Hi there
May come across as a bit odd, but, along lines of trying to figure out alternative arrangements to be able to look into/provide forms of smart devices to specifically, provide forms of assisstive technology hardware for blind/visually-impaired individuals such as myself - I am a 100% blind software developer - have specifically been considering things along the lines of mini-form-factor android handsets, like the unihertz jelly pro, and, sort of locally, possibly things like the Mobicel Rio, and, more recently, the Itel V41 from Ackermans - whereas the unihertz is probably the smallest of all of those, it was also likely to cost roundabout ZAR2000 without really being available locally, whereas the other two were in the price range of probably under ZAR500, but, are no longer available - probably weren't too popular.
The unihertz runs full android 8.0+, whereas those other two were running on different versions of android go.
But, the reason was considering this hardware was related to physical sizing - all of them have display dimensions of less than 10cm diagonally across - 4 inches, 6 inches, etc., and, the idea there is that you could almost wear them like a pair of smart glasses, or else mount them on a form of glove, since that would then allow blind/VI individuals to operate various forms of artificial-intelligence based software on them in terms of both optical character, and object recognition, etc. using built-in cameras, and software running on their android operating systems, since there is already a whole lot of AI-assisstive technology software available on the google playstore, etc.
In other words, instead of paying exorbitant amounts for forms of assisstive technology developed from the ground up for this type of thing - you're looking into ZAR20000+ for some of the better known pieces of hardware - we should be able to come pretty close to what they offer, or even actually out-do them in various contexts due to the diverse forms of software already available for free on the android platform, and, only real difference would be that these bits of hardware would be slightly less inconspicuous than a pair of smart glasses, etc., but, with this smaller form-factor/size, don't think it would be too much of an issue, especially not when considering the price differences. You could mount them on a frame similar to google glasses, mount them on a cap, or even just mount them on the front of a glove you wore on just one hand?
Now, if you could connect an external camera to an android handset, and use it as the default camera for all operations, then this would not be an issue - have already played around connecting an endoscope USB camera to the lineage android port running on a raspberry pi, but, the combination of hardware required, and implementation of android running under that operating system causes minor hassles.
In other words, the reason am posting this here is to find out if anyone has ideas about sources, and alternatives for this type of thing - smallest form-factor android handsets, if possible running full android, or otherwise android go, and, they need to have built-in cameras?
If you consider outside sources not on this forum might have ideas, please feel free to refer them to the contact page on my personal website as well - blindza.co.za
Thanks
Jacob
May come across as a bit odd, but, along lines of trying to figure out alternative arrangements to be able to look into/provide forms of smart devices to specifically, provide forms of assisstive technology hardware for blind/visually-impaired individuals such as myself - I am a 100% blind software developer - have specifically been considering things along the lines of mini-form-factor android handsets, like the unihertz jelly pro, and, sort of locally, possibly things like the Mobicel Rio, and, more recently, the Itel V41 from Ackermans - whereas the unihertz is probably the smallest of all of those, it was also likely to cost roundabout ZAR2000 without really being available locally, whereas the other two were in the price range of probably under ZAR500, but, are no longer available - probably weren't too popular.
The unihertz runs full android 8.0+, whereas those other two were running on different versions of android go.
But, the reason was considering this hardware was related to physical sizing - all of them have display dimensions of less than 10cm diagonally across - 4 inches, 6 inches, etc., and, the idea there is that you could almost wear them like a pair of smart glasses, or else mount them on a form of glove, since that would then allow blind/VI individuals to operate various forms of artificial-intelligence based software on them in terms of both optical character, and object recognition, etc. using built-in cameras, and software running on their android operating systems, since there is already a whole lot of AI-assisstive technology software available on the google playstore, etc.
In other words, instead of paying exorbitant amounts for forms of assisstive technology developed from the ground up for this type of thing - you're looking into ZAR20000+ for some of the better known pieces of hardware - we should be able to come pretty close to what they offer, or even actually out-do them in various contexts due to the diverse forms of software already available for free on the android platform, and, only real difference would be that these bits of hardware would be slightly less inconspicuous than a pair of smart glasses, etc., but, with this smaller form-factor/size, don't think it would be too much of an issue, especially not when considering the price differences. You could mount them on a frame similar to google glasses, mount them on a cap, or even just mount them on the front of a glove you wore on just one hand?
Now, if you could connect an external camera to an android handset, and use it as the default camera for all operations, then this would not be an issue - have already played around connecting an endoscope USB camera to the lineage android port running on a raspberry pi, but, the combination of hardware required, and implementation of android running under that operating system causes minor hassles.
In other words, the reason am posting this here is to find out if anyone has ideas about sources, and alternatives for this type of thing - smallest form-factor android handsets, if possible running full android, or otherwise android go, and, they need to have built-in cameras?
If you consider outside sources not on this forum might have ideas, please feel free to refer them to the contact page on my personal website as well - blindza.co.za
Thanks
Jacob
