This is being provided in a rough-draft format. Communication Access Realtime Translation (CART) is provided in order to facilitate communication accessibility and may not be a totally verbatim record of the proceedings
PATTI: Welcome to our Virtual Exhibitor Showcase. We have a couple of minutes here and we'll start at the top of the hour. Welcome to our Virtual Exhibitor Showcase. We'll get started at the top of the hour, which is very soon!
PATTI: Good evening. Welcome to the National Federation of the Blind 2024 national convention and this is a special welcome to our Virtual Exhibitor Showcase.
We're going to go ahead and get started. And to kick things off, we have my friend and the executive director of our blindness initiatives department here at the Jernigan Institute, Anil Lewis.
ANIL: Good evening, everyone. On behalf of President Riccobono and the members of the National Federation of the Blind, we really appreciate your commitment to our efforts in sponsoring the largest gathering of blind people in the world. I want you to know in case you didn't, the National Federation of the Blind advances the lives of our members and all blind people in the United States. We recognize that blindness is not the characteristic that should define you. We realize it's the low expectations that create the true obstacles between blind people and our dreams. Our collective power, diversity, and determination achieve the aspirations of all blind people and we're glad that you've decided to be a part of that.
And I'm extremely expressed with the diversity of our exhibitors and the power of our exhibitors.
And I see some memorable names that have been with us for a long time and some new faces that hopefully this will not be your first engagement with the National Federation of the Blind. But again, on behalf of President Riccobono and the members of the National Federation of the Blind, thank you for your commitment and this is really a mutually beneficial opportunity. You won't find an opportunity to access customers for your specific skills, services and products other than the exhibit hall of the National Federation of the Blind. So looking forward to seeing you all in Orlando. Patti, back to you.
PATTI: Indeed! Thank you and let me begin by thanking all of you for participating in the convention and supporting the efforts of the National Federation of the Blind. I have a couple of logistical notes. We are going to call on our exhibitors in reverse alpha order. So I will call an exhibitor that's up to present, and I will let the next exhibitor know that they are on deck, so that the next exhibitor is ready.
We do have a Q&A enabled so you can put your questions in the Q&A feature of the webinar. And Anna and Rachel who are with us will be there to answer your questions. And there is no chat for this session. So without further ado, I'm going to go ahead and get started. So first up is XR Navigation, and on deck is WeWALK Limited. XR?
ATTENDEE: Hi! My name is Brandon Biggs, and I am the CEO of XR Navigation. We are the creators of Audiom, the world's most inclusive visual auditory and tactile digital map viewer and editor. We have an accessible exhibit hall map that you can find on the NFB exhibit hall web page, the NFB app and at our website at www.XRNavigation.io/NFB24. You can virtually explore all the booths and restrooms and reduce the anxiety that you have when going into a chaotic space like the exhibit hall.
We also have a session on Saturday at 12:45 p.m. in Salon 12 where we are going to talk about how you can bring inclusive digital maps to your community and the websites that you frequent. Come visit us at Booth C-23, and see the different maps that we have, talk to us about maps, and get some free chocolate! I'll see you there.
PATTI: All right. Next up is WeWALK Limited. VIPwear you are on deck.
ANNA: I think we're missing WeWALK Limited.
PATTI: VIPwear you are now up and on deck is United States Blind Baseball Association.
ATTENDEE: All right. Lovely. Hello, everybody! My name is Amanda. I am the founder of VIPwear. I started VIPwear because I found as a vision-impaired person who is a cane user there was just times where my cane didn't speak for me. Either it was folded up, because I'm grocery shopping and my cane is in the cart or I'm doing things familiar like walking my dog or sitting in a restaurant and I look everybody else so asking the server a question about the menu and she points to something which we know doesn't work.
So I thought a hat that has the VIP vertically in front of the stick man with cane is bringing a very prominent symbol that we recognize and a very prominent language together as one for sighted people to recognize that I have vision loss. Because traditionally on TV, I'm not what's portrayed as anything sight impaired, the damage is to the back of my eyes. People are always confused by me having my cane, going out in public, but then walking my dog not having a cane. So I thought the hat was a beautiful thing, because it's eye level. And I'll leave it there, I'm close to my minute so thank you.
PATTI: And that reminds me to tell everyone that this is being recorded, so as soon as we can get it up, if you miss any of these numbers and details, you can catch the recording on the exhibit page on the web.
So next, we have United States Blind Baseball Association and on deck is the U.S. Department of State. Do we have a Baseball Association?
ATTENDEE: Hello, yes. I'm Ed, with the United States Blind Baseball Association, USBBA and we are dedicated to the development, management, regulation, and promotion of blind baseball in America. We basically play an international game that's recognized and sanctioned by the World Baseball Softball Confederation. This is not beat ball that many people are familiar with. It's an international game founded in 1988 in Italy, it has extensive reach throughout the globe. We represented the United States in 2022 at the first Blind Baseball International Cup and we are sending another team this year in September to London, England, for the next 2024 International Cup, as well.
We are set up at Booth A-20. Please stop by. We are also running skills and development clinics in Orlando at Eagle Nest Park. Anyone who is interested in coming out and checking out the game or wants to actually, give it a try, come on out. Meet us at the booth and we'll make sure we get you over to the park and one of the hotels. Thank you.
PATTI: U.S. Department of State. You're next. On deck, Time-Touch-Take.
ATTENDEE: Hi, everyone. I'm a recruiter with the U.S. Department of State. We are a federal agency, part of the Executive Branch and we're super excited to be at your conference next month. We have numerous careers for you to consider from civil service opportunities based out of Washington, D.C. to careers in our embassies around the world, as a foreign service officer or a foreign service specialist. And our employment website is careers.state.gov, in case you want to check things out before you meet us at the booth. Thank you.
PATTI: If anybody wants to know the history behind blind employment and the Department of State, check out Rami Rabadi. Next up is Time-Touch-Take and on deck is The TouchPad Pro Foundation. Time-Touch-Take?
ANNA: We're going to go right to The TouchPad Pro Foundation, and then The Dented Puck Foundation.
PATTI: Got it.
ATTENDEE: One moment. I'm moving as fast as I can to get to the Braille. Just a second. This is Matthew of The TouchPad Pro Foundation, the chief experience officer. I'm trying to get out of the Zoom here. There we go. And I want to introduce you to the Braille Doodle. It uses magnets, metal beats and etch a sketch like technology to provide Braille literacy and tactile images. It features hundreds of tiny holes. Each with a metal bead that can be raised to the surface, using magnetic stylus. The beads are securely locked and can be erased by pushing them back down.
The Braille Doodle is suitable for learners of all ages and skill levels, based on proven motivational and multisensory teaching methods, anyone can learn to read and write Braille. On the Doodle side, unleash limitless freedom and imagination with tactile art, draw while hearing, feeling and seeing in high contrast. Graphing, STEM activities and diagrams are made accessible. www.TheTouchPadProFoundation.org. Thank you.
PATTI: The Dented Puck Foundation, you're next and on deck is Storm Interface.
ATTENDEE: Hi, everybody, my name is Josh. I am a blind hockey player, and I am the cofounder of The Dented Puck Foundation. Our goal is to connect the visually impaired to competition and to give all visually impaired and blind people a chance to learn to ice skate and try blind hockey. Our goal is to grow the support throughout the nation and throughout the world, to possibly become a Paralympic support by 2024. We are going to be at Booth A-19. We are also going to be doing a tryout and give you a chance to try blind hockey during our try it night on Sunday night and also during the kids’ camp. Please stop by and learn about blind hockey.
PATTI: All right. Storm Interface, you're next. On deck is Solar Grove Solutions. Storm Interface?
ATTENDEE: Hi, everyone, my name is Nickie. Firstly let me say how much I'm looking forward to being with you all in Orlando next week. So my company is Storm Interface and we're a keypad manufacturer and we have a range of tactile keypads which include an audio jack, and we supply these keypads to manufacturers of self-service technologies, such as self-service checkouts, because usually, the only interface they offer is a touch screen, which can't be used by everyone. So it's been our mission for many years to try to raise awareness about the need for accessibility, particularly in self-service.
We have lots of brands over the years and our products are gradually being included in kiosks found in places like McDonald's, Taco Bell, Wendy's, Burger King, the United States Postal Service, and major airlines, but I don't want to bore you with that list. The good news is we are making some progress, but there's still lots of inaccessible self-service technology out there, so we've got plenty of work to do.
But I'm going to be at the NFB convention next week along with my colleague, Matt, and we'll have two kiosks which each have a Storm Interface keypad. And our reason for being an exhibitor is that we want to be able to give you all the chance to have a play-around with the keypads and ask questions. So not in the restaurant setting where you might feel hurried if there's people behind you in a line so you can ask as many questions as you like, take your time, understand how they work, so when you're out and about and you come across a kiosk fitted with one of our devices, you'll know how to use it. We'll be at booth B9. Please stop by and say hello.
PATTI: Excited to do so. Next up is Solar Grove Solutions. On deck is See Me Cane.
ANNA: I think we're actually missing those folks. The next ones are Safety Positive Foundation and then Patriot Vision Industries on deck.
ATTENDEE: All right. Hello. My name is Amy Wilson. I am the CEO and founder, and we are dedicated to problem solving the personal safety needs of the blind community and we do that by offering a variety of choices when it comes to your personal safety, whether that's psychological or physical, we're here to service those needs. And we are going to be debuting our shield program on the night of the 5th, from 6:30 to 8:30 in the breakout session in ballroom G. We're looking forward to it. You can also check out our social media, Safety Positive Foundation, so feel free to search Facebook, YouTube.
We love offering you free content so you can be safe in your everyday life. And then, of course, stop by and get a swag bag from us. We're spreading the word and handing out ducks. So yep, we've got ducks everywhere and tea. And we've got different products to show you for your personal safety, as well. So if that has not piqued your interest, on why you should be interested in getting quacktastic about your safety, I don't know what will. So come by and talk to us at the booth.
PATTI: Quacktastic. Patriot Vision Industries, you will be followed by Pathfinder Press.
ATTENDEE: Okay. Hi, everybody. It's John Palmer, I'm the founder and owner and president of Patriot Vision Industries, a company dedicated worldwide to providing advanced technology and making that technology so it's easy to use and super powerful and allowing greater independence. This year, NFB, it's exciting, because it's my 35th year in business. So I've got an announcement, my youngest son Charles Palmer who some of you know has traveled the world for our company, has decided to come back into the business after serving four years in the United States marines. So I'm excited to have him be at the show, if he can make it back by then which I think he will.
We have a reading machine that we want everyone to look at that does a great job at text to speech, and it's being utilized now in various institutes and agencies and so forth. We'll have it at the show along with our wonderful world-renowned vision head set worse, which is the Patriot Viewpoint. We are based in Florida, nearby Orlando, about one hour away in Ocala where there's more horses than people. And we look forward to meeting everybody. I'll have a good team there. Curtis, Amanda, Ladessa, myself, Charles, and a new gal, Haley. She'll be there as well, on and off throughout the entire NFB convention. Thank you.
PATTI: Great. Pathfinder Press, you will be followed by Orbit Research.
ATTENDEE: I'm Carl, from Pathfinder Press. We're very excited to be attending our third NFB national convention and look forward to introducing participants to our range of titles. Three years ago, Pathfinder initiated a title to make all their 400 plus books into fully accessible eBooks, and to make them available on Bookshare.
Why are Pathfinder books important? Well, let me briefly describe two. First, "The Low Point of Labor Resistance is Behind Us, the Socialist Workers Party Looks Forward" is about a decades-long rotate by the working class and unions has come to an end.
As the owners of capitals shift their crisis onto working people's backs, more and more workers of all ages, skin colors and both sexes are saying enough is enough. The second book, "The Fight Against New Hatred and The Imperialist Effort, Stakes for the International Working Class," explains Jew hatred like the mass shooting carried out on October the 7th, are part of the permanent social convulsions and devastating wars of the imperialist epic.
The authors answer the all-important question: What is to be done to end it for all time? Many of our print books will be available at our booth at A-15, at a 25% discount, as well as Braille and large-print information about our accessible eBooks. We look forward to meeting all of you soon. Thank you.
PATTI: Thank you. Orbit Research is next. On deck, I'm not sure they're here, OneCourt Technologies. OneCourt Technologies is not here. I do know that NFB-NEWSLINE is here. I'm here. We're a Seattle based startup and we've created the first tactile sports broadcast. Our laptop-sized haptic display transforms gameplay data into trackable vibrations so fans with visual disabilities can watch the game with their fingertips.
Fans have said it makes watching sports a more intuitive and independent activity. In the past six months, we've secured data agreements with the NFL, NBA, and MLB and recently piloted the technology with fans at Portland Trail Blazers games this past season. Come check out our booth, get your hands on our football, basketball and baseball demos and join our prelaunch wait list. Thank you.
PATTI: Orbit Research you're next. On deck is NFB-NEWSLINE.
ATTENDEE: Hello, everyone. Am I audible?
PATTI: You are.
ATTENDEE: Thank you. I'm from Orbit Research. We develop and manufacture a range of affordable, educational, professional and daily use products. Our products include the Orbit reader, family of Braille displays, the Graffiti family of tactile graphic displays and the Orion talking scientific and graphing calculators, digital magnifiers and the money identifier.
Our recent products include the Orbit Slate, Multiline Braille displays, and we will also be showing the brand-new Orbit Reader 220 and 240 QWERTY displays and the Braille Speak Orbit Note Taker that we're excited about. Please check all of these out at our booth A14 and all of these are also available for purchase from our website, orbitresearch.com. We also have some exciting convention specials we'll be announcing very shortly, and I'm really looking forward to seeing you all in Orlando.
PATTI: Those convention specials! NFB-NEWSLINE, you're up next. On deck is National Braille Press.
ATTENDEE: Hi, everyone, this is Liz with NFB-NEWSLINE. We're proud to say that NFB-NEWSLINE is created by and primarily maintained by the National Federation of the Blind, along with state sponsors. And I would like to invite our subscribers to check out the national convention materials we have available in our national channel on NFB-NEWSLINE, including the agenda and restaurant menus and other information.
NFB-NEWSLINE is a free electronic news and information service that's available to anyone in the United States who is legally blind, DeafBlind, or otherwise print disabled. We have over 550 unabridged publications, including national papers like the New York Times and Wall Street Journal and the Hill. State papers, Spanish materials, magazines, weather alerts and forecasts, job listings, TV listings, and even some store circulars.
You can access NFB-NEWSLINE on a variety of platforms, including on the telephone, on the NFB-NEWSLINE mobile app for iPhone and iPad, online, on Braille displays, and notetakers, on digital talking book players like the Victor Reader stream and on Echo speakers. We invite you to come check out our booth. We will be at D-five and D-6, D as in delta, 5 and 6. You can sign up for NFB-NEWSLINE if you're not registered yet and get some information. If you're not joining us in person, you can still get registered by calling our office at 866-504-7300 or filling out an online application at NFB-NEWSLINE.org. Thanks and looking forward to seeing everyone.
PATTI: Thanks, Liz and just as a reminder, if you're missing some of these booth numbers and these quick numbers that come out, there will be a recording of this session up on the exhibitor web page, probably the day after tomorrow, when we can get it out.
But there will be a recording. Next up is National Braille Press, and you are followed by Ms. Jones International Enterprise. So National Braille Press.
ATTENDEE: Okay, thank you. This is Tony from NBP, and we are excited to be Exhibiting again this year. We'll be at tables A-nine and ten, and we'll have copies of our newest books and products. We hope you'll stop by to browse. For example, we've got a new cookbook called Five Ingredient Clean Eating Cookbook with 125 Recipes, we've got a new health book called What's on Your Plate, Smart Food Choices for Healthy Eating, we've got a new poetry collection. It's Titled Everything Is Going to Be All Right, and it features published poets like Maya Angelou, Emily Dickenson and Langston Hughes. We'll have technology books, kids’ books, big Braille board books.
And I did want to mention our new Braille game called the Braille Word Builder Game and you play this game by finding as many words as you can in five-by-five grids of letters that are in Braille and in sim Braille within a certain amount of time. So we hope you will stop by and check out all of these products and more at National Braille Press. We're number A-9 and 10 and you can always visit our online bookstore at NBP.org or call us at 800-548-7323. Thank you.
PATTI: Thank you, NBP. Do we have Ms. Jones International Enterprise?
ANNA: I think we're going to go next to JW.org and then Inside Ability Books, but if we miss anyone going through the list in reverse alpha order, we will come back to you and get to anyone that we missed at the end. So next is JW.org and then Inside Ability Books.
ATTENDEE: Hi, everybody, I'm Kevin with JW.org. We're excited to be back at the conference again this year. JW.org is a free resource for accessing the Bible and Bible-based information. We have free downloads in audio, RTF, screen reader files, electronic notetaker files and videos with audio description. Please come by and visit us at our booth, C-17. We'll have embossed Braille publications and attendees will be able to hear some of our videos with audio description.
For example, we have lessons from the Book of Job, animal creation, also creation to build your faith and for a happy marriage, show affection. Just to mention a few of the videos we have. In addition to that, we'll be available to help attendees explore all that our website has to offer and download our free app, JW library. JW.org is the website.
PATTI: Inside Ability Books, you're next. And on deck is Guide Dogs for the Blind.
ATTENDEE: Hello, everyone, my name is Crystal. I am a legally blind mom of two toddlers. I'm also a children's book author. I started Inside Ability Books to contribute another access option to other story time strugglers like myself. I do self-publish and produce jumbo large text children's books that start at font 90 and go up to 150. My website is www.Iabilitybooks.com. I can be followed on Instagram at inside under score ability underscore books and I will be at Booth C-5.
PATTI: Thank you. Guide Dogs for the Blind you're up next, followed by Guide Dogs of America and American VetDogs.
ATTENDEE: Great thank you. Can you hear me okay?
PATTI: Yes.
ATTENDEE: This is Jane, and I am here representing Guide Dogs for the Blind. We're excited to be there at the National Federation of the Blind conference once again this year. Come by our booth and say hi. We would love to tell you more about our really awesome programs that are happening at Guide Dogs for the Blind. We have our free orientation and mobility immersion program course, our 82-year-old Guide Dogs for the Blind guide dog program and our canine buddy program, which is now a national program, and these are dogs who are placed with people who maybe don't really want a guide dog and are comfortable with their cane, or are older and aren't ready to manage a guide dog in their life, and just would like to have a companion.
We're happy to match somebody with a free dog from our organization to just come and live with you and be a pet and companion. We have a lot of great giveaways at the booth so come by and say hi, and I'm filling in for someone and I do not know our booth number, I apologize, so looking forward to seeing everybody in Jacksonville. I'm sorry! In Orlando. My bad. (Laughs)
PATTI: Wrong convention.
ATTENDEE: We're going to both. Sorry about that. We're excited to see everybody in Orlando. Take care.
PATTI: All right. Thank you. Guide Dog Foundation of America and American VetDogs, you will be followed.
ATTENDEE: Hi, I am the consumer relations coordinator at the Guide Dog Foundation and America's VetDogs and also a program graduate. Myself and actually two staff members will be in attendance at the booth. D as in dog, 22, and we would love for you to stop by. And we will have a demo dog with us if you are interested in taking a guide dog for a spin. There's no application requirement or anything to do it. It is just you're welcome to see what it's like to work with a dog. And if you would like to reach out to our team before or after, the best way is through phone call or e-mail, and our e-mail is [email protected].
PATTI: Next is Glidance. Followed by Florida Vision Technology.
ATTENDEE: Okay. Thank you, everyone. This is Amos Miller from Glidance. I'm the founder and CEO. I've been to a number of NFB conventions in the past number of years under the Microsoft umbrella with Soundscape. And I am super, super excited to bring my new company Glidance, which we started about a year and a half ago and the Glidance team to share our work on Glide. Glide, the new mobility aid, which uses autonomous guiding technology to guide the way, keep you on a safe path, avoid obstacles and really empower you with a new level of independence, with a new and exciting primary mobility aid.
We will be running demos in Room W202, which is right next to the exhibit hall, where you will be able to see the new autonomous capabilities of our latest juiced up prototypes, share your feedback, experience the device, and join our community as we work to bring those devices to people who need them. Thank you very much. Really excited to come next week and introduce everybody to the Glidance team.
PATTI: Thank you. Florida Vision Technology, you're followed by Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind.
ATTENDEE: Hello, everyone. It's Jose from Florida Vision Technology. We are an assistive technology located here out of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, but we serve our friends all around the state and in some cases in different countries. I've worked with people as far south as Panama and as far north as Canada. So we represent different manufacturers that provide technology to have magnification, contrast, speech, Braille, and everything in between.
So if you need a video magnifier, a Braille device, a speech device that's going to read documents and handwriting to you, we have that. We will be at NFB at booth A-11. That's alpha 11. And we look forward to seeing you there. We will have cell discounts. Be sure to check us out in the exhibit hall at A-11 and we're looking forward to seeing you all there.
PATTI: Thank you. Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind. You are followed by Farmer Noah. Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind.
ANNA: It looks like we may have lost them. So we'll come back to Florida School. The next is Dogs Inc, and then Braille Bibles International.
ATTENDEE: Hello, everybody, my name is Rivi Israel, I'm from Dogs Inc. We are formerly Southeastern Guide Dogs. We changed our name this past May, because we've expanded beyond just doing guide dogs in the Southeast. Now we need a name that can help raise more funds so we can help more people. So we have changed our name to Dogs Inc. We are a guide dog school. We've been around since 1982 and we are located in palmetto, Florida. If you would like to stop by for a visit, you are more than welcome to do so. You can check out our website at www.DogsInc.org or you can call me.
We do provide guide dogs free of charge throughout the United States. We have a wonderful three-week campus training program, we provide full room and board free of charge, a wonderful guide dog and continuous care and support throughout the lifetime of your support. So we're looking forward to meeting everybody and we will be at booth number C as in cat 18. Thank you so much.
PATTI: Thank you. Braille Bibles International, you are followed by Blindshell. Go ahead.
ATTENDEE: Hi, my name is Craig, I'm with Braille Bibles International. We provide Bibles in Braille, large print and audio. We have king James, new king James versions in Braille and lots of different versions in audio to choose from. We'll be at booth B14 and look forward to seeing anyone.
PATTI: All right. Blindshell, you're up next, and on deck is Blind Girl Magic and Blind Limitless. Go ahead, Blindshell.
ATTENDEE: Thank you! This is Diane, representing Blindshell USA. And for those who are not familiar, Blindshell is an accessible cell phone that is menu driven. So there's no swiping or tapping or gesturing or rotating and all that kind of stuff. It's all menu driven. All of our buttons are tactile, and everything is spoken to you. You can use the old-fashioned way of texting where if you wanted a C, you would tap the two or three times, or you could do a lot of what we have on our phones through voice dictation.
We have special blindness features on our features, such as Ira, Be My Eyes, Bard, Script Talk. We also have Google Lookout and Vision AI. So it's a multiuse tool. It's not just a cell phone, so you can have all of your text to speech applications on there, and we have Alexa built into it. We have our YouTube, it's free with no commercials.
So that's a great feature that people like. Podcast player. All kinds of features, e-mail, internet, so come check it out. Like I said, it's all tactile, and everything is spoken out.
And I am so going to be at that quacktastic booth, because I've got to get some ducks.
PATTI: Blind Girl Magic and Blind Limitless. I don't think they came in, Blazie Technologies. But Blind Girl Magic, go ahead. Blind Girl Magic, I know I heard you come in.
ANNA: Blind Limitless? We'll come back. But we do have Blazie Technologies. And then Awarewolf Gear.
ATTENDEE: Okay, can you hear me?
PATTI: Yes.
ATTENDEE: Excellent! Hi. It's great to be here. This is David Goldfield, marketing director for Blazie Technologies. And the product that we have is called the BT Speak, BT for Blazie Technologies. Those of you who remember the Braille and Speak from Blazie engineering will find this product to be rather familiar, but if you are not familiar with the Braille and Speak, it's okay.
This is a small, very compact pocket-sized computer with a nine-key Perkins-style Braille keyboard, and we use three text-to-speech engines with over 100 voices for output. It has a lot of applications, such as an editor. It has a full word processor with Libre Office Writer. It has a dictionary. It has two web browsers, and it also, of course, is battery operated. The dimensions are very similar to an iPhone 14 or 15 Pro. That's how small it is. We will have them at the NFB convention to show everybody, and if you would like more information, you can visit us on the web at www.blazietech.com, or call us at 772-214-1616. Thank you so much.
PATTI: That's a familiar name, Dean Blazie goes way back in partnership with the National Federation of the Blind. I wanted to let people know if we missed you, stay on because we will go back and capture those that we missed at the end. Next up is Awarewolf Gear and followed by Arovia.
ATTENDEE: Hi, everyone, I'm with Awarewolf Gear. This year at NFB 24, we are proudly presenting the urban explorer. This is a super strong lightweight supportive mobility cane designed to keep us safe and supported wherever we choose to be. Four sizes, small, medium, large and extra large, spanning from 43 inches all the way up to 64 inches in length. Each cane has an adjustable grip and adjusts six inches in length.
It's designed to be supportive, okay. We've got our connection from our upper body to the ground. Let's let it help us in any trip and fall situations, hazards in the urban jungles, parks, playgrounds, snowy environments, if you happen to find yourself on a hiking trail, this will keep us safe and supported. It's designed to be leaned on; it's designed to keep us safe. Aircraft grade hardened aluminum, stainless steel sleeve joints and awesome dome tip. This is going to help us get our kids home safely at night, all right? The Urban Explorer and the all-terrain cane, we are Awarewolf Gear. We're right next to Blindshell. Thank you.
PATTI: Thank you. Arovia, you will be followed by ARISA Lab. Arovia?
ATTENDEE: Good evening everybody. Really grateful for what you all do and excited for the upcoming convention. What we do at Arovia is we make large collapsible portable displays that fold to fit inside a headphone case. It's a full-sized TV or CCTV. We have a 25-inch version, which is four times bigger than a laptop screen and later, this year we'll have a 35-inch version, as well.
So the way it potentially helps you is you connect it to an iPhone or a portable magnifier and have a way to magnify text on the go, because it's the largest portable display and it gives you increased visibility wherever you are, and we've been really grateful for the NFB and all the support we've gotten from the community and look forward to seeing you all in Orlando.
Thank you.
PATTI: I look forward to seeing you, too. ARISA, you're up next, followed by AMN Healthcare.
ATTENDEE: Hello, everyone, I'm the chief scientist at ARISA Lab. ARISA Lab develops innovative and engaging science and educational experiences that are specially tail toward support educators and traditionally underrepresented learners. Inclusion and accessibility are central to our mission and all of our products are tested by our partners at the NFB, as well as our consultants who are members of the blind and low-vision community to help us co-design our experiences.
One of our flagship initiatives is the Eclipse Soundscapes Project. This is a NASA citizen science project funded by NASA's science activation. This project investigates how solar eclipses affect life on earth. And with the help of thousands of participants, we collected extensive multisensory data, particularly audio data during the recent October 14th, 2023, annular eclipse and the April 8th, 2024, total solar eclipse.
So with all of this data that we've accumulated, we are now working with our designers to make the analysis of that data more accessible. If you're interested in learning more about the Eclipse Soundscapes project or ARISA lab, visit us at booth B10 on Thursday and Friday. We'll be giving a talk at the science and engineering division meeting on Friday 9th, and you can visit www.eclipsesoundscapes.org to learn more about the Eclipse Soundscapes project and how we're using sound to study how animals are affected by the eclipse.
PATTI: Next up is AMN Healthcare and followed by AGIGA, Inc.
ATTENDEE: I work as a language operations manager at AMN Healthcare. On my team I have Portuguese, Italian and Greek interpreters, video interpreters. So this is going to be our third time at conventions, I'm really, really excited about it. Just so you know, AMN Healthcare is really one of the most trusted, innovative, and great influential forces when it comes to assisting healthcare organizations to provide the best care for our patients.
And to make it more humanized, more effective, more achievable. We're always trying to provide the best nursing, with our physicians and also interpreting assignments for our teams. And besides all of that, we have our diversity, equity and inclusion, which is my favorite part. I am the only blind manager, and we have lots of blind interpreters so that's the reason why we're going to be at the convention. And just so you know our solutions include telehealth, RPO, NPS and supplier managers and the language services that I'm talking about.
That's because 20% of our population here in the U.S., of households, speak other languages, languages other than English. So that's our goal, to have the interpretation services easy for everybody to achieve. So 45 languages on video, 250 languages on audio, and we have nowadays almost 4,000 medical interpreters at AMN and they are employees, contractors, suppliers, vendors. And for you to have an idea, last year, 2023, we have over 28 million patients assisted with our interpretation services. We're going to be there, you can bring your resume, we're going to be also at the job fair. You can contact us at 866-871-8519.
Also, [email protected] and I'll see you at the job fair and also at the exhibit hall booth B as in blind, 15. Let's go get some hand sanitizers, fuzzy socks, pens, and our literature that's going to be in Braille and large print. Thank you so much, everyone.
PATTI: Great thank you, AMN. Next up is AGIGA, Inc. and AGIGA will be followed by Achilles International.
So AGIGA.
ATTENDEE: Hi. This is AGIGA. We are a technology company established by Google engineers. We are committed to advancing technology for innovators with blindness and visual impairments. This is our first NFB. Our goal with attending is to get insight from the community. In return, we offer complimentary services, AI glasses at no cost.
We have been working with local blind centers and we're very excited to come to the NFB to meet people from all over the country. Again, our purpose this year is to learn from everyone new and to hear your voice. And we will offer remote assistance, such as AI glasses in return. Please visit our booth to register for the services. We will also be at a career fair on July 3rd. Thank you.
PATTI: Thank you, AGIGA, Inc. Achilles International, you will be followed by Accessible Pharmacy Services. Do we have Achilles International on the line?
ANNA: I don't see them here so it's Accessible Pharmacy Services, and then A.T. Guys.
ATTENDEE: All right. Thank you, Patti. Thank you. Hello, everyone. Good evening. My name is Andy, and I am with Accessible Pharmacy Services. For those of you who are not familiar with us, we are a home delivery pharmacy service. We specialize in patients who are blind or have low vision. We are the only provider of its kind in the world, and we are the largest blind-owned healthcare company in America.
Everything we do is about merging healthcare and accessibility and empowering the patients who work with us to manage their healthcare independently and live healthier lives. And I'm looking forward to connecting with everyone down in Orlando. Thank you again.
PATTI: Thank you. Very familiar voice coming up, A.T. Guys. And then I've got A Cubed Design, and I don't know if I saw them come in.
ATTENDEE: Hey, Patti, thanks for that. This is Michael and I am the manager of customer experience at A.T. Guys. You can visit us at ATguys.com and if you use coupon code NFB 24, pick up by the booth to pick up your free merchandise. We are a blind owned business based out of Michigan offering a wide range of products, from talking voice recorders to accessible Bluetooth meat thermometers, as you can tell we offer anything that you have a need for.
The versus slate is a reusable slate and stylus that doesn't take paper and allows you to take down those quick notes, and then do with them what you need to afterwards.
Favor keyboard, we've got one for you, as well.
From a multi-Bluetooth connected keyboard to a mini keyboard, we've got keyboards that fold and a couple of Braille input tools, as well. We've partnered with turtle back to provide the protection you need for your A.T. products and we also offer headphones, including some new shocks you may want have heard of. We always have our speakers that you might want to check out. Most of our products are available in booth A29 for you to put your hands on. NFB24 at www.ATguys.com to pick up your products quickly.
PATTI: Great. Do we have A Cubed Design?
ANNA: I think we've reached the end of this group, but there are a few folks that I know we missed. So we've got Time-Touch-Take, Farmer Noah, and Blind Limitless. So we'll go through those three in that order, and then if there's anyone else. So Time-Touch-Take, Farmer Noah, and Blind Limitless. Go ahead.
ATTENDEE: Good afternoon. This is Barbara and I am the inventor of the Time-Touch-Take automated medication system. This medication system is tactile, and it works by an app. The only thing that the caregiver sets the medication up on the app, it does not work through the internet. It only works through Bluetooth, because when I did the survey, with my group, my research groups, I found out that over 80% of the people that I surveyed, the elderly and the blind, a lot of them did not -- over 80% did not have internet in their home, but they had Bluetooth on their phones.
So I went with Bluetooth to design it. It is a prototype that I'm going to be demonstrating at the fair. We will take preorders and we'll take 15% off the order. The good thing about this whole thing is that the only thing -- and one of the things that when people go blind, especially later in life, and this is from experience, it's very hard for them to take their medication. They don't do Braille so they're really afraid with taking the blood pressure pills and the small pills falling through their hands. The bottles are big, and they have the bump dots on them so that they can hold them in their hands. If you are a big man and you have a little bitty bottle that slips through your hand and the pills are all over the floor. This prevents that from happening.
The caregiver sets the medication up. It can be set up to four times a day. If it's not four times a day, you can close it off, and it's only two times a day. We will launch the medication system on the first week of November. I am so happy to be able to present it to the BVI community. I'm in Mississippi, and so I've done the Mississippi Federation for the Blind and they were elated, and a lot of them said why haven't you built this sooner, because I'm having so many problems taking my medication. And so with that being said, I think this is a product that the blind community will definitely be able to use.
It is something that my brother-in-law who I designed this from was very happy to be able to take his medication on time. It will be made by the blind for the blind. LCI industries will do all of the assembly. I felt like if I'm going to do this, I need to give back to the blind community and that's how I'm doing it.
PATTI: Thank you.
ATTENDEE: I will be at booth C2.
PATTI: We have Farmer Noah and then Blind Limitless and I saw Florida School for the Deaf, and the Blind come back in.
Farmer Noah.
ATTENDEE: This is Chris. I'm the owner of DTXT Research. Farmer Noah is our latest product for accessibility, orientation and mobility training. We were at the NFB 23.
And we really enjoyed being there. We talked with a lot of people, talking about our new approach to orientation and mobility training. We received a lot of great input from people, a lot of encouragement, and we're coming to Orlando to share the latest updates about our system, and to announce that we're in production now. So we will be interested in finding interested parties to get on our waitlist, so they can start employing this new system that we're introducing, and we've tried out. It seems to be very well received within the community, so we thank everybody. Stop by our booth. Last year, we received such good feedback and advice. And we look forward to seeing you at booth C-19.
Stop by our booth. Let's talk about it and we'll see what you think about the Farmer Noah concept for orientation and mobility training, which is great for kids, but we also have the Bandmaster Stevie version for adults. So we would like to tell you about both of those when we have more than a minute to talk. Look forward to seeing you in Orlando and take care and have safe travels. Thank you.
PATTI: Thank you. Just a reminder, stay on after the next couple of presenters, because we have some informational reminders. Blind Girl Magic, you're up.
ATTENDEE: Hello. I am CEO of Blind Limitless and this year I will be doing a collaboration with Ms. Janetta Price; we will be bringing the new style of fashion to Orlando this year. We will be bringing some of our products, which we'll be including a little bit of our T-shirts and also a mixture of hoodies. Blind Limitless clothing was created to tell my journey. I lost my site a couple of years ago due to gun violence, so I decided to turn something negative into something positive. I hope to see you guys there. Please come by the table and we will be doing a photo shoot on the 4th of July, so please make sure you come by and get some merchandise. It will definitely be a good experience.
Thank you.
PATTI: All right. Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind.
ANNA: I think you just muted and unmuted yourself again.
ATTENDEE: Okay. Can everybody hear me now? I'm Patrick with the Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind. We are a state-sponsored school, located in St. Augustine Florida. Opened in 1885, we serve students in Florida who are blind or have low vision, Deaf, hard of hearing, or DeafBlind, from ages three to 22. We serve approximately 1,000 students statewide with 600 on campus and 400 served throughout various outreach programs. We will be at the NFB convention to give information about our school, meet families, meet parents, and just to let everyone know that we are here, and we are really looking forward to meeting all of you at NFB 24. Thank you so much!
PATTI: Welcome. Is there anybody else that we missed?
ANNA: I haven't flagged anyone else that we missed, but if we did miss you, you can go ahead and say hello now.
Otherwise, I think we'll move to some wrap-up.
PATTI: Okay. I have some reminders here. I wanted to remind you that the sponsor showcase, the virtual sponsor showcase is tomorrow night, same time. The meeting ID, and this is also on the sponsor page, but it's 967-1777-1870. So join us tomorrow night for the sponsor showcase. I wanted to suggest to everybody, we talked a little bit about the app, but go ahead and download the app and especially for those of you who are here, who are attending the virtual convention experience, I wanted to let you know that you can connect to the exhibitors and sponsors through the app itself, as well.
The exhibit hall hours and even if you've been at our conventions, you need to pay attention, because we've changed it up here. The exhibit hall hours this year -- by the way, to get to the exhibit hall, you cross the second-floor skywalk. It's in west hall A1 of the Orange County Convention Center. The hours are Thursday 9:00 to 5:00. Friday 9:00 to 5:00. These are all Eastern, of course. Saturday 12:00 to 1:45 and 5:00 to 9:00. That 5:00 to 9:00 slot is the last time you can visit the exhibit hall. Please pay attention. They're different from last year. And finally, I just want to ask if there's anything I missed, anything else that we should announce?
ANNA: I think you covered it all, Patti.
PATTI: Thank you to all the exhibitors and all the attendees and we will look forward to seeing you at NFB 24 in Orlando.
ANIL: See you in Orlando!
PATTI: Thanks, everyone.