Homer has nothing on this (Humanware) Odyssey! #HumanWare #OCR

Vision Forward's Tech Connect

Welcome back to another fantastic Tech Connect! Your favorite Assistive Technology Specialists: Cory and Luke, are eager to share what they have learned about The Odyssey! (No, not that one.) Today we are discussing The Odyssey by HumanWare which was recently featured on our Live Show with special guest Rachel Ramos!  https://www.youtube.com/live/-pnnkDtGWTY   Our AT Specialists are here to bring you all the information you need to know about this exciting piece of Assistive Technology!  0:00 Start 0:23 Introducing the Odyssey's Features 1:07 Finger Pointing Mode: Read from a specific point on a document via OCR 2:35 Artificial Intelligence powered document summary 4:30 Bill Manager designed for reading financial documents, detecting symbols etc 6:33 Live Translation 8:03 Final Summary of the device 9:25 Join the Live Show every other Thursday at 11am Central 10:02 Wrap Up, Comments and Questions, Stereophonics  11:00 The Odyssey of Joe and the Magical Mail Machine!  HumanWare's Odyssey is a sturdy tabletop OCR device designed to help you read documents. Its camera is mounted on a fold-down mechanical arm, and its controls are laid out as chunky buttons on top. It has various modes designed for specific tasks such as Finger Pointing Mode, which is ideal for reading complex documents like Newspapers because it starts to read aloud from where your finger is rather than at the very beginning. The Odyssey has several ports including: USB-C, HDMI display port, a Wired Power option, and even a Micro SD port for saving files. You can plug in your headphones or connect via Bluetooth if you'd rather bypass the built in speakers. Using modern artificial intelligence the Odyssey can translate documents into English from either French or Spanish with many more languages to follow!   We at Vision Forward would be happy to answer any questions that you still have about the HumanWare Odyssey down in the comments!  Contact Vision Forward Association:  Call us: (414-615-0103)  Email us: infocus@vision-forward.org  Visit us online: https://www.vision-forward.org   Online Store: https://www.vision-forward.org/store  Vision Forward's Tech Connect continues to bring you the information you need to make the most out of your devices. Our experts know there are many factors to consider, so if you have any follow up questions please post them in the comments and we will help you find the assistive tech that's best for you.    Want more Tech Connect in your life? Try us Live! Be sure to join us for the upcoming YouTube Live! show on August 28th at 11am CST.   Looking for the full playlist? https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLdZ61dAGaL_k3I-_LcTPozan9upCqY8Yc   Catch-up with our most recent Tech Connect Livestreams!   Check out our recent live show where we discussed The Odyssey with Rachel Ramos from HumanWare: https://www.youtube.com/live/-pnnkDtGWTY   Glide Navigation Aid with Amos Miller of Glidance! https://www.youtube.com/live/VkJkXYxvpaY?si=hKGlhuiwZUC23ZLl

Transcript

00:00Luke, I've really been enjoying the Odyssey.

00:03Oh yeah, I love Homer.

00:13So today we are taking a look at the Humanware Odyssey, not Homer's Odyssey.

00:18Crashing waves.

00:20Okay, apparently Cory is Odysseus today.

00:23And the Humanware Odyssey is an OCR reader from Humanware with some unique features,

00:28including, Cory, finger-pointing goodness.

00:30Yes.

00:31Including AI capabilities.

00:33Correct.

00:34And including translation, live translation.

00:39Some pretty good stuff.

00:40Now you can see a talk that we did with Rachel Ramos from Humanware up in the cards there.

00:45She told us about the Odyssey and demonstrated it.

00:47But we're going to dive into the nitty-gritty and show people why it's different from anything

00:52that has come before.

00:53Cory, as the man of doing the demonstration, are you ready?

00:56I am ready.

00:57Hop in your rowboat and let's get this adventure going.

01:01I'm rowing.

01:02I'm rowing.

01:06Okay, so the first thing we're going to look at, it's not finger-licking good.

01:10It's finger-pointing mode.

01:11Cory?

01:12KFC or Odyssey?

01:15Impressive.

01:16So this is the finger-pointing mode of the Odyssey, similar to the OrCam,

01:20which we've covered many times before on this channel.

01:22You can check it out in the cards.

01:23And with a finger-pointing mode, we can point to a specific area of a document to have the

01:28Odyssey read from that area of the document.

01:31Cory, are we ready?

01:32I was born ready.

01:33Okay, so I'm going to pop open the camera of the Odyssey.

01:36We have our document underneath.

01:38And we're going to make sure that we're in the finger-pointing mode here.

01:41Annual mode.

01:42Finger-pointing mode.

01:43Finger-pointing mode.

01:44Place your finger under the text that needs to be read.

01:45Tells me what to do.

01:46Place my finger under the text.

01:48I'm going to try and get in an angle here.

01:50Yeah, Cory, I think you might need to do it.

01:52We should hear a double beep once we seize my finger.

01:56There it is.

01:57Okay, took a picture.

01:59Now let's see what we get.

02:03Hold your finger before you hear the effect sound.

02:05Ah, you took your finger away too soon, Cory.

02:08All right, all right, let's try again.

02:10You just cannot get the stuff these days.

02:14There.

02:14Okay, here we go.

02:16It's not bad music.

02:17I like it.

02:18You can turn it off in the menus.

02:19Two days later, a sleek device arrived on his doorstep.

02:22There you go.

02:23Joe unfolded it, powered it.

02:25And I will pause it there, but it did indeed read from just above where your finger was.

02:29It worked exactly like it was supposed to.

02:31Amazing.

02:35Because it's 2025, as you mentioned, every device has to have AI, and the Odyssey is no different.

02:42There are a number of AI features, and let's take a look.

02:46The first one we're going to look at is reading assistant.

02:48And if it works correctly, it should give us a summary of the document underneath the camera.

02:54Why is it all wintering?

02:56Well, because...

02:58I don't know.

02:58I don't have a good answer.

03:00All right, let's switch ourselves into AI mode.

03:03Finger pointing, AI mode.

03:05All right.

03:06Bill manager.

03:07And we're going to switch to reading assistant.

03:10Reading assistant.

03:11And let's take our picture.

03:12Now, we're going to wait and get our summary.

03:18And after it reads the summary, there will be a follow-up question.

03:21So stay tuned.

03:23Keeping people on the edge of their seats here, Corey.

03:25If anybody knows the stereophonics, handbags, and glad rags, this song sounds almost identical.

03:33The text tells the story of Joe, a blind man who struggles with managing his mail until he

03:38discovers a device called the human wear odyssey.

03:40Wow.

03:41Which is marketed as a reading assistant.

03:43Initially skeptical, Joe decides to try it out and is amazed by its capabilities.

03:49That's exactly what the story is about.

03:51But also humorously responds to his wishes, leading to an unexpected offer of help from his neighbor.

03:58Here's the follow-up question.

04:00Does it require a detailed description?

04:02Yes.

04:03Now, if you want a more detailed description, you can obviously choose yes.

04:07We're not going to because we're actually going to have, at the end of the video,

04:11we're going to have the whole story read.

04:13So we want you to stay tuned for that.

04:14So I don't want the ending to be given away from the detailed description.

04:18And we can guarantee right now that this story is much better than Homer's Odyssey.

04:22So stay tuned.

04:23A lot shorter, I'll tell you that much.

04:25So that is the reading assistant with the Odyssey.

04:33So, Corey.

04:33Yes.

04:34I know that you had to take out a credit card loan in order to afford the Odyssey here.

04:38I did.

04:38And luckily, one of the features of the Odyssey is the bill manager.

04:42And it's going to tell you just how much you owe on your credit card at this point in time.

04:46So why don't we check it out?

04:48I don't think the camera's big enough.

04:49No.

04:50To fit the number in.

04:52Yeah, exactly.

04:52It can't count high enough.

04:54But let's give it a try.

04:55In the AI menu, we heard it say bill manager when we first went into it.

04:59So let's find that feature again.

05:01Again, it's under the AI menu.

05:02Bill manager.

05:04And we'll go ahead and take our picture.

05:10And we will wait and process.

05:12And if it works correctly.

05:13Did we just say we whale wait?

05:14We will wait.

05:15We will wait.

05:16We will wait like whales.

05:17We should get a summary of this bill.

05:19Really sort of just giving you the pertinent information that you would want from a bill.

05:23I'm hoping that Jonathan is going to turn us into whales as we wait here.

05:27This is a bill of type credit card statement.

05:29Bill date, 1230XX.

05:32Total cost, $1,392.71.

05:36Company name, building blocks student handout.

05:39There you go.

05:41Exactly.

05:42Student handout.

05:43Yeah.

05:44And that noise, we're not sure.

05:46I think it makes that noise every time it makes a chat GPT or AI query.

05:51And just as a side note, and we'll probably say this in the wrap up too.

05:54But you get 50 free AI queries a day.

05:58Quite generous.

05:59So you hear that sound 50 times.

06:01Coy, why have you got a student handout?

06:03I don't.

06:04This is a sample credit card bill.

06:06A likely story.

06:06It's not actually mine.

06:07My credit card bill is much smaller than that.

06:10Sure.

06:11If anybody from the government is watching, please note that Coy is not a student

06:15and should be not getting a student handout.

06:17My name is not student handout.

06:20All right.

06:21Well, that's enough of that, Coy.

06:22Let's mosey on to the next exciting feature, which I think you will find, Coy, is translation.

06:28C.

06:33All right.

06:34Let's take a look at the last unique feature, and that is the translation option.

06:39So the Odyssey can translate.

06:43There's three languages altogether.

06:44English.

06:45So English to English, you can do that.

06:47Well, does it translate from UK English to American English?

06:49No.

06:50Only American English.

06:51That's a shame.

06:51Is one of the, yeah.

06:52So American English to American English.

06:54Okay.

06:55Canadian, French, and Mexican, Spanish.

06:58Okay.

06:58And then mix those all, you know, mix and match them.

07:01Okay.

07:02All right.

07:02So we've got a document here that is written in Spanish, and we're going to see if it can translate,

07:07because I am not able to read this.

07:09So we're going to find out.

07:10I hope it doesn't say anything inappropriate.

07:11We're about to find out.

07:12Finger pointing mode, AI mode.

07:14Let's adjust to translate.

07:16There we go.

07:17And we'll take the picture.

07:19The Spanish language is recognized.

07:21Translated to English languages.

07:24Welcome to TechConnect Live.

07:25We are very excited that you are here with us.

07:28This is the best YouTube channel to discover accessible technology,

07:32innovations, and useful tips.

07:34Get ready to learn, be inspired, and enjoy everything we have prepared for you.

07:39Wow.

07:40That's amazing.

07:41That is perfect.

07:42Whoa.

07:43Whoa.

07:44Calm down, Odyssey.

07:45Used another AI token.

07:50No.

07:50Worked out perfect.

07:51That's exactly it.

07:52Let me check.

07:54Yep.

07:55That's exactly what it says.

07:56Perfect.

07:57Very cool.

07:58All right, Corey.

07:59Let's wrap it up.

07:59So, Corey, what do we rate the Odyssey on the old whistle scale?

08:10And that's all we have to say about that.

08:12Now, that will be stuck in your head the rest of the day.

08:15You're welcome.

08:17Seriously, though.

08:18Humanware Odyssey.

08:19Is there a place for it in 2025?

08:20Traditional OCR machines, well, they could have gone the way of the Dodo

08:25on the basis that you can do all of this stuff with your phone using AI capabilities.

08:28You know, this isn't unique features to the Odyssey.

08:32But what the Odyssey does, Corey, is collect these features in an easy to use,

08:36easy to understand package, which I think a lot of people will appreciate.

08:40It's portable, rechargeable battery, does a good job, and very tactile.

08:44So, I think there is a place for this in 2025.

08:47Yeah, I think for the market that they're going after, absolutely.

08:51And I think they do a great job.

08:52Buttons are easy to feel.

08:54Feature set is exactly what you'd want.

08:56Plus, adding some of these unique translation and AI features.

09:01Like you said, it kind of brings it to the 21st century

09:04and makes a traditional OCR device a little bit more.

09:08Yeah, so I think this is going to bring AI to even more of the masses.

09:12Oh, that is exactly what AI wants.

09:15We need more AI in our lives, everybody.

09:18And the Human Odyssey is ready to bring it.

09:21And with that being said, please go ahead and check out our live show.

09:26That's another thing that we do, not just produce videos,

09:28but Corey and I blather on live about various things.

09:31And we often get interesting guests on, and those are my favorite shows.

09:34So why not go ahead and check us out live every other Thursday, 11 a.m. Central.

09:38And you can see it right on this here YouTube channel.

09:41So please give that a try.

09:43We've got a lot of other things going on.

09:45Head over to techconnect.vision-forward.org.

09:49That's techconnect.vision-forward.org.

09:52Find out all of our cool webinars, ACVREP credit, and so much more.

09:56So head over there.

09:57That is your one-stop shop for AT fun.

10:01So if you like The Odyssey, if you like Corey, if you like Vision Forward,

10:06and if you like this video, then give us a like.

10:09And if you didn't, then give us a dislike.

10:11That's okay, too.

10:12And please put in the comments down below what you think of The Odyssey,

10:14and also whether you think the tune that The Odyssey plays sounds like

10:19handbags and gladwags from the Stereophonics.

10:22Okay, I've never heard it.

10:24Well, we can put it in the video, but we will get demonetized again.

10:26Oh, well, I'm going to say to Jonathan now, just stick it in, because he cares.

10:29No, I would like lunch, and we can buy lunch with the money we make from this video.

10:35Only one of us gets lunch.

10:37Well, we might be able to buy one lunch with the money that we've ever made

10:40in the history of this YouTube channel.

10:42All right, well, then cue the song for a second.

10:56The Odyssey of Joe and the Magical Mail Machine Joe had been blind for over a decade,

11:06and while he had grown fiercely independent, there was one daily frustration he could never escape,

11:11mail, envelopes piled up like mysterious tombs on his kitchen counter.

11:15You've got mail.

11:16Was it a bill?

11:17A birthday card?

11:18A flyer for a Lama Yoga class again?

11:21Who knew?

11:22One Tuesday afternoon, while listening to a podcast about Toaster Repair,

11:27Don't Ask, Joe heard a commercial for something called the Human Wear Odyssey.

11:31It claimed to be the world's smartest reading assistant.

11:34He chuckled.

11:35Sure, and I'm the world's tallest leprechaun.

11:39But curiosity and a 30-day return policy got the better of him.

11:43Two days later, a sleek device arrived on his doorstep.

11:47Joe unfolded it, powered it up, and pointed it at a random envelope.

11:52You have been pre-approved for a low-interest credit card, Joe gasped.

11:56It speaks the truth.

11:57Over the next week, Joe fed the Odyssey everything he could find bills, postcards,

12:02a fortune cookie.

12:04It read it all, never missing a beat,

12:06but the real shock came when he jokingly said,

12:09I wish someone else would do my laundry, a soft ding.

12:12Sounded, wish granted, said the Odyssey.

12:15Ten minutes later, Joe's neighbor knocked.

12:18Hey Joe, I'm doing laundry, want me to toss yours in?

12:22Joe froze.

12:23What kind of sorcery?

12:24Testing his luck, he whispered,

12:26I wish for a fresh pizza with extra cheese, ding.

12:30Five minutes later, knock knock.

12:32Hey Joe, said a delivery guy, this was paid for, but sent to the wrong address.

12:38Want it?

12:38Pizza time.

12:40Now Joe was hooked.

12:41He wished for a talking cat, rejected, sadly biologically implausible.

12:45A clean house, granted, and a surprise visit from his childhood friend Gary,

12:50also granted, and surprisingly tearful.

12:53But what Joe loved most wasn't the pizza or even the laundry,

12:56it was hearing the Odyssey bring clarity to things he used to ignore.

13:00Birthday cards from his niece, handwritten notes from friends,

13:04even labels on his favorite hot sauces.

13:06And while the wishes were fun, Joe knew the real magic was in finally

13:10being able to see the world again in his own way.

13:12He leaned back one night, and said,

13:15I wish everyone could have something like this, ding.

13:18Working on it.

13:21Yay!

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