FUTURE ACCESSIBLE AND HIGHLY
PORTABLE COMPUTING PLATFORMS
Presenter(s)
Pierre
Hamel
HumanWare
445
du Parc-Industriel
Longueuil
J4H 3V7
Day
Phone: (450) 463—1717
Fax: (450) 463—0120
Email: pierre.hamel@humanware.com
Future
Accessible and Highly Portable Computing Platforms
By Pierre Hamel, Vice-president Research & Development, HumanWare
The introduction at the beginning of years 2000 of mainstream Pocket PCs opened
the door to the development of accessible and highly portable computing
platforms. The recent introduction of accessible Smartphones represents another
step towards computing portability.
Visually
impaired users now have access two 3 distinct categories of accessible
computing platforms: standard desktop/laptop PCs; Notetakers in a box and
portable PocketPC/Smartphones.
Pocket
PCs/Smartphones offer significant differentiators compared to PCs and
conventional Notetakers: low acquisition cost, limited accessory obsolescence
over time and portability.
Low
acquisition cost comes from the fact that Pocket PCs are mainstream devices
that are produced in large quantities and that offer a good performance versus
price ratio to the users.
Limited
accessory obsolescence over time applies to the comparison between Pocket PCs
and Notetakers in a box. With Pocket PCs, expensive Braille devices (keyboards
but more importantly displays) are not any more bundled with a CPU in a single
package. A new paradigm is now emerging: users can carry with them a computing
platform anti a set of accessories adapted to their needs (Braille/qwerty
keyboard; Braille display; external speaker/headset; GPS receiver; etc).
Limited obsolescence over time applies to these accessories: a Braille display
is a Braille display, and a good Braille display shall remain a good Braille
display in 5 years from now.
Portability
comes of course from the fact that Pocket PCs have a small form factor. But
portability is also a side effect of the new paradigm described in the previous
paragraph:
users now have the possibility to carry with them only the accessories that
they want, thus reducing the overall size of what they need to carry.
In
the following sections, we will describe elements that will accelerate the
deployment of accessible Pocket PCs/Smartphones:
- Arrival of Windows Mobile 5 running on the latest generation of Pocket
PCs/Smartphones
- New mainstream technologies
- Ubiquity of Orientation aids
Finally,
we will discuss the future of Pocket PCs versus Smartphone and we will address
the following question: which category of products will prevail?
Windows
Mobile 5 (WM5)
The launch in Fall 2005 of Pocket PCs running Windows Mobile 5 (WM5) will be
bring tangible benefits to visually impaired users.
WM5
introduces persistent Flash memory for data and installed software. This means
no more lost of data (hard reset) when Pocket PC batteries are dead. RAM
(Random Access Memory) is reserved for execution of software applications.
Advances
in hard drive storage technology mean that each year we see dramatic increase
in the amount of data we can store in smaller spaces. Pocket PC and Smartphone
manufacturers using the new WM5 specification will now be able to build hard
drives into Pocket PCs and Smartphones thus expanding the storage capacities of
these devices.
WM5
also introduces a cost-effective mobile messaging solution. This solution
enables business users to easily stay connected to their Microsoft Office
Outlook Mobile information while on the go.
Finally,
WM5 expands both the Bluetooth and WI-FT wireless capabilities of Pocket PCs.
Bluetooth.
WM5 Pockets PCs will now support multiple serial/HiD (Human Interface Device)
Bluetooth devices at a time. Simply stated this means that a visually impaired
user will now be able to type/read Braille using simultaneously his Bluetooth
serial Braille keyboard and his Bluetooth serial Braille Display, while
listening to audio output through his Bluetooth HID headset.
WM5
Bluetooth support will also enable Pocket PC users to remotely browse and
transfer PC files.
WI-FI.
With WM5, ActiveSync (file synchronization between Pocket PC and PC) can now be
executed over a wireless WJ-Fl connection. This means that the Pocket PC does
not have anymore to be inserted in its cradle for file synchronization with the
PC.
New
mainstream technologies
Bluetooth UPS receivers. A large number of Bluetooth UPS receivers have been
introduced in 2005. They know come in small form factors (approximately 70 x 40
x 25 mm) and are very light (approximately 60g). They also typically include a
rechargeable and replaceable Lithium-ion battery. Being Bluetooth, these
devices do not need anymore to be physically connected to a computing platform
(no more cables).
We
believe that Bluetooth GPS receivers will accelerate the deployment of
Orientation aids running on Pocket PCs.
Radio
Frequency Identification (RFTD). RFID tags are low cost small integrated
circuits (IC) connected to an antenna, which can respond to an interrogating
RFID Reader with simple identifying information, or with more complex signals
depending on the size of the IC.
RFID
tags will open the door to the development of several applications running on
Pocket PCs. For example, RFIF tags will enable visually impaired users to
easily identify products. In fact, REID tags were primarily designed for
product identification (replacing the old UPC bar code). Through an Electronic
Product Code (EPC), a single REID tag enables to uniquely identify a specific
product (manufacturer, product, version, and serial number).
RFID
tags have also the potential to be used for indoor navigation. REID tags can be
used to precisely identify specific locations such as building entrances,
offices, restrooms, etc. Being low cost, REID tags also have the potential to be
used to create graphs of interconnected waypoints similar to the outside road
network used by outdoor GPS navigation systems.
Ubiquity
of Orientation Aids
Orientation aids such as the Braille Note GPS and Trekker have been introduced
on the market approximately 3 years ago. These products address for the first
time a very important user need: orientation. Simply stated, orientation aids
give freedom to the users, enabling them to circulate in a city without having
to count their steps or to rely on a sighted pedestrian to know where they are.
We
believe that one of the most valuable portable applications for the visually
impaired users is Orientation! Wayfinding. As described previously, latest
development in GPS Bluetooth receivers will stimulate the deployment of
Orientation! Wayfinding applications running on Pocket PCs. Moreover increased
availability of map data and GIS (Global Information System) information is
continually enhancing the orientation/wayfinding user experience.
The
vision of the future is simple: orientation aids should become ubiquitous and
will leverage the deployment of highly portable computing platforms.
Pocket
PCs versus Smartphones
The previous sections of the presentation have shown that the future of highly
portable computing platforms is quite promising. But there is one question that
still needs to be debated: Pockets PCs versus Smartphones, which platform will
prevail in the future?
S
Most main stream industry analysts predict that Smartphones will soon prevail
over
Pocket PCs. Ultimately users will own a single device that will combine PC
functions as
well as telephone functions, and this device is more likely to be a Smartphone
than a
Pocket PC (although the frontier is blurring between WM5 Smartphones and WM5
Pocket PCs with Phone Edition).
But
if we look at the needs of the visually impaired users, the picture is a little
different. We also believe that accessible Smartphones will prevail, but this
will take more time than in the mainstream market. The reason of this delay is
mainly performance: Pocket PCs are still more powerful devices than Smartphones
(2 to 3 times more CPU power in Pocket PCs than in Smartphones). Applications
such as Orientation aids (with UPS, large maps and large database of points of
interest), Daisy book playback (at variable speed) and eventually Pocket
Reading (with OCR) still require a lot of performance and better execute on a
highly clock rated Pocket PC.
For
the next 12 to 18 months, we predict that Pocket PCs will continue to be the
dominant platform for running accessible applications designed for visually
impaired users. After that period, Smartphones will start becoming an important
computing platform for the visually impaired community.
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