“These are a few of my Favorite Things”… On The New HIMS BrailleSense Polaris
By Dr. Betsy R Binney, MBA, Ph.D.
Betsy Binney has been providing assistive technology training to visually impaired individuals for ATR since 2011. She received both her MBA and PhD from Marquette University in business, finance and economics. For nine years, Betsy was the Director of Technology for the Wisconsin Council of the Blind & Visually Impaired in Madison, Wisconsin. There, she helped blind & visually impaired individuals use computers to enhance their lives and gain employment. Betsy also developed distance learning courses for blind users; created & presented classes on Web site accessibility to corporate clients; and designed the Council’s online Sharper Vision Store. She also served as Chair for the Assistive Technology Review Committee for Microsoft Corporation at the request of Bill Gates from 1995 to 2007. Betsy was diagnosed with juvenile onset diabetes when she was four years old. In February of 1993, she lost most of her useful vision to Diabetic Retinopathy. She has no vision in her left eye and a very small amount of residual vision in her right eye. The following are Betsy’s comments and review of the new Polaris notetaker from HIMS.
Battery Life
The HIMS flyer says the Polaris has 18 hours for battery life, which is phenomenal in its own right. On my initial test of the device I got 20 ½ hours using a Bluetooth keyboard and Wi-Fi! I was really impressed with this. I have a BrailleSense U2 and using Bluetooth and Wi-Fi I get about 12 hours.
Size
The BrailleSense Polaris has 32 cells of adjustable braille height, which is the same as the BrailleSense U2. However, the Polaris measures 9.66 x 5.66 x 0.39 inches! It’s only about 1/3 of an inch thick! It’s super lightweight at 1.65 pounds.
Display
Why on earth would a Braille Device have a display on it? Inclusion, Inclusion, Inclusion! The BrailleSense Polaris has an LCD high contrast screen on it so that it can be read by the sighted. It also has an HDMI port to hook into a monitor allowing the user to play presentations using the PowerPoint Viewer or Google Sheets.
Productivity
Preinstalled Apps include Polaris Office (Word, Slides, Sheets, E-mail), Web Browser, Terminal for Screen Reader, DAISY, File Manager, Schedule Manager, Address Manager, Calculator, Calendar, Media Player, Time & Date, Alarm, Stopwatch, and FM Radio. Optimized Apps include Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, Drive. These Apps can be synced with your existing Google accounts.
Apps
You can use the Google Play store to download additional apps. This can be done by going directly to the store from the Polaris. The Polaris links to iOS devices and Android devices. Touch gestures are also part of the BrailleSense Polaris. A user can use swiping and tap gestures right on the Polaris. This makes navigation a breeze.
Extras
Deaf-Blind clients will love the feature of using either a USB or Bluetooth keyboard to communicate with the hearing and sighted world. If you connect a keyboard with the BrailleSense Polaris, any person can communicate with the user. The BrailleSense Polaris supports conventional Braille in grades 1 and 2, Nemeth code, computer Braille and the latest Unified English Braille (UEB).
In summary, The BrailleSense Polaris is the missing link in mainstream schools that will allow students with a visual impairment to interact with other classmates. It will be a very useful tool for students and Vision Teachers alike.
Adaptive Technology Resources, ATR, of Southeastern Wisconsin provides adaptive products and services for clients with special needs, and also conducts professional evaluations by ATP* certified Occupational Therapists. ATR specializes in educational solutions, including Kurzweil 3000, firefly, Audio Notetaker, and Dragon Naturally Speaking and offers individual and group professional development for a variety of software and hardware solutions. ATR has been providing low vision rehabilitation services and devices to individuals with low vision since 1995.