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The 2014 Winter Paralympics started Friday in Sochi, Russia. Over the next 8 days, athletes will be competing in five different sports. This year’s U.S. team includes six visually impaired athletes, competing in alpine skiing, Nordic skiing, and the Biathlon. Let's take a moment to learn about the athletes representing the United States.

The team at Hollywood Access Services announced today that they are deciding to shut down the company. The team, which was comprised of descriptive audio professionals has spent the past few years trying to expand descriptive audio and enter into new markets. Last year, they released a track for the movie Philomena on the MovieReading app for the iPhone. They also have done tracks for shows like Breaking Bad, The Wire, and The Walking Dead. According to the email to customers, the tracks they've already created will still be available for purchase from iTunes or Amazon for the next year. Visit the Solo-DX website to find ways to buy their tracks.

I reached out to the team at Solo-DX to learn more about why they are shutting down. This was their official response: "Thank you for your email and kind words. Unfortunately, our company was not getting enough business to cover expenses, and after stretching ourselves as far as we could, we had to make the hard decision to shut down. We truly wish we could have lasted to get MovieReading more on its feet, but we hope that the enthusiasm the app generated and the in-roads we made will help them continue on and get more content."

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A graduate student at San Francisco State University is studying the use and experience with audible pedestrian signals. Much of the research about audible signals has only focussed on traffic engineers and O and M instructors rather than the end users. The survey includes 29 questions and should take between 10 to 15 minutes to complete. If you don't feel comfortable taking the survey online, you can email apssurvey.sfsu@gmail.com to set up a time to complete the survey over the phone.

This year is HIMS 15th anniversary. In celebration, they are asking customers and those interested in HIMS products to fill out a short five question survey. Everyone that participates will be entered to win one of five $15 Starbucks gift cards. The questions cover: why you're interested in assistive technology, what disability related topics you're interested in, what products or services interest you, and what topics you would like to have a webinar discuss.

The Department of Computer Science at North Carolina State University is studying the use of magnification by people with visual impairments. The purpose of the study is to learn about the experience of those who use magnification. Improvements for usability and productivity can than be made based on the responses from participants. The survey includes 26 questions.

A team of researchers at MIT have just designed the first prototype OCR scanner that fits on your finger. The device, which is currently known as the finger meter, allows the user to scan over text with their hand and have the text read aloud. The video on the website demonstrates someone using this device to scan a document.

Beyond reading pages of printed text, this device could be a great option for reading labels on products, finding out the price of items, and so much more. It could also be a great benefit in the classroom for students who don't have access to a portable OCR solution.

On the website, there is an option to provide your email address if you want to stay informed about the progress of the project.

If you're a fan of the Papa Sangre games and the Knight Jar, consider donating to the KickStarter Campaign from Somethin Else. The team wants to release their newest game, but they need more funds in order to finish the project. Their newest offering is called Audio Arena: Zombie Defense. In the game, your job is to fight zombies as a blind warrior. According to the KickStarter page, what sets this game apart is the audio engine. Unlike other first person shooters, not only are there no visuals, the audio experience is like none other.

Reading regular sheet music can be a challenge for people with low vision. A new app for the iPad aims to solve this problem. Music Zoom is a sheet music app that allows users to enlarge their sheet music easily. Users are also able to scroll through the music using wired/wireless foot switches, or gestures on the screen. Other features of the app include: in app highlighting to draw the eyes to important sections of the music, inverting colors to white on black, and importing music from scanned images or the photo library. Music Zoom can be purchased for $19.99.

If you thought that the BrainPort was strange, researchers in Israel are now developing a contact lens that would tell the blind what they are seeing through tactile stimulation on their eye. The device uses a smart phone camera to take a picture and than translates that image into a set of electric pulses that the wearer would feel on the eye. The researchers feel like their field testing has been promising, but before this device ever comes to market they have to go through full clinical testing. Tell us what you think of this idea. Would you feel comfortable with having images drawn for you on your eyes? Is this preferable to the BrainPort which uses the tongue?

Enhanced Vision has just released their latest desktop magnifier called the Merlin Ultra HD. This magnifier has an HD camera that has a wider lens to improve image quality. Some other features of this magnifier include: easy to use tactile controls, LED lighting for better image quality, adjustable tilt for the screen, and 1.9 X to 104 X magnification depending on size of screen and XY table chosen. For pricing and more information, contact Enhanced Vision at (888) 811-3161.

Back in the fall I read about a new series on NBC that would feature a blind character. The show, which we now know is called Growing Up Fisher, is about a families transition through divorce. What makes this show different is that the dad is a blind lawyer. According to an article in Studio System news , the show is based on the childhood of the main writer DJ Nash. His goal was to write about what it was like to have a blind dad and experience his parents going through a divorce.

After waiting for months to find out when the show would be airing, it was recently announced that the show would premier after the closing ceremonies of the olympics which is this Sunday. To see the premier though, you'll have to stay up until 10:30. If you miss the premier, you can watch the show on Tuesdays at 9:30 on NBC. To get a feel for what the show is like, check out the videos on the Growing Up Fisher Youtube page.

There have been a number of shows that have featured blind characters. In all cases that I'm aware of, none of these characters have been played by blind actors. Growing Up Fisher is no different. This show also adds in the complexity that the character is a guide dog user. So now, the writers are left with the task of not only portraying the blind community accurately, but how to use a guide dog. It is my sincere hope that Mel Fisher will be a character that will be a positive contribution to our community and show viewers that people who are blind are capable of doing anything they choose.

A team in Houston has developed a new and innovative way to improve vision for people with diseases such as macular degeneration and RP. By using the Occulus Rift and their own software, the team is able to customize each device for the user. According to the company's website, this is how the device works. "The VUE takes stereo images captured by two cameras and using custom software from Reveal, manipulates the images to present them in the best way for the specific user. These manipulations are not only custom for the wearer, but also for each eye. The VUE then presents the images to the user through the Oculus Rift display with minimal latency." In field tests, they've found that users can improve their vision up to 3 to 5 lines on the eye chart.

In order to bring the device to market, they need to raise more funds. Visit their Indiegogo campaign page to learn more and contribute.

A new version of NVDA has just been released as a beta. Some of the new features in NVDA 2014.1 include: support for Powerpoint 2013, support for braille displays that are connected using the Widcomm Bluetooth software, and readable labels for attachments or flagged emails in outlook or windows live mail.

A new study just published in the journal Experimental Eye Research showed that the active chemicals in marijuana can slow down the progression of Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP). For the study, researchers in Spain gave rats with the disease doses of synthetic THC and found that after 90 days, rats who had received the treatment had 40% more photo receptors and performed better on eye exams. This finding points to another way that marijuana can help treat progressive diseases. It will be interesting to see how eye doctors respond to the findings and if they start recommending medical marijuana for their RP patients.

From now until February 17, HIMS is offering discounts on some of their products. You can get $100 off the BookSense XT, now $449, $50 off the BookSense, no $299, and $100 off the Candy Grip Handheld Magnifier .

Today President Obama made an executive order raising the Federal minimum wage from $7.25 to $10.10 an hour. This change will impact hundreds of thousands of people who either work for or are contracted by the federal government. Under that executive order, the president is including all federally contracted workers including those who work for sheltered workshops. this is the first step in the battle to change the law that allows people with disabilities who work in sheltered workshops to be paid less than the minimum wage. Hopefully, this executive order will be a wake up call to congress to finally change this law.

Technology in our classrooms is becoming more prevalent each year. Although technology can be a great asset for students with disabilities, it can also be a barrier if the technology is not accessible. There are already a number of laws that help protect student's rights to have access to accessible materials, but the current laws aren't always strong enough. A new bill in congress called the Technology, Equality, and Accessibility in College and Higher Education Act, or the TEACh act, would require that technology used by colleges and universities either be accessible or that accommodations would be put in place to give students as much access as possible. This <a href="http://petri.house.gov/press-release/petri-introduces-teach-act-ensure-equal-access-educational-materials-students" article provides more details about the act and what it would do.

A petition on Change.Org has been set up for supporters of the bill. The petition already has over 120 thousand signatures, but the more signatures the better. If you believe this is a bill that will help students with disabilities, consider adding your name by following the link in the headline. Both of the major U.S. consumer organizations have expressed support for the bill.

If you live in Sydney and are blind, you are eligible to help Google research how the blind use mobile applications made by Google. The interviews will last for about 2 hours, and questions will cover how the blind use mobile devices such as phones and tablets, and the accessibility of Google apps like Drive and Gmail. Participants will earn $200 for their time. Call Murray Gale at 02 9371 0855 or send an email to office@qra.net.au for more information.

One of the greatest challenges for lowering the cost of printed braille is making braille printers affordable to everyone. This challenge may just have been tackled by a 7th grader in California. Using Lego's Mindstorms EV3 kit and some parts from a hardware store, Shubham Banerjee came up with a way to make a braille printer that costs less than $500. His invention, called BRAIGO is named for the combination of braille and Lego. Shubham has decided to make his project open source so that families around the world and organizations that serve the blind will have easy access to the software that runs the printer.

In this youtube video, Shubham demonstrates how the printer actually works. At this point, the printing speed may be too slow for many applications, but the cost will hopefully open the doors to more of the blind having access to braille around the world. It will be fascinating to see how this project progresses.

The writer Rosemary Mahoney has just released a new book called "For the Benefit of Those Who See". It describes her time spent at the Tibetan school for the blind known as Braille Without Borders. To celebrate the book and braille, the National Braille Press is giving the book away for free for those who sign up for their monthly eNews. The free copy is an eBraille file. If you're interested, follow the link in the headline.