Jeff Thompson:
I put a denomination down.
EyeNote:
$1 front.
Jeff Thompson:
And then flipped it over.
EyeNote:
$1 back.
Jeff Thompson:
And proceeded to go through different denominations.
EyeNote:
$20 front. $20 back. $100 front. $100 back.
Jeff Thompson:
And now we’ll try the Ideal Currency Identifier app on Android using voice assistance.
Ideal Currency: Ideal Currency Identifier.
Jeff Thompson:
I put a denomination down.
Ideal Currency:
$1 bill front.
Jeff Thompson:
And then flipped it over.
Ideal Currency:
$1 bill back.
Jeff Thompson:
And proceeded to go through different denominations.
Ideal Currency:
$20 bill, front. $20 bill, back. $100 bill, front. $100 bill, back.
Jeff Thompson:
And I would like to point out that on both apps, on either app, I did not have to touch the screen or do anything of that nature. Just raise the camera above the currency and boom, it does it all for you. Although I did check to see if there was anything that I could have spoken to me or identify, I tapped, I swiped, I slid my finger around and there was nothing. The screen was basically blank. The only feature it does is read the currency and it does it really well. Enable the Blind Abilities skill on your Amazon device just by saying, “Enable Blind Abilities.”
[Music] [Transition noise] -When we share
-What we see
-Through each other’s eyes…
[Multiple voices overlapping, in unison, to form a single sentence]
…We can then begin to bridge the gap between the limited expectations, and the realities of Blind Abilities.
Jeff Thompson:
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Thanks for listening.
*****
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