{"id":7958,"date":"2023-11-06T18:20:35","date_gmt":"2023-11-07T00:20:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blindabilities.com\/?p=7958"},"modified":"2023-11-06T18:20:37","modified_gmt":"2023-11-07T00:20:37","slug":"from-braille-notetakers-to-book-players-an-assistive-technology-journey-spanning-through-the-decades-meet-gilles-pepin-founder-and-chairman-of-the-board-at-humanwareinc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/?p=7958","title":{"rendered":"From Braille Notetakers to Book Players. An Assistive Technology Journey Spanning Through the Decades. Meet Gilles Pepin, Founder and Chairman of the Board at HumanwareInc"},"content":{"rendered":"<!--powerpress_player--><div class=\"powerpress_player\" id=\"powerpress_player_3604\"><audio class=\"wp-audio-shortcode\" id=\"audio-7958-1\" preload=\"none\" style=\"width: 100%;\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"audio\/mpeg\" src=\"https:\/\/traffic.libsyn.com\/secure\/blindabilities\/Humanware2023.mp3?_=1\" \/><a href=\"https:\/\/traffic.libsyn.com\/secure\/blindabilities\/Humanware2023.mp3\">https:\/\/traffic.libsyn.com\/secure\/blindabilities\/Humanware2023.mp3<\/a><\/audio><\/div>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Podcast Summary<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>While attending the 2023 NFB Convention Banquet in Houston Texas, Blind Abilities podcast host Simon Bonenfant had the opportunity to connect with Gilles Pepin, Chairman of the Board at Humanware. During the Banquet, Mr. Pepin received the prestigious Kenneth Jernigan award. Mr. Pepin joined Simon in the virtual studio to discuss his incredible tenure as Former CEO of Humanware for 35 years.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>From the Humanware Website:&nbsp;\u201cFounded in 1988, HumanWare is a Canadian-based company part of the EssilorLuxottica group since 2013. Recognized as an industry leader, our mission is to develop solutions enabling people living with visual impairment and vision loss to develop their potential and maintain their autonomy. Through the dedication of our employees and partners in North America, the United Kingdom, Australia and a worldwide distribution network, we improve the quality of life for our customers by promoting literacy, inclusion, and accessibility.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>During the interview, Mr. Pepin discusses his personal story of how he came to work in the Assistive Technology field, and his dedication to the development of products that help the blind and visually impaired \u201cSee Differently.\u201d Mr. Pepin also discusses the history and evolution of the ever-popular product lines developed by Humanware such as the braille note, Trek GPS System, Victor Reader book player, OCR, and Magnification devices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Mr. Pepin outlines some of the challenges faced by him and his team when developing new products and innovations. He credits the dedication and passion of all the employees at Humanware for making the company what it is today. Mr. Pepin also credits the feedback of blind and visually impaired users and testers as playing a critical role in the success of the Humanware product lines as well.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To learn more about the extensive product offerings from Humanware, visit their&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/store.humanware.com\/hus\/products\">Website<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To contact Humanware, visit their&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/store.humanware.com\/hus\/contact\/\">Contact Page<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We hope you have enjoyed this interview. If you would like to learn more and contact us, you can follow us on Twitter&nbsp;@<a href=\"http:\/\/www.twitter.com\/blindabilities\">Blind Abilities<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On the web at&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.blindabilities.com\/\">www.blindabilities.com<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Send us an&nbsp;email at&nbsp;<a href=\"mailto:info@blindabilities.com\">info@blindabilities.com<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Get the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/itunes.apple.com\/us\/app\/blind-abilities\/id1085849859?l=es&amp;mt=8\">Free Blind Abilities App&nbsp;on the App Store<\/a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/play.google.com\/store\/apps\/details?id=com.blindabilities.android.blind&amp;hl=en_US\">Google Play Store<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Give us a call and leave us some feedback at 612-367-6093. We would love to hear from you!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Check out the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/groups\/607027582712671\/\">Blind Abilities Community<\/a>&nbsp;on Facebook, the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/BlindAbilities\/\">Blind Abilities Page<\/a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/groups\/jobinsightsgroup\">Career Resources for the Blind and Visually Impaired group.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To contact Simon directly, send him an email at&nbsp;<a href=\"mailto:sbonenfant2@gmail.com\">mailto:sbonenfant2@gmail.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<!--powerpress_player--><div class=\"powerpress_player\" id=\"powerpress_player_3606\"><audio class=\"wp-audio-shortcode\" id=\"audio-7958-3\" preload=\"none\" style=\"width: 100%;\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"audio\/mpeg\" src=\"https:\/\/traffic.libsyn.com\/secure\/blindabilities\/Humanware2023.mp3?_=3\" \/><a href=\"https:\/\/traffic.libsyn.com\/secure\/blindabilities\/Humanware2023.mp3\">https:\/\/traffic.libsyn.com\/secure\/blindabilities\/Humanware2023.mp3<\/a><\/audio><\/div><p>https:\/\/traffic.libsyn.com\/secure\/blindabilities\/Humanware2023.mp3 Podcast Summary While attending the 2023 NFB Convention Banquet in Houston Texas, Blind Abilities podcast host Simon Bonenfant had the opportunity to connect with Gilles Pepin, Chairman of the Board at Humanware. During the Banquet, Mr. Pepin received the prestigious Kenneth Jernigan award. Mr. Pepin joined Simon in the virtual studio to discuss his [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[17,467],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7958","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bapresents","category-technology"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Blind-Abilities-Logo.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6rcRg-24m","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":7909,"url":"https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/?p=7909","url_meta":{"origin":7958,"position":0},"title":"Meet the Monarch! Bringing Braille and Tactile Graphics Under Your Fingertips &#8211; A chat with Greg Stilson, Head of Global Innovation at APH","author":"Blind Abilities Team","date":"July 29, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Podcast Summary: From the 2023 NFB Convention in Houston Texas, Blind Abilities podcast host Simon Bonenfant spoke with Greg Stilson, Head of Global Innovation at American Printing House for the Blind (APH). Greg first takes listeners through the new Monarch Tactile Display. This braille display is a partnership between APH,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;BlindAbilities Presents&quot;","block_context":{"text":"BlindAbilities Presents","link":"https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/?cat=17"},"img":{"alt_text":"BlindAbilities Logo A black square with white initials, B A.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Blind-Abilities-Logo.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Blind-Abilities-Logo.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Blind-Abilities-Logo.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Blind-Abilities-Logo.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Blind-Abilities-Logo.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Blind-Abilities-Logo.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3711,"url":"https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/?p=3711","url_meta":{"origin":7958,"position":1},"title":"Humanware Brings it All to the Convention: Meet Sam AdlerSales Representative from humanWare","author":"Blind Abilities Team","date":"July 6, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Humanware Brings it All to the Convention: Meet Sam AdlerSales Representative from humanWare \u00a0 The Blind Abilities Team was out near the pool when we ran into Sam Adler from HumanWare. Sam tells us about the Humanware products, what\u2019s new and what devices are available from Humanware. From low vision\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Aira Presents&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Aira Presents","link":"https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/?cat=485"},"img":{"alt_text":"BlindAbilities Logo A black square with white initials, B A.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Blind-Abilities-Logo.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Blind-Abilities-Logo.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Blind-Abilities-Logo.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Blind-Abilities-Logo.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Blind-Abilities-Logo.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Blind-Abilities-Logo.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2148,"url":"https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/?p=2148","url_meta":{"origin":7958,"position":2},"title":"Victor Reader Update with Greg Stilson from HumanWare","author":"Blind Abilities Team","date":"September 21, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Greg Stilson from HumanWare talks about the latest update 4.7.2 and how to get your favorite podcasts to automatically download onto your Victor Stream. Be sure to get the latest update and enjoy getting your morning paper auto-magically, as Greg puts it. Join Jeff Thompson and Greg Stilson as they\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;BlindAbilities Presents&quot;","block_context":{"text":"BlindAbilities Presents","link":"https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/?cat=17"},"img":{"alt_text":"BlindAbilities Logo A black square with white initials, B A.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Blind-Abilities-Logo.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Blind-Abilities-Logo.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Blind-Abilities-Logo.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Blind-Abilities-Logo.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Blind-Abilities-Logo.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Blind-Abilities-Logo.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2643,"url":"https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/?p=2643","url_meta":{"origin":7958,"position":3},"title":"Interviews From FCB2017: Aira, Humanware, GuidingEyes, GuideLightsAndGadgets and More!","author":"Blind Abilities Team","date":"June 7, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Blind Abilities was there! (Yes, we were in attendance at FCB2017 and we have some choice audio from the Exhibit hall floor! Join our Blind Abilities special correspondent, Cheryl Spencer and Pete Lane as they provide interviews with: - Allison with Election systems & Software - Barry with GuideLights &\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;BlindAbilities Presents&quot;","block_context":{"text":"BlindAbilities Presents","link":"https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/?cat=17"},"img":{"alt_text":"BlindAbilities Logo A black square with white initials, B A.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Blind-Abilities-Logo.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Blind-Abilities-Logo.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Blind-Abilities-Logo.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Blind-Abilities-Logo.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Blind-Abilities-Logo.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Blind-Abilities-Logo.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5026,"url":"https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/?p=5026","url_meta":{"origin":7958,"position":4},"title":"APH\u2019s Braille Trail Reader LE Braille Display And Humanware\u2019s Joel Zimba Talks APH Partnership and Listening to Podcasts on the Victor Stream..","author":"Blind Abilities Team","date":"May 22, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Full Transcript Show Summary: Joel Zimba, Blindness Products Specialist for Humanware, joined Jeff Thompson in the Blind Abilities Studio to talk about the new Braille Trail Reader LE. This new Braille Display was developed in partnership with the American Printing House for the Blind (APH) for and fits right into\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Tech Abilities&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Tech Abilities","link":"https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/?cat=524"},"img":{"alt_text":"The TechAbilities Logo-Dark Sunglasses with TA and BA bold letters in each lens.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/TechAbilitiesLogo.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/TechAbilitiesLogo.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/TechAbilitiesLogo.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/TechAbilitiesLogo.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/TechAbilitiesLogo.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/TechAbilitiesLogo.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2657,"url":"https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/?p=2657","url_meta":{"origin":7958,"position":5},"title":"HumanWare Brailliant BI14 for the iPhone and Greg Stilson\u2019s Aira Experience","author":"Blind Abilities Team","date":"June 15, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Greg Stilson, senior Product Manager at HumanWare, talks about the new Brailliant BI14 Braille display and how it is a perfect fit for the mobile iPhone user. Greg talks about his Aira explorer experiences and gives us an overview of his nearly 11 years at HumanWare. Join Greg and Jeff\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;BlindAbilities Presents&quot;","block_context":{"text":"BlindAbilities Presents","link":"https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/?cat=17"},"img":{"alt_text":"BlindAbilities Logo A black square with white initials, B A.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Blind-Abilities-Logo.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Blind-Abilities-Logo.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Blind-Abilities-Logo.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Blind-Abilities-Logo.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Blind-Abilities-Logo.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Blind-Abilities-Logo.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7958","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7958"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7958\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7959,"href":"https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7958\/revisions\/7959"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/8"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7958"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7958"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7958"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}