Podcasts about aira agent

During this month's call, We covered quite a bit of ground: Phones, Glasses and on your Desktop We invite you to try the Aira Desktop application, visit either aira.io/desktop for more information or go directly to the web-based application at explorer.aira.io. Envision Glasses Promotion From now until October 31, 2022, you can receive a 10% discount on the purchase of new Envision Glasses by calling Aira Customer Care at 1-800-835-1934 from 6:00am - 6:00 pm Pacific time. And when you make your first call to an Aira Agent from your Envision Glasses, 200 minutes will be credited to your Aira Account. Join us in acknowledging White Cane Awareness Day which takes place on Saturday, October 15th. Any time during the month of October, post a photograph to any social channel of yourself with your white cane, your guide dog or simply by yourself and tag it with #OnMyTerms. At the end of the month, we will randomly pick someone who participates to receive a fantastic gift.Episode Notes Notes go here This podcast is powered by Pinecast.

Through a smart phone app, Aira’s trained agents provide visual information about items like groceries, mail and other household and office products.  WayAround tags work through NFC, a smart phone app and the WayLink device to provide a wide array of information to organize and identify just about anything. WayTags come in a variety of shapes and methods to attach to items. What can these two do together? Jessica Hipp from WayAround will join Jenine Stanley, Emma Vincent and Ryan Bishop along with  explorers and WayAround users Paul Parravano and Paul Mimms to demonstrate the power of an Aira Agent and a Way Tag to get yourself organized.

We’re taking a trip to Agent Land this month with a very special panel. Carla Cane, Agent Training Specialist, and Agents  Mark, Rob and Sarah join cohosts Ryan Bishop and Jenine Stanley to talk everything Aira Agent from training to the dashboard to tips on how to get the most from every call.

Show Notes | May 20, 2020 | Bonus Episode We are so excited to release this bonus episode where we sit down with Melissa, a military spouse and Aira Agent. In this jam packed conversation, Melissa and Kimber break down the tips we need to hear as applicants. Melissa, who has two years of experience with Aira, really digs into how you communicate with an Explorer. If you are considering applying with Aira and are nervous about completing the aptitude test where you do a trial run of working with an Explorer , this is a "don't miss" episode. Links and Resources Join the Instant Teams Workforce VirtForce Podcast on Apple Podcasts  VirtForce Podcast on Spotify VirtForce Linktree Kimber Hill LinkedIn Melissa Nunley Facebook Explore These Resources In this episode, we mentioned the following resources: Aira Agent on VirtForce Job Board Aira Agent Interest Form Google Maps 101 Here are the important things to learn and minute markers where you can find them. 1:00 interchanging google maps view vs google earth view2:16 Distinguishing alternate routes2:20 Determining your mode of transportation2:50 Route Options3:10 Departure and Arrival Times3:35 Adding more than 1 destination4:40 Street View (north, south, east, west)5:40 Traffic and terrain 6:35 the Nearby feature Google Maps Public Transit Here are the important things to learn and minute markers where you can find them.  1:14 -3:30 Public Transit3:40 - 4:45 schedule explorer Join the Conversation Our favorite part of recording a live podcast each week is participating in the great conversations that happen on our live chat, on social media, and in our comments section.   VirtForce on Facebook VirtForce on LinkedIn VirtForce on Instagram Check Out Recent Podcast Episodes: 29. Applying with Aira? What You Should (And Shouldn't) Say To Blind People 5. Milspouses: The Perfect Fit For Aira

Show Notes | May 20, 2020 |Episode 037 We are so excited to release this bonus episode where we sit down with Melissa, a military spouse and Aira Agent. In this jam packed conversation, Melissa and Kimber break down the tips we need to hear as applicants. Melissa, who has two years of experience with Aira, really digs into how you communicate with an Explorer. If you are considering applying with Aira and are nervous about completing the aptitude test where you do a trial run of working with an Explorer , this is a "don't miss" episode. Links and Resources Join the Instant Teams Workforce VirtForce Podcast on Apple Podcasts  VirtForce Podcast on Spotify VirtForce Linktree Kimber Hill LinkedIn Melissa Nunley Facebook Explore These Resources In this episode, we mentioned the following resources: Aira Agent on VirtForce Job Board Aira Agent Interest Form Google Maps 101 Here are the important things to learn and minute markers where you can find them. 1:00 interchanging google maps view vs google earth view2:16 Distinguishing alternate routes2:20 Determining your mode of transportation2:50 Route Options3:10 Departure and Arrival Times3:35 Adding more than 1 destination4:40 Street View (north, south, east, west)5:40 Traffic and terrain 6:35 the Nearby feature Google Maps Public Transit Here are the important things to learn and minute markers where you can find them.  1:14 -3:30 Public Transit3:40 - 4:45 schedule explorer Join the Conversation Our favorite part of recording a live podcast each week is participating in the great conversations that happen on our live chat, on social media, and in our comments section.   VirtForce on Facebook VirtForce on LinkedIn VirtForce on Instagram Check Out Recent Podcast Episodes: 29. Applying with Aira? What You Should (And Shouldn't) Say To Blind People 5. Milspouses: The Perfect Fit For Aira

The news that shot around the world, Aira has gone free, yes, free. Ryan Bishop from Aira joins Jeff Thompson in the Blind Abilities studio to talk about this ground-breaking news that shocked the Blind Community. This Free service is available where Aira provides full service, which includes Australia, Canada, New Zealand and United States. When the news went out, and you can read the post below, people were flooding social media with shares and likes about how anyone can become an Aira Explorer by downloading the Aira app from the App Store or Google Play Store and be talking with a trained Aira Agent in minutes. Aira is a fast growing company that provides a service to the Blind and Visually Impaired community through trained agents by connecting through a video feed and assisting the “Explorer” by providing information being requested or describing the video feed coming from the camera on the phone or through the Horizon smart glasses. You can take advantage of the Aira Free plan today and see how Aira can enhance your experience in access to information anytime and anywhere. For short tasks up to 5 minutes with a trained agent that has access to GPS, Maps, Internet, Locations and much more right on their dashboard ready to provide you with the information that you want. Aira also has Free Aira Access locations where you can use the Aira service for free. From Walgreens, AT&T stores, a growing list of airports, and the list keeps growing. You can get more free opportunities if you have a small business or attending college. Check out all the opportunities available on the Aira web site at www.Aira.io. How are you going to use your 5 minutes? Download the Aira app today! Aira on the App Store Aira on the Google Play Store Here is the news that shot around the World: The day we’ve all been waiting for is finally here.  Aira is free. Everywhere and at any time.  Let that sink in for a moment.  Aira. Is. Free. Starting today, you can make short calls to Aira agents for free – every day. So, whenever you’re doing those small, daily tasks where a little information can save you a lot of time, we’ve got you covered.  We know, we can hardly believe it ourselves.  There’s no catch So long as the call is relatively quick (5 minutes), it’s free! Just make sure you have the latest version of the app on your phone. As this is an early version of the service, we ask for some patience if you come across any hiccups along the way, or if we end up making some minor tweaks further down the line. We’re so excited to get this out into the world that we just couldn’t wait any longer! The important thing to remember is that Aira is now free, and will always be free.  Want to learn more?  The best way to learn is to do! Use the Aira app and connect with an agent – you can ask all your questions and it won’t cost you a thing.  If you’re not on a plan  That’s great! You can now make short calls to Aira agents for free, every day and everywhere. You’re no longer limited to using Aira in just Access Locations or with Access Offers (although those are still great to use if you want to do something that will take more time, like explore a museum). If you’re on a plan That’s great too! You can use your free daily short calls to help make your plan minutes stretch further. As the first 5 minutes of every call is free, you can now use your plan minutes whenever you’re doing anything that may take more time.  Did we mention that Aira is free?  Connect with an agent now and start saving time. You have nothing to lose – literally! ***** Contact Your State Services If you reside in Minnesota, and you would like to know more about Transition Services from State Services contact Transition Coordinator Sheila Koenig by email or contact her via phone at 651-539-2361. To find your State Services in your State you can go to www.AFB.org and search the directory for your agency. Contact: Thank you for listening! You can follow us on Twitter @BlindAbilities On the web at www.BlindAbilities.com Send us an email Get the Free Blind Abilities App on the App Storeand Google Play Store. Check out the Blind Abilities Communityon Facebook, the Blind Abilities Page, the Career Resources for the Blind and Visually Impairedand the Assistive Technology Community for the Blind and Visually Impaired.

Airacast Episode 12 Taking It To The Street   Did you know that your Aira Agent can assist you when traversing parking lots? We’ll hear an example. Paul Schroeder, VP of Public Policy, joins Jenine to discuss changes to our street crossing policy coming soon. We finish with a Tech Tip about how to rate your calls.

Show Summary: In this Job Insightsepisode, we are talking to Ryan Bresnahan, Customer Experience Operations analyst. Ryan is sighted and works for Aira Tech Corporation, a company that connects people who are blind or low vision to a trained professional agent who is dedicated to further enhancing their everyday experience. Ryan joined Aira nearly 4 years ago and was introduced to the Blindness Community, in which he did not know much about. Through examining his own preconceived ideas of people with disabilities, Ryan has grown a new understanding of how society can sweep aside people who are not the ‘standard’ and how his Aira experience is enhancing his perceptions and opening his eyes to the possibilities that he and his Aira team can bring about in changing attitudes and perceptions. Ryan sits at the crossroads of Aira Agents, Aira Explorers and the team of developers and evaluates the efficiencies and practices to ensure that they are delivering the best service to the consumers. Ryan talks about his journey through education, his music, teaching and how he arrived at Aira. As a sighted person working for a company that is aimed at assisting the Blindness Community, Ryan talks about how agents are getting connected with the Blindness Community and what qualities makes a good Aira Agent. And, if you know of a family member, friend or someone who you believe would make a good Aira Agent, you can find out more on the Aira web site at www.Aira.io/Our-Agents For more information about becoming an Aira Explorer you can go to www.Aira.ioand check out all the opportunities Aira offers. Contact: If you would like to know more about Transition Services from State Services contact Transition Coordinator Sheila Koenig by email or contact her via phone at 651-539-2361. To find your State Services in your State you can go to www.AFB.org and search the directory for your agency.C Thank you for listening! You can follow us on Twitter @BlindAbilities On the web at www.BlindAbilities.com Send us an email Get the Free Blind Abilities App on the App Store andGoogle Play Store. Check out the Blind Abilities Communityon Facebook, the Blind Abilities Page, the Job Insights Support Groupand the Assistive Technology Community for the Blind and Visually Impaired.

In this podcast you'll hear an Aira Agent to the rescue;My joining the Windows Insider Program; Exerpts from an App Happy presentation; No help for Word on iOS in MS Disability Answer Desk; JAWS2019 change in Alt-Tab behavior; Inserting Placemarkers,; cop

dIn this podcast you’ll hear a demo of the Creative Pebble speaker by Mario Gonzalez; Inserting random text; Aira Agent reading park rules and regulationss; one of Lynne’s looney characters recommends Matilda read by Kate Winslet; a windows tip on mov

Aira Workshop on Employment, Education, and Aira as a Reasonable Accommodation. Seeing AI Developer Joins the AI Team at Aira! Full Transcript Below Blind Abilities continues its coverage of the NFB 2018 National Convention from Orlando Florida with this presentation of the Aira workshop on the subject of education, students and employment. Aira team members, Michael Hingson and Patrick Lane present a detailed discussion of how the Aira service can be used by students, both in school and transitioning into the workplace, by Explorers seeking employment, and while actually on the job as a reasonable accommodation. Get an in-depth peek at how Aira Agents are trained and how they find their passion for describing tasks and experiences for Aira Explorers. Hear a live demonstration of a real call to an Aira Agent using the new Horizon glasses and get updates on what has been going on with Aira since the convention ended in July. This NFB 2018 blind Abilities podcast is brought to you by Aira. You can check them out and subscribe to the Aira service on the web, at: www.Aira.IO special thanks to Patrick Lane for his awesome original guitar music. Thanks for Listening! You can follow Blind Abilities on Twitter @BlindAbilities On the web at www.BlindAbilities.com Send us an email Get the Free Blind Abilities App on the App Store. Full Transcript: Pete Lane: Hi folks, this is Pete Lane welcome back to Blind Abilities. As you know Blind Abilities was in Orlando at the NFB 2018 National Convention. Our own Jeff Thompson attended an Aira workshop on the topic of education, students, and employment. In this workshop, we hear about how Aira can fit the needs of students as they attend college and transition into the workforce. We hear about how Aira can be free for those explorers who are looking for jobs, and we hear about how the Aira service can be a reasonable accommodation and can perform so many tasks for workers on the job. Aira staff members Michael Hingson and Patrick Lane present this workshop courtesy of Aira. Before we join Michael and Patrick just a quick announcement. We have a new addition to the Aira team, Anirudh Koul, founder of Seeing AI and former senior data scientist with Microsoft has joined the Aira team as the head of artificial intelligence and research. We welcome him to the Aira staff. Without further adieu let's join Michael Hingson and Patrick Lane from the Aira workshop on education, students, and employment from the NFB 2018 National Convention in Orlando, Fl. Michael Hingson: I'd like to welcome you all to our seminar today. This is the first of three that Aira will be conducting. This particular one is gonna be on education, employment, students, people in the workplace, employers and employees and our intent is to set the stage for what Aira offers and can bring to you in terms of how it can benefit you in any of those categories. So our intent is to really give you a good idea of what Aira is, what it isn't and how you can use it. I am Mike Hingson, I am the director of Aira explorer special projects and we have a live agent on the stage, why don't you introduce yourself.   Patrick Lane: Hey everybody my names Patrick Lane, I am currently an agent analyst here with Aira. I've been an agent with Aira for coming up on two years now. So, I've gotten to see Aira used in all of the specific cases that Mike just mentioned many, many different times in different ways. Michael Hingson: One of my favorite Aira stories is that in Patrick's early days, I happened to call him about 7:00 in the morning California time because I needed to put a laundry cart together that we had gotten in the email. And as the Chinese are learning from Ikea, the instructions were all pictorial there were no text pieces to the instructions at all. So I called, got Patrick and we put it together in a half hour. And that's as good as it gets because that really is what Aira is about. Michael Hingson: Aira if you look at Aira in the general terms of what it is, Aira is an information source. Aira is a way that you can get any visual information that you otherwise would not have access to. When I talk to a lot of people about Aira, they think about the fact that oh well I really have good travel skills so I don't need it or I've always got sighted people with me so I don't have that problem. Let's deal with that in terms of a job. I'm on the job, I'm using JAWS and suddenly the computer quits working. Now, where do I go to get my sighted assistance? I'm in the office, I've got to go interrupt somebody else to get them to come and look at the screen, tell me what the error screen is or of course the infamous blue screen of death. In any case, I have to go find someone. Michael Hingson: Why should I have to do that today? Because there is a way to do that on my own, namely using Aira. I can use Aira to contact an agent, the agent can look at the screen, see an error code and if I can't easily move my cursor to where it needs to go, it's possible that I can even enter into a tandem or two-way session using TeamViewer or some other technology with the agent. That might be a little harder with JAWS not talking but for a lot of different things that I do where there is an inaccessible webpage or something that isn't talking the way it should, I can interact with an agent and get their assistance both in terms of actually having a session, a two-way communication session or at least getting information described. Michael Hingson: If I am an employee and I want to go to lunch, lets say I am in sales and I want to take people somewhere for lunch for sales, I can more quickly use an Aira agent to research possible restaurants if I don't really know all the options or when I get to the restaurant or going to the restaurant using an agents help to do all of that. Aira gives me the opportunity to get anything that I need that I don't otherwise have access to because it's visual. It is that simple, it is that general and I urge people to look at Aira in that way. Michael Hingson: Don't limit yourself to looking at it as a travel device, don't look at it as something that's gonna diminish your skills, don't look at it as something that is anything other than what it is, an information source. And all of us no matter how good our cane skills are, no matter how good our dog skills are, can benefit by having access to Aira because Aira is the way that I can get more information to better tell my dog where I want to go or interact with traveling with my cane. Michael Hingson: Let's talk about students and Aira. As a student, Aira offers an incredible amount of opportunities for you to be able to more independently do things than you otherwise would be able to. The most common thing that we as blind people have to do as students is to read material that otherwise is inaccessible to us. If the average reader is paid, lets say $15 an hour, we an unlimited plan for Aira that's $330 that exists today. Things are gonna change but let's just use what we have today. $330 is equivalent to 22 hours of reading time at $15 an hour. Michael Hingson: I'm submitting that Aira is cheaper than hiring readers. Any office for students with disabilities will save a heck of a lot of money if they independently allow students to use Aira and they pay for the Aira service. Aira will allow me to read when I want to read, where I want to read, and essentially how I want to read. There are incredible examples of different ways that students have used Aira in libraries, have used Aira in the classroom to access the material that a professor is writing on a board or is displaying on a power point presentation. An Aira agent can be describing that to a student who uses Aira plugged into earphones so that they can hear what's going on while the instructor is doing what they do. Never in any way interfering with the class and more important not demanding any change in the methodology that the professor uses to do what they have to do. So, I don't need the professor to do something different for me when I'm using Aira. It frees me up to perhaps better take notes. It opens up an incredible world. Michael Hingson: Of course, I can use Aira to travel around a campus, learn where things are and go off campus and do all the things that I might otherwise do that any other student would do. So, Aira gives you that flexibility that we have never had as students and Aira makes it available in a way that is affordable by any definition to any department of rehabilitation or any office for students with disabilities on a college campus. Both of whom ought to be providing Aira in one way or another because it will make me a better student in theory, if I study and it will also then make me a more employable person. Because as I graduate from school, I'm gonna be going out and I'm gonna be looking for a job. Michael Hingson: While I'm at school, I talked about the fact that we do have departments of rehabilitation starting to look at Aira and some who have signed Aira up and are paying for those services. Some offices for students with disabilities are doing it. But Aira also has another program and this is the second year in a row that it has existed, it's called back to school. Aira will be sponsoring some 500 students for a full year of Aira use. You can apply by going to aira.io/backtoschool, where you can sign up for Aira and once chosen then you'll get Aira with a 400 minute a month plan, I believe is the plan that we're using. Julenna is that right? Are you here?   Julenna: Yes, that's correct. Michael Hingson: By the way, Julenna in the back right is the person who's in charge of back to school so, if you're a student and you want Aira, I would be really nice to Julenna just say it. But Aira with back to school means that you will have without any expense from the college or the department of rehabilitation access to Aira. You can apply for that today. And I urge any students in the room to do that. Michael Hingson: Aira uses smart glasses, glasses that contain a camera that transmits images directly to an agent. Agents are hired by Aira, they are paid by Aira. They're hired because they have demonstrated an aptitude to be able to describe and then after they are hired, they go through a significant training period. And once they are trained they go out and start acting as agents in describing things for people who happen to be blind. Aira does not tell you what to do. Aira will not, for example, tell you cross the street. Aira agents may tell you they don't see cars coming if you ask. Aira agents may tell you that the light has turned green, Aira agents will describe an intersection so that you can cross it with full knowledge of what the intersection looks like but Aira's not gonna tell you to cross the street, that's your job because you have the cane or dog skills that you need in order to make the right decisions and cross the street. Aira will give you the information that you need. Likewise, on the job, Aira will do the same thing.   Patrick Lane: The agents are not here to teach, and we're not here to tell you a situation is safe. We're here to provide you instant, equal access to information. So, we'll provide you all the information that you need to be more comfortable and know more about your surroundings to paint that rich picture of your environment so you are aware of everything that's around you. The agents are able to have a conversation with you, they can tailor the amount of information and deliver it in a way that you prefer. So we make things as easy to understand as possible. We'll deliver information about as Mike was mentioning intersections, we'll tell you the name of the intersection, the size, and shape of the intersection, whether or not there's traffic signals, stop signs, pedestrian signals, crosswalks present. We give you all the information that you need but we're never here to replace your o & m stills, we're never here to replace your cane or your dog and we're never here to tell you that you are safe or unsafe.   Patrick Lane: We just provide you all the information that you need, even if it's simply completing a task that you've completed a million times in the past. We might be able to provide a different sense of independence while doing that task or a different type of enjoyment. Not only can it be used for navigation but we are here to provide all of the information that you need about pretty much any task that you might have in mind. We can help you with online tasks, we can help you planning trips, making online purchases, helping with different types of inaccessible websites. For instance, if you're a student and you do online courses and Blackboard's not cooperating, we read you about the information that you need for your schoolwork for any upcoming assignments, any kind of printouts that are passed out through classes.   Patrick Lane: So, just consider us as basically an OnStar for those are blind or low vision. We're not here just to point a camera at something and tell you what you're describing. We are a full service. Our agents are very highly trained and they're very dedicated and extremely patient. We are amazing problem solvers, we're great at troubleshooting. The agents will find the information that you need at all costs. It's situations like that. I've looked up YouTube videos and gone through the entire process. Basically what an agent can do is up to you. Our explorers are called explorers because they are creative in the way that they use our service. They go out there and they test our service to the limits and show us what we're capable of and let us know where we make changes and at this point from my first day till now, it's completely different. Our company is growing exponentially, our technology is amazingly consistent and our agents are there to work as a team with you to complete any task it is that you want to do. Be creative whatever you think of that's what Aira is here for. Michael Hingson: So you go off, and you graduate and then you go looking for a job. The first thing you should be aware of if you happen to be an Aira explorer is that we have an Aira access network for jobs. A job access network. Whatever you want to call it to stick it in your memory. If you are doing anything relating to getting a job at all, whether it's writing a resume, writing a cover letter, making sure everything is formatted, getting dressed to go to a job interview, ladies putting on makeup, anything at all related to getting a job, that time is automatically free to you. Michael Hingson: So for any Aira explorer doing anything relating to getting a job is free. We are saying at Aira, we want to take that unemployment rate from 70% unemployment rate among blind people down to 7%, which would be cool. And Aira is trying to help to make that happen by making it possible for you as an explorer to have access to the tools at no additional charge to get that job. What does it mean though as far as getting a job and where does Aira fit into that? Michael Hingson: The way Aira fits in is really pretty simple. Aira by any definition of the Americans with Disabilities Act is a reasonable accommodation. It is something that should be usable and used by you on the job. I can take almost any job that you can imagine and find a way Aira can help. Because again remember what Aira is, an information source. It provides you with what information you need. How many here in the room have a job?   Patrick Lane: A few hands back there. [crosstalk ] Michael Hingson: Raising your hands' guys isn't gonna work, I'm not using an Aira agent right now.   Patrick Lane: How many are looking for- Michael Hingson: How many are looking for a job?   Patrick Lane: Handful. Michael Hingson: So, for the fun of you for some of you who are looking for a job, tell me some tasks that you might need to perform on the job?   Speaker 9: Doing my resume. Michael Hingson: Let's say you have a job what are some of the tasks that you might need to perform? We'll come back to the resume and that as well. But you're on the job. What are some tasks that you might need to perform on the job?   Speaker 4: [inaudible] Michael Hingson: Typing and what was the other one?   Speaker 4: Filing. Michael Hingson: Filing. What else?   Speaker 5:[inaudible] Michael Hingson: Okay.   Speaker 6: A handwritten note. Michael Hingson: Handwritten notes.   Speaker 7: Finding information. Michael Hingson: I'm sorry. Speaker 7: Finding information. Michael Hingson: Someone up here said something.   Speaker 8: I was saying looking at presentations. Michael Hingson: Looking at presentations.   Patrick Lane: Powerpoint slides, I've described a handful of those in my day. Michael Hingson: Let me suggest a couple others. Making copies on a copier, anybody try to do that lately? Copiers are touchscreen.   Patrick Lane: Oh yeah. Michael Hingson: The one that I love to pick on at Aira, going and getting something from the coffee machine because it's also touchscreen. However, every single thing that you guys have said are all things that you could use Aira to do. You don't have to ask someone else. So let's talk about the coffee machine. I love hot chocolate so I go up to the machine, I call an Aira agent and I do this at Aira. And it's absolutely a great example, I wouldn't have it any other way. I call the agent and I say, need help getting hot chocolate. Now, I'm sure that we could probably mark the machine in some way but the problem is finding the markings you're gonna touch the touchscreen so it doesn't work very well. But, the Aira agent can look at the screen and tell me, move your finger a half an inch to the left, you're right over the button, push it or whatever and I'll find the start button or actually you have a choice of making it with milk or water and I like it with milk. Michael Hingson: So, we need to find the milk button. Move your finger down to the bottom of the screen, over to your right a half an inch, you're over it, push and it's a little longer than just doing it with buttons but it's accessible because Aira agents can help do it. And I don't need to wait until someone else might be available, I don't need to wait until I'm dying of thirst, I can just have an Aira agent do it and give me the information so I can get exactly what I want. And in fact, learn more about that coffee machine than I ever would've learned any other way. Something that sighted people take for granted, the tens of thousands of different ways you can, permutations that you can get out of that coffee machine. Michael Hingson: But, with an Aira agent, I can learn those same things and I wouldn't know that any other way. Copy machines the same way. Most of what you do on copiers these days are touch screen but I can become as good a copy expert as anyone else if I have access to it. And I do because I can use Aira. Filing, obviously, Aira agents being able to read information so that I can put things in the right folder and even creating the tabs to go in folders or whatever. All of those things are commonplace everyday tasks that you should be able to do as well as anyone else. But, you can't if the equipment isn't accessible unless you use Aira. It's all about access to information. Michael Hingson: Somebody mentioned resumes and I want to talk about that a little bit more. There are countless examples and Patrick help out, people want their resume to look good. The Aira agent can help, so let's take a typical example. You're writing a resume, you've got all the facts and you can put them down, now you want to make it look good. So you can call an Aira agent who can describe and help you or what I would do being lazy and being industrious and trying to get it done as efficiently as possible. I would use one of the programs that I mentioned earlier. Michael Hingson: TeamViewer for example which is a way that you can have an agent connect directly to your computer and you can work with the agent and let the agent do the formatting. Because they see what your screen shows. And so the agent can actually format the resume for you or with you because you're still gonna have to tell them what you want it to look like but the agent will be able to format that resume and by the time you're done, you'll have a resume that you would be proud to provide to any employer for them to look at.   Patrick Lane: With the TeamViewer, it's not only us being able to see your computer screen but we also have remote control of that computer screen. The agents can do a lot of stuff with TeamViewer. Let's just say you've never actually seen a resume, you don't know what the actual format looks like, how it's set up, its never been described. Agents can input all the information that you've given them into a pre-made template for a resume. Can work on all the different fonts and colors and apply that to a specific type of job that you might be searching for. So really make that resume look unique and noticeable so it stands out when it is viewed by the employer. They can make sure that all of the spelling and the grammar and the punctuation are correct because nobody wants to submit a resume with spelling errors or bad grammar, anything like that. So the agents can apply all that information. They can update old resumes and then reformat them to show the changes. Even your LinkedIn account we can go in there and update that with prior jobs statuses and all of that information. Patrick Lane: So, with the TeamViewer being able to have that remote access to your computer screen it means that you don't have to potentially hold a phone there or lean in really close with the glasses, it makes the whole type of experience more enjoyable for a possible tedious task. So, I have personally assisted in setting up all of what I just mentioned. I've helped somebody build their resume from the ground up and they have successfully used that. I've helped update LinkedIn profiles to reflect what's written on a resume. I've helped people apply for jobs and send that resume automatically though CareerBuilder or Monster, whatever it might be. So, we have assisted hopefully a large amount of people in finding that employment that I know that they're looking for. Not only will you hopefully, potentially find that employment but while using the service for that reason, you're not gonna use any of those really valuable Aira minutes. So, when seeking out a job the agents mark the call as such so you're not gonna use any of your Aira minutes while performing that specific task. Michael Hingson: So if it takes you five hours to build a resume or 10 hours to build a resume that's not a problem. If you need help creating other documentation for job search it's not a problem. It's all part of the job access that Aira has made available for any Aira explorer to use. So that's available to you today. Michael Hingson: Aira just announced a partnership with VFO where if you're doing anything using JAWS or any other equipment manufactured by VFO and you run into any access issues, or you run into any problems with using Aira and VFO products, those minutes that you spend where VFO can't do it without you bringing an agent or someone else in to assist are all free. So, I for example, when I had an issue trying to deal with some Slack messages last week, I contacted an Aira agent, we established a communication sessions through TeamViewer, and we accomplished what I needed to do with Slack. But because I couldn't easily do it with JAWS that meant it was in part a JAWS issue, so those minutes happen to be as they ended up, free because it's part of the VFO access program available from Aira. Now the operative part that we've talked about with all this is that you have to be an Aira explorer. Michael Hingson: On the job you've got a lot of ways to do it in theory, and I realize that this is only in theory because different places operate in different ways and so on. But, typically speaking if you want to get a job even if it costs you money upfront to be an Aira explorer to subscribe to the service, to start that process, Aira can better help you in dealing with getting that job not only from the job access process that we talked about earlier but when you go into an employer's office and are going through an interview, and they ask you, how are you gonna do one thing or another? You can say, I'll show you. Now, technically, I suppose, one could say, why are you asking me how to do things when you don't ask sighted people how to do things? Michael Hingson: And I suppose if you wanted to be a stickler under the law say, that's true. But for me, I want the job and if I have the opportunity to educate an employer and help them understand that I'm gonna be more employable because I'm gonna be using Aira then I will educate the employer any day of the week. And more important I would then say, Aira is a service that costs money and as you provide various different kinds of technologies and methodologies and devices for all of your employees to do their job, this is one that I need to do my job. And under the law that is appropriate to do. More important than that, it's encouraged and most people at least have some sort of a clue that's a valuable thing to do. Aira is a reasonable accommodation. Michael Hingson: And, it's not very expensive compared to lots of other things that an employer might provide an employee and it makes you much more efficient. And if I were really gonna make the case I would say, hey employer you know the unemployment rate among employable blind people is anywhere between 65 and 70%. I gotta tell you right now, it is really hard for me to get a job because people don't think I can do the job although I can. People don't look at what I can do, they think well you're blind cause you can't and so as a result, you can't. Although I've just shown you how Aira helps me do the job better. If you hire me I guarantee you I'm sticking it out here because it is so hard to get a job. If you're gonna have faith in me, I'm gonna have faith in you. The fact is we will be more loyal on the job if we're given the opportunity and Aira can help make that case and sell it for you. And I think that's an important aspect of dealing with looking for a job. Michael Hingson: Is it HIPAA certified? Today, it is not. HIPAA does have standards although we are compliant with the California certification and security standards which actually is even worse than HIPAA but it's a very expensive process to get HIPAA certified. There is a lady in Canada who works at a community college and she deals with a lot of the medical cases and other privacy issues that go around student paperwork on the campus. What they did is they included in the paperwork that you signed to go to that college a statement that basically says that, some of your material may be read by a person who happens to be blind and they will be using reader services including remote reading services, Aira, to read your material. By signing this paper you consent for that to be able to be done. Michael Hingson: Now as soon as you make that consent statement and as soon as they sign it then HIPPA is not even relevant anymore for that person. And they're doing that as a blanket thing for every student that goes to the college. So, the issue is that we know that there are a lot of different kinds of processes, HIPAA is a good one and we are working toward that process. But there are also a lot of situations where our agents are extremely well trusted. There is a lawyer that I know in the United States who works for an organization and there is constant need to read and prepare documents for trial. And there is a lot of stuff in going through and dealing with things for trial, that's pretty confidential stuff. Michael Hingson: It's confidential from the law firms standpoint because they don't want the other side to necessarily know things until they're ready to give it to them. But it's also true the documents that are being used in discovery and acquired in discovery can be very confidential. Agents are really trusted because we know what happens in an Aira connection stays in an Aira connection. It doesn't go further. Many of us use Aira to look at our personal financial documents because it makes it available. Michael Hingson: My wife is sighted but if I don't have to use her to look at stuff I won't because she has her own things to do. And as willing as she is to describe things, to give me data and to help me accomplish tasks like that. Two things, no offense to my wife, but Aira describes better because they do it all the time and they're use to it. By the way, she'll acknowledge that because she's heard some of the agents. But two, I don't have to take her away from other things which gets back to what we said about on the job work right. So, the fact is that it makes for a much better situation all the way around. And Aira can be only positive in a job environment, much less in what we've talked about with students and so on. So, there is a, I think that the job didn't actually happen but for other reasons. Michael Hingson: There's a person who almost two years ago went to a career fair in Los Angeles and one of the companies there was See's Candy and they were hiring people to process orders so she turned in her resume and they said we'd love to hire you but problem is not all of our orders are electronic some come in paper. And she well let me show you and pulled out Aira. And that eliminated the problem. They said, gee solved that for us, great. Sure working in a store think of all the various things that you need to do whether it be, finding material on a shelf, reading a cash register that doesn't talk or excuse me point of sale device that doesn't talk. Whether it be doing other kinds of things. Whether it's filing or whatever. Blind vendors can use Aira and can be more efficient because they can stock their own shelves. They can read all the information that's not accessible to them. Again, I get back to what I said, you're only limited by your own imagination with what you can do with Aira. Michael Hingson: Aira doesn't use volunteers and our general response time is extremely quick, the time to get an answer is usually 10 seconds. Are you a user of Be My Eyes? Speaker 10: Yes, I'm an uses of Be My Eyes. Michael Hingson: So, Be My Eyes is a way that you can call someone and get simple tasks done. The problem is you don't know who you're gonna get in terms of their abilities. You don't know how long it's gonna take you and you can't do something like walk through an airport like you can with Aira. All of those things you can do with Aira. Speaker 11: I read somewhere that Aira can be activated via Siri. Michael Hingson: You can. You can say, make an Aira call or call Aira. You can use Siri to do it. Actually, I think you've got to call Ara because Siri don't talk good. Patrick Lane: There's two different voice commands depending on what device you're gonna be using. You can say Ara video call or Ara audio call and depending on which one you use it will call from either your glasses or your phone and connect to an agent very quickly as Mike said, 10 seconds or less depending on whether or not we have the largest conference going on in the country. Michael Hingson: But you do need to say Ara cause that's what Siri knows. Siri's gotta learn some language skills. What you will get is someone who is highly trained. You will get someone who knows how to describe, we've actually hired a number of new agents over the past months so, you're gonna get some newbies. I worked with one agent yesterday, I was blown away when I learned that at the end of the call, I was one of the first calls and this was her first day on the job. She did great. Aira's available for Android or for iPhones. Anybody with a smartphone can use it. That's the answer that we've been using. That changes too. Michael Hingson: Aira has developed its own glasses, it's the next generation of what Aira will become and that system consists of glasses with a high-resolution camera with a very wide field of view compared to the way it use to be. They actually connect directly to what we call an Aira controller or Aira controller phone. It's an Android phone locked only to Aira stuff. It also because of that it powers the glasses and there's a lot more power available. But, by using that system you don't even need your smartphone so you'll use the Aira system without even using the smartphone. Without even using your smartphone so that Aira will make it possible for you to keep your phone free for making your own phone calls while you're working with an agent. Michael Hingson: Or for example, if you're paging or needing to page or call Lyft or Uber you can ask an Aira agent to do that if you're an Aira explorer. And you link your Lyft and Uber accounts to Aira but along the way, there's a very good likelihood that the Lyft driver or Uber driver will call you and say, how am I gonna know you or where exactly are you? In the past, that's been a problem because you're using your smartphone and you have to disconnect from the Aira agent and then get back on. Now you don't because you're using the Aira controller as the way that you're communicating with Aira so your smartphone is still available. That is the horizon system. Michael Hingson: I am now connecting my Aira-   Automated Voice: Unlocked. Michael Hingson: Horizon glasses.   Automated Voice: Glass connected. Initializing Aira. Michael Hingson: Can everyone hear that?   Automated Voice: Hello Mikel Hingson.   Patrick Lane: Mikel Hingson.   Automated Voice: Aira ready for service. Michael Hingson: Yeah, it says Mikel. Could everyone hear that?   Patrick Lane: Yep. Michael Hingson: So I'm using the horizon glasses.   Automated Voice: Battery 73% that's attached connected to Arave four G LT. Hello Mikel Hingson, Aira ready for service. Michael Hingson: I want feedback to support we want Mikel to be pronounced correctly. All right, here listen to this.   Automated Voice: Calling Aira agent. Connecting to agent, connecting to agent. Michael Hingson: See how long it takes.   Automated Voice: Connecting to agent, connecting to agent Peter. Michael Hingson: Bingo.   Peter: Thank you for calling Aira, this is Peter how may I help you? Michael Hingson: Hey Peter, how's every little thing?   Peter: Going well, how are you? Michael Hingson: Doing well. So we are in a room and might you be able to tell us anything about where we are in terms of where this room is or anything like that?   Peter: I do see you're at Rosen Shingle Creek so I'm assuming your at the NFB Conference. Michael Hingson: And you see that's part of what Peter and all agents get is not only what they can see but they get GPS information and other data that can add value to them in terms of your Aira experience. And you are right we are at the NFB Convention, we are at the Rosen Shingle Creek Hotel and we are in Pensacola, H3 if you wanted to pull that up so you can really see where we are. Can you maybe describe a little bit of the room for us?   Peter: Sure. So you're in a relatively large room with really high ceilings, I want to say they're about 30 feet high at least. The room you're in, so it looks like you're seated on the stage, there are several rows across from you, they're all facing forward and there is a walkway down the center aisle between those rows as well. Michael Hingson: Peter, really serious question. Does anybody look like they're asleep? Those people in the back row, you know what I'm saying, Peter?   Peter: I see people waving. Michael Hingson: I just want to make sure because those people in the back rows they usually hide back there because they think they can fall asleep but with Aira they can't do that. One of my favorite stories is about a father who wanted to make sure his daughter was doing her homework, he called an Aira agent and walked in, and just said, how are things, what are you doing? She said, I'm doing my homework and the agent said, no she's playing computer games on her phone. Anyway, does anyone want to ask, while we've got Peter and Patrick, so Patrick's over here Peter?   Patrick Lane: Hey Peter.   Peter: Hey Patrick.   Patrick Lane: Good to see you again. Michael Hingson: So, any questions for either of these gentlemen?   Patrick Lane: So, the dashboard that Peter's using, what information does he have access to for him too?- Michael Hingson: So Peter why don't you tell us about your dashboard.   Peter: So on my dashboard, I have information like emergency contact info first of all in their profile, and then I do have access to seeing what kind of assisted devices anyone might be using such as a white cane or guide dog. Different preferences they have, if they prefer left and right or clock face for orientation. Just things so we can tailor the experience to each specific explorer since everyone has their own preferences. We also have access to like Michael said earlier the GPS location on the map and I'll be able to utilize public transit, I am, if the explorer connects the Aira app to their Lyft of Uber accounts, we're also able to request those rides for our explorers and then we'll be able to take a look at the driver's info, the name, the car the driver has and spot where they are on the map. And let the explorer know when the driver has arrived and help them spot the car. Michael Hingson: And more important with the NFB ride share test program, for example, if the car comes and it sees that you are blind and have a guide dog, and just decides to drive away, they'll get nailed.   Peter: We'll watch them like a hawk. Michael Hingson: They'll get in trouble. Other questions for Peter? Peter, can you read medication bottles?   Peter: Yes. Before I became an Aira agent I actually don't think I've ever met or interacted with anyone blind or low vision. So, initial training they start with just explaining what it's like for people who are blind or low vision, getting the what orientation mobility is and what kind of information is important to an explorer versus what I think is important information to me as a sighted person because those things are very different. We learn how to give what's necessary and then also when an explorer wants more detail, we learn what kind of detail to give them and then we start exploring the dashboard that we have with all those things I explained to you and then we do some training.   Peter: And the explorers who also [inaudible] who helps us train and we just do exercises like navigating, intersections with different tools. So, Michael has a guide dog and we'll learn how someone navigates with a guide dog and then we'll have another explorer teach us how someone navigates with a white cane and that helps us just get use to all the different things because it's one describing all the visual information that we want to give to the explorer but there's also the technical side of using the dashboard and all the other ways we communicate with other agents and the rest of the Aira team. Michael Hingson: The question was what can Aira do to help people do mobile deposit, bank deposits and so on.   Peter: I actually, coincidentally done that a couple times in the past couple weeks. We can help you align your phones camera over the check and make sure that it's face up, whichever side the app wants you to do and for certain bank apps, some of them aren't as accessible as others so it will help get you aligned to where the button is to take a picture of the check and send it off. Michael Hingson: So you've had an agent that wasn't able to make that happen. When you encounter a situation where an agent isn't successful it would be extremely helpful for you to provide that feedback because well Patrick why don't you deal with that. Patrick Lane: We love when the explorers use the feedback form at the end for both good and bad calls. That's why we have both good and poor marked on there. When you leave us feedback about why a call was poor, we as analysts can go provide that extra training to make that all of our standards are being met by the agents and that your standards are being met by the agents as well. Michael Hingson: So, if your having a problem getting an agent to be able to help you with a mobile deposit then it's important that we hear about that so that we can go back and review it and talk to the agent and find out what the problem is. And see what their difficulty is. So, if you took 60 minutes that's a real problem, and you should get that time credited back. But you have to let Aira know to do that. There are any number of factors, the camera could be one, I mean, it could be that on a particular day the cell service wasn't as good as it ought to be. Michael Hingson: Aira is absolutely pushing the envelope in terms of the technology with video streaming and so on and any number of factors can make it less than stellar and its not Airas fault or anyone's fault it's just the way it is. We'll talk about in a moment the new horizon glasses which will make a lot of that better. But those aren't the kinds of things that we do end up dealing with and so Aira can help make it better by understanding when you encounter problems. Those are some of the best things is to do is to be able to really talk about the problems that you're having so please give the feedback okay. Michael Hingson: I want to thank you all for coming. I would appreciate it if you would tell friends and colleagues. We've got more sessions coming up later this week. We will be at the booth. If you sign up for Aira by the way, you can then participate in refer a friend. If you refer someone to Aira, and they sign up, then they will get a free month, and you will get a free amount of credit equal to whatever plan they sign up for. So, get your friends to sign up. Scott White here at our national center has been very good at that, and I think mostly paid for a year of Aira because he got his friends to sign up. Pete Lane: I thought I'd pop in here and bring you up to date on a couple of recent developments with the Aira service. Aira is now available twenty-four seven. This means that explorers can dial up an agent from their Aira app anytime night or day. This not only allows U.S. users to dial Aira during the wee hours of the morning but it also allows folks in the U.K., Australia, and New Zealand to get an agent at times during the day when the need was very great in the past. Such as in the afternoon, during rush hour or during the prime time evening hours. Pete Lane: Another brand new feature is the Aira messages feature. Messages allows Aira explorers and agents to communicate via text. There's a text box that pops up right on the Aira app and you can type or dictate your message directly to the agent. This is really useful if you're going into a meeting or library or a church for example where you want to be very quiet. You can text your communication to the agent telling them what you want, what tasks you want performed and things like that without having to talk and interrupt what's going on around you. Pete Lane: There are also about a half a dozen pre-set messages for more common situations that you can just tap on and send. Those pre-sets can be edited or completely changed depending on your needs. Another new feature is called Aira live. Aira live allows an explorer to broadcast the audio from their contact with an agent either to a small group of private listeners or to a larger group through a public live event. This allows others who download the app and either create a guest account or who are already Aira explorers to tap into the app, go to the live tab and see what live events are currently in session. Pete Lane: And finally we have a new edition to the Aira team, Anirudh Koul, founder of Seeing AI and former senior data scientist with Microsoft has joined the Aira team as the head of artificial intelligence and research. Big things are in store for Anirudh and we welcome him to the Aira staff. Thanks so much for listening to Blind Abilities. For more podcasts with the blindness perspective you can find us on the web at www.blindabilities.com we're on Facebook and on Twitter or download our free app from the app store or the Google Play store. That's two words, Blind Abilities. Once again this podcast is brought to you by Aira. Special thanks to Patrick Lane for his wonderful guitar music. Thanks so much for listening and have a great day.    

In this Blind Vet Tech Quick Guides, News and Reviews podcast, we unbox, setup, demonstrate, and provide our initial review about AIRA’s Horizon glasses. We previously published an article on this amazing service that relies on a pair of smart glasses and an AIRA Agent to understand their environments, sort laundry, read a book, and […]

Aira Welcomes Memphis International Airport As The First to Join the New Site Access Airport Program   Aira presents this interview with Scott Brockman, CEO and President of the Memphis International Airport. Scott has brought his airport into a new Site Access Airport Program in which Aira Explorers will enjoy free minutes while connected to their Aira Agent. Join Pete and Scott as they discuss the workings of the program and Memphis Airport’s genuine commitment to customer service and accessibility. Learn how this  new program works and how you can contact your local airport to encourage them to join the Aira Site Access Network as well. Since Pete chatted with Scott, the Minneapolis International Airport has joined as the second airport to enlist in the program. Explore your world  like never before From exploring new neighborhoods and restaurants in the city, to traveling the globe - Aira empowers the blind to experience their world and surroundings like never before. Accessible devices Aira's platform works on wearable devices such as Google Glass and Vuzix that can be paired with your smartphones. Real-time request The tiny camera mounted on your wearable device provides instant feedback so Aira Agents can safely guide you with any activity. Certified agents Our network of trained Aira Agents, who could even be one of your family or friends, are able to assist you whenever and wherever.   You can find out more about Aira on the web and follow Aira on Twitter @Airaio     Thank you for listening. You can follow us on Twitter @BlindAbilities On the web at www.BlindAbilities.com Send us an email Get the Free Blind Abilities App on the App Store.

Aira Presents Hy Cohen: Enjoying Enriched Personal Interactions with Aira #ExplorerStories  Aira Presents, Explorer Stories, a look into the extraordinary and  often ordinary stories of Aira Explorers and how they use this technology in their daily lives. In this episode of Explorer Stories, Aira presents  Hy Cohen. We hope you enjoy. For any working parent, balancing the demands of the job with the needs to be actively involved in a home with small children can be challenging. One father of two who is a does not let blindness stand in the way of creating and sharing special moments with his first grader daughter, making memories that will last a lifetime. Meet Hy Cohen, an Aira Explorer since July 2017 who is discovering richer visual experiences by tapping into today's fastest growing assistive community for the blind and visually impaired.  Work at a local non-profit serving California's San Joaquin County is full busy days that can include teaching several adaptive technologies classes, helping clients develop adaptive skills, or doing assessments for the Department of Rehabilitation and Veteran's Administration. So after a busy day at the office one could think Hy probably relaxes with a quiet evening at home.  Right? With a daughter in first grade, Hy is finding ways to make daddy daughter moments memorable for them both. As most parents will readily acknowledge, most seven year old kids are----to say the least---active.   And is Hy's daughter any different?As every parent knows, life with an active seven year old is not always just a walk in the park.  There are those nights when a first grader's homework becomes the shared experience. And it is no different at the Cohen house where Hy is an active participant on homework night. Having the sighted assistance his Aira Agent provides helps Hy engage and participate more fully in homework sessions, but doesn't stop there. He also uses the service to enrich their shared reading sessions, creating special moments for both dad and daughter. Stay tuned for more Explorer Stories, presented by Aira. You can find out more about Aira, on the web and subscribe today! Thank you for listening. You can follow us on Twitter @BlindAbilities On the web at www.BlindAbilities.com Send us an email Get the Free Blind Abilities App on the App Store.

My Weekend with Emmitt Smith, Compliments of #ExperienceMore @AT&T @Aira The AT&T ExperienceMore Campaign and Aira present “My Weekend with Emmitt Smith”. Join Pete Lane as he and his son Patrick travel to Dallas, Texas to attend a Cowboys NFL game courtesy of AT&T and Aira. Pete takes us through his weekend, from jumping on his flight from Jacksonville to DFW Airport in Fort Worth, to “Game Day”. Enjoy the sounds of AT&T stadium, from the field level to the Ring of Honor Suite and special seats on the 50 yard line. Best of all, join Pete as he connects to his very special Aira Agent, Emmitt smith: NFL Hall of Famer, all-time NFL leading rusher, and former star of the University of Florida Gators. Hear Emmitt call the plays of the game in real time, his knowledge of the game of football and his understanding of what a blind fan wants to hear while viewing the game. Finally, join Pete and Patrick as they enjoy a special tour behind the scenes of AT&T Stadium the day after the game. Sit back and relax as Pete presents this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity in a way that only Blind Abilities can offer! Check out the experience More Campaign at ExperienceMore.ATT.Com and learn more about the fabulous Aira service on the web. You can find more podcasts with a blindness perspective at www.BlindAbilities.com.

AT&T and Aira Present: The #ExperienceMore Campaign   AT&T and Aira present the first in a series of interviews featuring individuals who have influenced the blindness community through their passions and actions. This podcast is produced by Blind Abilities.    Jeff Thompson andPete Lane chat with Deborah Sunday, representing AT&T, and Kevin Phelen, Vice President of Marketing and Sales for Aira, to discuss the Experience More Campaign, a social campaign observing the achievements of various blind and visually impaired people across  the blindness community, including Christine Ha, Erich Manser and others. Also captured in this campaign will be a series of visits to AT&t stores in eleven cities across the nation, and perhaps most appealing: a Sweepstakes for which the winner will receive two tickets to Dallas to attend a professional football game. Add to this the fact that they will also have use of a pair of Aira glasses and the Aira Agent for the game will be the one and only Emmitt Smith, NFL Hall of Famer, and all-time leading rusher. Emmitt will call the play by play for the entire game. What better way to experience more at a professional football game!  Stay tuned to Blind Abilities for more interviews around the Experience More Campaign, and Aira.   You can read more about the campaign at: www.ExperienceMore.ATT.com   You can enter the sweepstakes on Instagram or Twitter by using the Hash Tag: #ExperienceMore #Sweepstakes @ATT, or by going to the web site above. You can find out more about Aira and find the plan that fits your needs. good luck and enjoy the podcast… and the trip to Dallas!   Thank you for listening. You can follow us on Twitter @BlindAbilities On the web at www.BlindAbilities.com Send us an email Get the Free Blind Abilities App on the App Store.

Aira Visual Interpreter for the Blind: the Agent Perspective, Growing and Evolving, an Inside Look Blind Abilities presents the next installment in its series on Aira. Pete Lane continues his interview with Amy Bernal, Director of Aira Agents, and Patrick Lane, Aira Agent analyst. Hear their thoughts on Aira agent training, their views on customer service and the continuing evolution of the agent position. Aira has grown from eight contract agents at the time of the interview, to twenty-three, and they continue to hire. If you are a sighted listener, check the web site at Aira.IO for details, or contact Erin@Aira.IO for information on becoming an agent. Hear how Aira is piloting extended hours of availability until 10p.m. Pacific Time, 1a.m. Eastern.    Blind Abilities offers a detailed look into Aira: the product, its users, agents and the company itself - a perspective that cannot be found anywhere else in the podcast arena. stay tuned for future podcasts as Jeff and Pete interview Erich Manser, employed by IBM Accessibility and a blind runner who recently completed the Boston Marathon with Aira as part of his visual guide. Keep it tuned right here for more podcasts with a blindness perspective! Thank you for listening. You can follow us on Twitter @BlindAbilities On the web at www.BlindAbilities.com Send us an email Get the Free Blind Abilities App on the App Store.