Samsung’s Galaxy Core Advance isn’t the latest phone but it is the first in our knowledge to get hearing and visual aids like these. Here’s the three brand new accessories for the Galaxy Core Advanced: an ultrasonic cover that “detects obstacles and navigate unfamiliar places”, an optical scan stand and a Voice Label assistant.
These three accessories may look odd to us, but each one does what it sets out to.
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Firstly, the Ultrasonic Cover.
This ones the most ingenious of the lot, and works like the radar system employed by vespertilionibus (bats). The Ultrasonic Cover attaches to the phone allowing the user to detect objects care of a vibrations. The Cover detects the presence of people and objects from up to two meters away. In an ideal world, let’s just imagine that no-one would steal a phone being held out by a blind person.
The Optical Scanning stand looks the craziest, but is the most helpful for the visually impaired. The stand, which looks like a miniature old-school projector we used to use at school, focuses on and recognises text, reading it back to the reader. The process happens automatically when the Galaxy Core Advance docks with the Optical Scan Stand.
Lastly we have Voice Label: by combining NFC with the Core Advance, users can now make notes and tag voice labels. For instance, savvy users can record a voice note explaining how to use a feature on a laptop, then access it at any time from the app.
This shows that Samsung is making a real effort to make sure that everyone enjoys its products. According to Samsung PR, all three accessories are already on sale and raring to make a difference. There’s no word yet on local South African availability, but we’ll keep you posted as soon as we know more.
