2010-09-22

kestrell: (Default)
2010-09-22 07:22 am

Review of iPhone with Color Identifier

This excerpt
from the blog post at
http://behindthecurtain.us/2010/06/12/my-first-week-with-the-iphone/
was posted to the Art Beyond Sight mailing list. I am growing increasingly more frustrated witht he fact that the iPhone gets such poor reception around our house as the blindness-related apps being developed sound so amazing, like the tech of my imagination. I especially like the ability to know what colors things are, as color still features prominently in mhy imagination.

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The other night, however, a very amazing thing happened. I downloaded
an app called Color Identifier.http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/color-identifier/id363346987?mt=8
It uses the iPhone's camera, and speaks names of colors. It must use a table, because each color has an identifier made up of 6 hexadecimal digits. This puts the total at 16777216 colors, and I believe it. Some of them have very surreal names, such as Atomic Orange, Cosmic, Hippie Green, Opium, and Black-White. These names in combination with what feels like a rise in serotonin levels makes for a very psychedelic experience.
I have never experienced this before in my life. I can see some light and color, but just in blurs, and objects don't really have a color, just light sources. When I first tried it at three o'clock in the morning, I couldn't figure out why it just reported black. After realizing that the screen curtain also disables the camera, I turned it off, but it still have very dark colors. Then I remembered that you actually need light to see, and it probably couldn't see much at night. I thought about light sources, and my interview I did for Get Lamp.<http://getlamp.com> First, I saw one of my beautiful salt lamps in its various shades of orange, another with its pink and rose colors, and the third kind in glowing pink and red.. I felt stunned.
The next day, I went outside. I looked at the sky. I heard colors such as "Horizon," "Outer Space," and many shades of blue and gray. I used color cues to find my pumpkin plants, by looking for the green among the brown and stone. I spent ten minutes looking at my pumpkin plants, with their leaves of green and lemon-ginger. I then roamed my yard, and saw a blue flower. I then found the brown shed, and returned to the gray house. My mind felt blown. I watched the sun set, listening to the colors change as the sky darkened. The next night, I had a conversation with Mom about how the sky looked bluer tonight. Since I can see some light and color, I think hearing the color names can help nudge my perception, and enhance my visual experience.
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kestrell: (Default)
2010-09-22 03:01 pm
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The Bibliophile's Guide to Home Decor

All my decluttering goals pretty much go up in smoke when I read this kind of article
http://flavorwire.com/118722/the-bibliophiles-guide-to-home-decor