Jarek Wiazowski, International Sales and Support for Harpo, takes a few moments to talk about and demonstrate the new Mountbatten Whisper. The unit is built to be much quieter than a standard Brailler, and includes Bluetooth for interface with an app available for iOS, Android and Mac. The app allows for real-time print-to-Braille and Braille-to-print translation so students and teachers can interact effectively. Humanware is the exclusive distributor for the device in the U.S. and Canada, and you can also read more on the Harpo international website or visit the Harpo Facebook page.
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Transcript
We strive to provide an accurate transcription, though errors may occur.
Hide transcriptTranscribed by Kayde Rieken
Welcome to BlindBargains.com coverage of CSUN 2015 — the biggest names, provocative interviews, and wall-to-wall exhibit hall coverage — brought to you by the American Foundation for the Blind.
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Now, here's J.J. Meddaugh.
J.J. Meddaugh: We're here at CSUN 2015 with Jarek Wiazowski. Close enough? (Laughs)
Jarek Wiazowski: Close enough. (Laughs)
JM: Dealing with international sales and support and training and lots of things for Harpo, which has — I'm looking at a Mountbatten; but this is a newer type of Mountbatten, I guess, right?
JW: Yes.
JM: Welcome to Blind Bargains. Why don't you tell me what you have here.
JW: Thank you. Thank you. Happy to be here with you.
JM: So what do we have here?
JW: What we're looking at — we're looking at the Mountbatten Brailler Whisper. So now you can do some magic with your Braille, but not only that. Our main goal was to — to produce a quiet, hard-copy Braille device so that teachers can put those machines in classrooms and help their blind students work with Braille without distracting other — the students in the class.
JM: Yeah. I remember that when I — when I was a kid, for sure. You — you had the big Perkins, and you try to take notes on it; and it's, of course, a lot louder. So — so how does this work? We — we could do a demo, but maybe the goal is to not hear it? (Laughs)
JW: Right. That's kind of the goal, is not — not to hear it. I mean, the Mountbatten has also the voice output, but we can turn the volume down. However, if the student needs that audio support, they can plug in the earbuds so that other students do not really hear it.
JM: Okay.
[A synthesized voice announces the Backspace key.]
JM: All right. There's the — there's the voice.
[The voice announces letters as they are written, and a faint embossing sound is also heard.]
JM: So can we — how do we turn the voice off?
JW: We can just —
JM: Oh, it's a volume.
JW: Volume here. So turn the volume down.
JM: All right. Now let's try again here.
JW: Mm-hmm.
[More letters are Brailled, with the voice very faintly heard in the background.]
JM: And you're hearing that a — a bit on the recording, though; but we have the microphone right by it.
[More letters are Brailled.]
JM: The volume, though — I would say it's — it's like a — an office typewriter, would you say?
JW: A little bit. A little bit.
JM: Yeah. I mean, you know, let's — let's do something here.
[J.J. begins Brailling quickly.]
JM: But there you go. I mean, compared to, obviously, other Braillers, it's certainly — you know, you can still talk over that. It's not dominating the —
JW: Oh, easily. Yeah. Yes, you can easily talk over it. Mm-hmm.
JM: So what are — is the — is the hardware design the same or are there more buttons or are there more controls?
JW: No, no, the buttons and controls are the same. There are, naturally, changes in the Brailling mechanism, of course. We made it quiet.
JM: Okay.
JW: Certainly a lot quieter than it used to be, so that's — that was our main goal; and I think we have achieved it. And we've presented the Whisper to teachers in several states now, and they're really, really excited and are — are hoping to have those machines in their classrooms as soon as possible.
JM: Are these available now?
JW: They are — they're going to be available right after CSUN.
JM: And what's going to be the cost?
JW: The — for retail price, you have to go to Humanware. They are our exclusive authorized dealer in Canada and the United States.
JM: Right. So they're going to continue selling them like they did — is there any way to upgrade from older models to the new one, or is it —
JW: We don't have any programs — upgrade programs yet, so we can't answer that question at the moment.
JM: Did you say something about bluetooth as well, or is there — is there other —
JW: Yes. Yes.
JM: Is that with this?
JW: Yes. Bluetooth has been around for — for almost two years; and obviously, we continue —
JM: In what form? What do you mean? So what does bluetooth accomplish here?
JW: We use the bluetooth 4.0, the low-energy bluetooth, and we also developed an app. It's called MBMimic. The app is available right now for three different platforms: for iOS, Android, and also for Mac.
JM: Okay.
JW: So you can interface those mainstream devices with the Mountbatten for realtime, two-way print-to-Braille, Braille-to-print communication. Teachers can — teachers, for example, can easily see what their blind students are Brailling because that text is automatically translated into print and displayed on their iPads. They can also write from their iPads onto the Mountbatten. So if they see that a student is — has made a mistake, they can let them know. They can show them how they should spell certain words, or you know, they can help them with their schoolwork.
JM: Is there a cost for the companion apps, or is it free with the —
JW: No, app — app is absolutely free.
JM: Okay. Great. If people want to get more information about the — the Whisper and other products, what's the best way to do that?
JW: They're welcome to visit our international website. It's int.harpo.com.pl, or visit our Facebook page. It's Harpo.braille.
JM: All right. Hey, thank you so much again for coming back on the podcast.
JW: All right. Thank you. Thank you very much. Always a pleasure.
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J.J. Meddaugh is an experienced technology writer and computer enthusiast. He is a graduate of Western Michigan University with a major in telecommunications management and a minor in business. When not writing for Blind Bargains, he enjoys travel, playing the keyboard, and meeting new people.
