Anthony Ferraro: Raised for Independence

Hello and welcome to the HumanWare
See Things Differently podcast.

Each month, join your hosts, Rachel Ramos
and David Woodbridge as we bring you engaging interviews from
guests, interaction from our one of a kind distribution partners stories
that will take you off the beaten path.

Current promos, shows
where you can find us and so much more.

So stick around.

Hello and Happy New Year!

See Things Differently listeners, welcome to January, where in some parts of the world it is freezing.

Some parts of the world it is not freezing
like where David is thinking, but in all parts of the world
it is a new year.

So happy New year, David.

How is your holidays?

It was absolutely spectacular.

I got to do lots of different things like listen to the cricket, lots of gardening.

Lots of sort of Non-Data
based karate stuff.

So no, I've had a really,
really nice break.

That's excellent. I have as well.

I've see some family and some friends
and just enjoyed the time off.

But we are back in action
and being back in action.

We are celebrating because we're always
celebrating something around here.

In this case, we are celebrating Braille Awareness Month
or as we like to say around here, BAM.

So celebrate BAM.

Like probably that Bambi or something.

No no no.

Somebody did bring you back.

He is welcome on the podcast anytime.

But by the way, but to celebrate and to kick off the year
and get us thinking about Braille and all the great things of Braille
has helped us achieve.

We are so excited to be joined
by Anthony Ferraro.

I've had the pleasure of meeting
Anthony at Braille Challenge last year.

He is from New Jersey.

He is a content creator.

He is a musician, he is an athlete,
and he is a Braille champion.

So we are so excited to talk to Anthony
about his journey with Braille and a few other things that are at Braille
related, but our martial arts related.

So stick around.

You will definitely not want to miss that
discussion that's going to take place.

But Anthony Ferraro from New Jersey,
welcome to the podcast.

We're so excited to have you here.

Thanks so much for having me, guys.

I really appreciate it.

David, I'm dying to ask.

When you say listening to cricket,
you mean the bug or the sport?

I made the, I mean, the, the actual sport,
I thought so

I do have a story to tell about cricket,
because I had one of my long time beliefs about how crickets were stored
in pet stores.

Absolutely shattered.

So I'll share that later on.

Because, yes,
every time we walk into a pet store, my wife still gives me a hard time
about it.

I love Bam, I've never heard Bam
before that they love it. Bam.

Oh, actually, isn't that what that was?

That kid in Flintstone was.

It was he called bam bam I maybe, but bam.

I'm using bam.

I like it, but as I like it, bam
I am well you Anthony you have

I think an amazing story
and so much to tell us about Braille.

As mentioned, I got to meet you last year
at Braille Challenge.

And here's some of your story in your
keynote speech was which was excellent.

But tell us kind of how you got started in Braille
and what was your schooling like.

And maybe on into college
in your career?

So I don't know, condense
your life into about five minutes.

I'm just kidding. Absolutely.

I was born with Libra's
congenital Ambrosius, which, is a degenerative eye condition,
and I was the youngest of five children.

The only one that was blind.

And my parents were very adamant about,
you know, kind of, you know, as any parent would, trying
to do the right thing for their kid.

And they went to all these specialists.

And the main thing they got
really the best take away was two things.

Don't treat your kid any differently.

And the other thing is make sure you know,
whatever it takes to get him a Braille education
and have him become literate in braille.

And that was by far the most, you know, valuable piece of information

I think my parents got because my Braille
education to me is everything.

And, you know, Braille isn't a privilege.

It's a right.

And like being it, being literate,
being able to read, and so I went to a school called

Saint Lucy's Day School for the Blind
and Visually Impaired, in Philadelphia.

And that's where I started
learning Braille.

You know, my teachers were amazing,
and I had so much fun because the public school in my town only wanted to give me
two hours of Braille education a week.

And, you know,
we all know that's not realistic to become proficient in Braille and, so they fought and fought and, you know,
got me a proper braille education.

And then after Saint Lucy's,
I left in seventh grade and went to the public school in my town
because now I, you know, is equipped
with the right tools.

And I was independent with my,
you know, literacy.

And I was able to continue by getting my,
you know, books in Braille and all my handouts.

I used to, yeah.

Saint Lucy's introduced me to
first was my Perkins

Braille reader that I carry back
and forth to classes, and then, after, you know, my forearm strength and my finger strength
and my freaking arm strength was incredible
from lugging that thing around,

I started I started, I then got a HumanWare

Braille.

No, I remember I was like,
what is this futuristic device?

You know, it was,
it's really interesting, like being able to save files,
sort of like a computer.

Like it was like Microsoft Word almost,
you know, and being able to plug my ballot in and emboss or print out my, files, and then it was just me
and Mary books on there, just this whole new world
and being able to carry it in my backpack, essentially, you know, and, wearing around my neck to be easy to use.

Then I got a, Apex.

I remember so seventh, eighth grade,
you know, went to that public school, and I was supposed to go
to the high school that both my older brothers
went to a private high school and had a handwritten letter of acceptance
in seventh grade.

And they said, you know, we're working on
getting your books, Braille, etc..

And then in eighth grade,
the president passed away and I received a letter
saying I was no longer accepted.

They didn't want to have to provide
any accommodations academically or environmentally.

And it was just like, ouch.

Yeah. Yeah, exactly. Wow.

It was awful.

And it was like, you know, I can't go here because of something I can't control
and something like, I can't change it.

It was just really like
life's unfair type of feeling.

And then, you know,

I just I was a big time
wrestler at the time.

Like, I put a lot of time into that
and ended up going this other high school, and it was another private high school
where they didn't have to do anything, but they went above and beyond and like,
I got a TBI and, the even the like.

So I, when I was a freshman
all the way up to my senior year actually, so seniors had this thing called,
Christian Service where they had to get ours for,
you know, community service hours.

And my wrestling coach, who was also
a teacher in the school, created this program where they could get ours
by embossing my handouts.

So all these kids were like, learning
how to, you know, emboss my handouts for school
and everyone.

It was like this whole village
I was helping.

I think once I accepted
Braille on my life, I'm really grateful.

My mom was really adamant
about my Braille education because I'm able to read books,
I'm able to take notes.

I'm able to,
you know, not get lost in the hotel.

I think it's a shame
that Braille is kind of like not promoted in schooling environments, like in public school
settings, especially, it's kind of veered
away from, they say that audio and, you know, just being able to hear
things is good enough.

And I totally I could not disagree more.

And, yeah, I just think we're doing
a huge disservice by doing that.

So I have a platform where I'm able to,
you know, promote Braille awareness and even like in the sighted community,
like make Braille a cool thing.

So people are thinking about it when they're designing things
and even just when they're, you know, because I have people that follow me
anywhere from ten years old to 70 years old
and those ten year olds, one day those kids
are going to be business owners.

These kids are going to be like
millionaires.

You never know what position they're going to be in, and they'll have
had these things in their mind.

Like, I need to think about other people
in designing things.

And I don't know if this is true.

This is an urban myth, but,
there was a story about how they had Braille on the ATM
at the drive through from McDonald's.

Oh, I've, I've seen that, I've seen that.

No, no, no, it's true.

It's true.

I got to do a video about that.

That would be so funny.

I'll walk through the drive
through and be like, oh, thank goodness there's Braille on the walk through.

I'm sorry, sir,
this is the drive thru line.

But why is it Braille here after you graduated from high school,
what was next for you?

I went to the College of New Jersey
for about two years.

I wrestled there, I think I was just,
like, a little too immature.

Not that like I was doing anything wrong.

My grades were great.

I think that time of your life
is just some nutty time.

You know, you're, like, 19 years old
and you think you're trying to figure your life out.

I got a concussion
in wrestling my sophomore year, and then I kind of left school
because I just like nothing was wrong.

That's the thing.

I just, like, I didn't feel.

I felt like I wanted to learn more outside of this little, like, bubble
that I felt like I was in.

And, I just wanted to explore the world.

But I did have a moment in school.
This is the problem.

Sophomore year of college,

I had this moment where I was like,
I know what I want to do.

Finally, I want to be a TVI.

Like,
we need more like good TVI in the world.

And I just want to help people.

And I went, we had this
five year like, master's program, you leave with your master's in the,
you know, become a TVI in like five years.

And I told my guidance counselor
and she was like, this is an awful idea.

You're going to waste your time,
your money.

You know, you can't do this.

You're not like, basically like along the lines of, like,
you're not smart enough to do this.

And, it was really negative
and it really affected me.

And they kind of shut me down.

I moved to California for a while
where, you know, lived with a few friends, worked on a farm,
did a bunch of stuff, and, came back and kind of started my whole journey of,
you know, the, the Olympics stuff.

So that's kind of where you got
into the athlete part of your journey.

Well, there was the wrestling throughout.

You know, I started wrestling in seventh
grade and I was awful.

I went two and 12 at,
which is two wins, 12 losses.

But one of the wins was a forfeit where you just go getting your hand raised
because no one showed up.

And,

I left there and like, my seventh grade
year and I was like, I want to get better.

You know, I started going to a club
nonstop, going to tournaments, every single tournament for months.

I didn't win, but I not only didn't win,
I didn't even score a point.

So I was getting really beat up.

And it was a lot,
but I just didn't give up.

And I kept putting the time in.

And then I was like,
I was going to competition every single weekend
to try and get better.

And then, eighth grade, I ended up going undefeated
and winning the whole championship.

And then, you know, high school,
I had a, good career of like 122 and 19.

And then there was a documentary
made about, my life as a blind wrestler trying to become the first Wayne
State champion in new Jersey. And that was, a lot of things happened.

My brother started the film, with another guy.

My brother passed away,
unfortunately, suddenly and, then the guy finished the film.

The film was put on Amazon
and to be called A shot in the dark.

And it's, you know, it's an hour
and a half long, full feature length documentary.

It's more than wrestling, too.

It's like all about my life and stuff.

And then, in 2017, that was in 2013.

I graduated high school, and in 2016,
the film was finished.

In 2017, the United States
Olympic Committee reached out to me and they asked if I would consider
training judo.

For the Paralympics.

And I had never tried judo.

So I started doing judo.

And, in three years I became like number one in the country
and top 20 in the world.

Now I am finally headed training
towards the 2028, Paralympics.

And I actually got to, I also, aside from
judo, I do skateboarding competitively.

And I got to do a, I got invited to do a demonstration
with a few other skateboarders.

To do an adaptive skateboarding
demonstration at the course during the Olympics.

So it was really exciting.

But I love the idea about a blind person
skateboarding, I do too.

That's that's awesome. That.

Yeah, it's a fun one, isn't it?

It's interesting. Like you've
you've achieved my goodness.

It really sounds like
you've had a few a few sort of like, you know, five steps forward and ten back,
but you've actually kept going.

So I think that's the start of my life
there.

David. Yeah.

My life is full of five steps
forward, ten steps back.

But you never stop stepping forward.

Faith is a big part of my life, too.

So, you know, God is a big part of in those awful dark times,
you know, losing a brother.

And then months later,
after losing a brother, I found my mom.

And at the bottom of the stairs in a coma.
Oh, my.

She had suffered a traumatic brain injury,
fell down the stairs, and it was like this awful
chain of events in my life.

And it's just like, you know, it's like you can give up or you kind of lean into faith
and know it's going to get all right.

When you said, you musician,
do you actually read music, bro.

Anthony?

Or you're one of these amazing people that can just pick up a tune and just,
you know, play it or sing it?

I have not a perfect pitch person
by any means.

I am not a music reader, but I did have, like everything else,
if I get into something, it's.

I love a challenge.

I just, I fall in love with,
you know, the whole journey of it.

And I look to find the best person to show me
because I know I'm not anything at it.

So when I started playing guitar,

I was god awful.

My dad used to call me Stone hands because
I didn't even know what rhythm was.

My family wouldn't let me practice in the
same room with them because I was so bad.

It was.

It was embarrassing, and I didn't get it.

And, I found a, I practiced every day where I.

My fingers just bleed.

I used to lug my guitar around school,
like, in between classes.

I would just play for five minutes.

Any chance I got and learn from anyone
I could pick it up from?

And then I found this blind guitar player
in my area who is amazing.

His older guy, he was like 75 and
I started going to him all the time for about eight months, and he just gave me
everything I need to learn on my own.

And he helped me develop systems and ways.

He taught me how to change guitar strings.

He taught me how to tune my guitar.

He taught me, like all this stuff.

And it was, it was amazing.

And now, you know, joke's on my family.

I'm playing like shows
and they're paid to play guitar, so, yeah, I like I work with my own
guitars and, it's awesome.

Welcome, everybody.

We are back with the Hot Topic segment.

And this segment is going to be a fun one because Anthony Ferraro
is still hanging around with us.

And we are going to talk about
karate versus judo as him and David both pursue
those martial arts activities.

But before we dive into that,
David mentioned in the previous segment that he was watching cricket,
and Anthony asked about the cricket.

Was it the animal?

Was it the sport?

And David now has a story about the crickets and we've been waiting
all episode to hear it.

You really hyped this up.

Yeah, yeah, this is embarrassing.

You know, when you walk into a pet store
and you hear the beautiful little sounds of the crickets chirping,
their little hearts out and, you know, seeing prizes
and everything else?

Well, I said to my wife,
I said, can I have a look at the the the beautiful fish tanks
that these crickets are stored in?

Because I'm assuming is beautiful
little plants in there.

And there's probably a bit of light
coming in and they've got little rocks that they can bask upon underneath the light,
or they can go and hide under the trees.

And there's this beautiful saying from
the climb on or to sprawl out on, etc..

So my wife said, you know, dear, these crickets are not pets.

They're food for reptiles.

As you lizards, and they're actually in cardboard boxes
with holes in them, you idiot.

Oh my gosh, that's so good.

You had this whole thing
in your imagination.

What, you thought it looked like
there was nothing like, you know.

So now every time we go to the pet
store to get food from my guide dog, my wife always has to laugh.

As soon as you walk in there. Guys.

You guys, there's your crickets.

Families like quiet. Shh.

So, Anthony, tell us, how did you know
you got into wrestling in school?

But how did you pick up judo?

Judo is because of my documentary.

Is shot in the dark.

The United States
Olympic Committee saw it and reached out to me, and they were like,
hey, if you have any of the, talent left from wrestling, would you consider
training judo for the Paralympics and, the only disability in Paralympic
judo is visual impairment.

So I thought it was really cool
opportunity.

So you picked it up
and you obviously enjoy it.

Do you still do judo? I still do judo.

Very much.

I, I'm training currently
for the Paralympics in 2028, in LA.

I love it.

I also hate it.

There's, you know, it's you're always
I'm such a lover and it's such a sport where you're trying to kill someone
and they're trying to kill you, basically.

And I just, I've been in grappling
my whole life, so I enjoy it.

I enjoy the hard work aspect.

I really enjoy the training aspect,
the most.

And just working really hard and,
you know, getting better each time.

And,
yeah, it's been it's been really fun.

So besides the fact that somebody told me
that I couldn't do karate or couldn't do Covid
and which is my current thing that I'm studying, you know what
I have started the last week or two?

The other reason why I like karate
is because I don't need to go to a gym.

I'm actually my gym.

So because I've always found it very awkward when I go into a gym and,
you know, you try and find the equipment and you're trying to sort of
not run into anything else.

So I just felt really awkward.

Whereas here at home, I've got my quote dojo set up at the back of my house
under our entertainment unit.

So I've got karate mats down,
I've got a thing called a wave master, which is like a really oversize,
kickboxing thing.

I've got all my equipment,
I've got my weights.

I've got my weapons out there in a
in a locked cabinet.

Of course.

So it's just a good area.

So when I do all my,
you know, kick strikes, punches my karate stances,
my weapons training, my cutters, which is just for different
forms of doing different things.

I can do it all independently.

So I tend to go to the dojo, you know, four times a week
and do the quite official training.

And then I always try to do at least,
one an hour a day.

And whether that's in a whole hour or
split up into sort of segments, you know,

I might just have a break from work,
go out and give it a karate or now Covid.

Oh God, I can keep working.

So I think that's the reason
I love karate and Covid.

I know it's because I don't need to go
anywhere else unless I really have to.

And it's just although here's
another really weird story.

People think it's weird when I ring up a hotel now and I,
you know, I'm booking a trip for him.

And what I'm going to say.

Does your hotel room have a balcony?

And they go, well, yes,
some rooms do, sir.

And go, what size is the balcony?

I said, that need to be about four meters
long and at least two meters wide.

The guy. Why?
And I said because I want to try.

I wanted to practice karate.

So if I because I've been finding that if I try and move the furniture
around inside the room,

I end up kicking the furniture
and everything else. Yes.

But people, things like this, like, excuse me, sir,
but we don't normally get those sort of.

That's just. That's just weird.

And then they have a good chuckle about it
and they go, yeah,
we've got the exact right room for you.

So it's, so if I ever get asked from work
one day why I keep booking rooms that have got balconies on them,
I'll be able to tell them the real story.

This has been an absolutely fine
discussion of why you chose your sport,
or maybe your sport chose you.

Sports,
I think, are so much more than sports.

Just like we talking about Braille. It's
so much more than just reading.

It's it's independence.

And sports are more than just sports.

They're improving you and,
a ton of different ways in that case,

I'll check in about another month's
time to see what sport you're doing.

Red trunks. Yellow.
All right. So I'm doing running.

I used to be kayaking.

Kayaking is great too.

I, I do enjoy kayaking.

I enjoy tandem biking, skiing.

I love it all. Thanks so much you guys.
This was awesome.

I really appreciate,
you know, being on here.

I'm honored.

Hey everybody,
it is time for the tips and tricks and oh boy are you going to get a tip
this month

Andrew because he just boosted our numbers
so well.

The last time he was on Andrew Fletcher's
our rail product manager is back in action
for the first episode of 2026.

We are so excited
to have Andrew back with us and given us a few minutes here
to talk about.

Of course, the Braille note evolve and we know that
many of you have many questions, so we will do our best
to kind of summarize the product and talk about where it fits
in the HumanWare product family.

And then David and I have come up with
a few other questions that we want to ask.

So Andrew, welcome
and you are the man of the hour.

And you very exciting things to tell us.

Oh thanks, Rachel.

Firstly, thank you for
letting me back on my hands for privilege.

So thank you.

We have a new product joining our Braille
products portfolio, starting at the early

Q1 of this year, hopefully is, braille notes
evolve.

Now, we have all been hearing
about Braille not evolve and little bits and pieces.

And there was a double tap podcast
that you did a couple months ago at Site Village,
which really announced the product.

And gave the masses a glimpse
of what it is and what it's going to be.

So maybe just give us a quick overview
of the product, of course.

And then I want to dive in
with some questions.

So yeah. Okay.

Well obviously you have been aware been
involved in brown notes for over 25 years.

And then we have key soft in itself
as well that's been actually involved in for decades.

For those listeners,
that used to key soft back in the 1986, they've been keynotes gold they've also been in the keynote companion
and even 2000.

It came to the classic, Brown notes.

So key, soft and brown.

It's have been really around for,
for decades, you know, putting them both together.

And so what we've, what
we've actually done now is we've created a new brown notes,
but we've based it on a windows platform.

So we started on windows
CE back in 2000 on a brown note, and now we found ourselves back in time,
back to a windows ecosystem.

But this time Windows 11 Pro.

But you'll still have the familiar key
soft environment that people do love.

And that's really,
a key to, to this product.

You know, we haven't just built a product
for the sake of it and just allow you to, run
with a screen medium of your choice.

Although that is still possible.

We've really customize the experience and what I've always said to many,
many people is what we do it.

Humans
not just accessible, it's the usable part.

And that's crucial.

And so with Key Soft onboard, it allows
those that are familiar with key soft in that environment to then dot the new
brown notes without a big learning curve.

Tell us a little bit.

And I know there's like tons of examples,
but you say it's adopting key soft.

What's powering key Soft.

Is it
some proprietary program that we've built.

How is it running.

And will we have things like familiar
keyboard shortcuts maybe you know space with end
for a new email or something, just maybe give us a little bit of an idea
of how the user interface will be.

Okay. Sure.

Well, thanks to our friends down
Under at Nvda, we do have Nvda.

I version of Nvda that we have fought off
where we're able to customize it
so it's key soft powered by Nvda.

So we've made a lot of changes
under the hood of Nvda.

And then on top of that,
we then add key soft spring menus and of course through shortcuts.

And in addition to that,
we have the Microsoft Office kind of add
ins to really make it key soft. S.

So, so for example,
if you're using, if you're using outlook or if you're using word, you know, you'll come across some of those familiar
commands that you used on a brown notes.

So to create a new email
and you're in outlook, you do your space with the letter
N exactly the same as what any previous brown note taker was, was doing
similar shortcuts as the brown light touch plus and similar shortcuts, but
we try to keep it similar to to the apex.

But of course there are some small changes
to be aware of, but nevertheless, you'll still feel like
you're in that key soft environment.

And can you tell us a little bit
about the modifier keys?

We talked about key soft, which is great.

We talked about the Screen Reader
Nvda running.

Can you install Jaws if you want?

Can you run? Narrator.

What will the modifier keys be like?

Okay.

Well let's let's look at some of these
and different user personas okay.

So first let's talk about a standard user.

A standard user would be typically a
maybe a younger learner or an existing key soft user.

That has no idea on how to use
modifier keys or a screen reader just yet.

Right.

Similar to a, you know, a TV perhaps.

Maybe they're not confident yet.

Just don't teach in that aspect.

So that standard user has access
to all the key soft add ons for Nvda, the key menu,
and you're locked into that menu.

So when those modifier keys are disabled, you are locked into the key
soft environment, but you can still use all of the wonderful apps
that are available through human apps.

But then also you've got the Microsoft
apps suites as well that you can use.

So you're not
you're not limited in what you can do just because those modifier keys
may be disabled as a as a standard user.

But if you then become a power user,
and typically that's someone who's transitioning over to a screen
media user or is already a proficient screen user, they will have access
to all of those add ons.

In addition, they'll have access
to all the windows desktops.

They can install other applications
or other screen readers if they wish.

If they want to use Jaws,
or if they want to use any other screen reader they can do So it really is
versatile from the user side of things.

You can use it as you want.

I think probably we should also say
when we're actually talking about the modifier case,
unlike some confusing other devices, these modifier
keys are very straightforward.

So you've got a shift
key, a control key, an okay, a Nvidia slash jaws insert key if you like, and then a function key
in the windows key.

So to me, I quite like it
because we've really kept the number of quiet modifier keys down.

You haven't got the sort of 101 extra keys
to compensate for the fact that we're using an input
braille keyboard, which is pretty amazing.

We also have Escape and Delete,
and something I find I'm using a lot are the arrow keys,
which are in between keys one and four.

So it really just makes
for an easy experience.

I just pick it up and start
using it. Indeed.

And the other thing about those modifier
keys is it's they're placed ergonomically as well.

So and that's, that's really key.

And when we, when we started to look
at going into windows operating system, one of the big conversations was that we do need to have such modifier
keys like your shift control outside.

So they're really important keys to drive.

How computers use with a screen reader.

So we understood that we had to add
some additional buttons, but, you know, asking where we don't like
adding buttons for the sake of things.

And that was, that was something
that we had to be conscious about.

So we, we did various different designs,
and the design that we come up with is free modify keys either
side of the spacebar that are slightly angled inwards
to accommodate your hands, allow you to also potentially press
two of the modifier keys with one finger, even the followed by then
a Braille letter.

So we did have to think really hard
about how these these could be, you know, added to the device.

But I want to stress, please
don't be overwhelmed by these extra keys because, you know, as a standard user,
keys often, even if you transition over to the screen media, you don't necessarily
need to use those to, you know, to feel the power of the problem evolve
because it looks like a a Braille note.

No. Take a paper clip saying to me,
is it truly a windows laptop?

You know, is it really running windows?

Can you plug things into it
can use as a monitor, a mouse, a hub and Ethernet adapter,
blah blah blah.

So, and if you reassure people place, it's really is truly a windows laptop.

Yeah.

We also had the same, response actually
when we were showing it at sight video, in fact.

So, many people that came up
and they couldn't believe that it was actually for laptop
or computers inside the device because it's more
you know, it's portable, it's lightweight.

You know, just to give you
those kind of measurements and weights.

So you're looking at about two, 2 pounds or just slightly over 2 pounds
for the full device.

And the width is it's like inches, 9.5in or 243mm with a depth of 175mm, or 6.8in.

So it's the portable,
the size of it is one of the smallest and lightest,
around the all in one laptops, you can call it, or only one device
that's on the market.

But yeah, I can assure you that
this is a powerful laptop that is inside.

It's not a tablet.

It's an all in one real device which you can plug things into,
which is actually really cool. Yes.

Now the other the other question
I get asked all the time, people see this thing called the i5 and people
go, oh, really?

This is the high five.

What about the i7, blah blah blah. So, you know, we've had conversations
before this about, you know, this is the R5 ultra, it's got specs
because it's got specs, two threads, it's got multiple neural
processor engines.

I mean, this is not an underpowered
device, is it?

Yeah. Correct.

And I think a lot of people they associate the the i7 as the benchmark
because the i7 has been out for so long.

I think the release
was around about 2019.

So it's been on many, many modern laptops
and computers nowadays.

So people
always use that as the benchmark.

But what we have, it's not an Intel Core,
it's an Intel Core Ultra.

So it is one of the newer processes
that are available for Intel Core.

And all I would say is, you know, if,
if your own well, is search for that kind of, process and you will actually see
the benefits versus the i7 itself.

But you are right.

So, David,
the cores that we have of the Intel Core

Ultra five is 12 cores with 14 threads.

Now going a bit too techie here.

But all this to say is that the more cores
that you have, the better it is to handle applications
and processing power.

Yeah.

We also have a dedicated
kind of AI component in, in the,

Intel Core Ultra five also.

So it's it's a really good, processor.

I'm really happy with the process
that we have.

And, yeah, as I said, it's a new process
that was in 2024.

So, I think a lot of people just look at that lower number
five to the, to the seven.

But the ultra five is the is the key
one out of that.

Do we have a general rough
estimate of how much better we're going to get out of the evolve during the day?

Well, like kind of modern laptops
nowadays, do try to get at least
between 6 and 8 hours.

We are pushing for eight hours.

We believe
we'll probably get eight hours, but I would probably say between 6
and 8 hours.

That's what the likelihood that you'll get it all
depends on how much you use it, of course.

But if you're, let's say,
going to be using this 70% of, let's say you're using 70% of the power of it,
then I'd say you get a good eight hours.

Yeah.

We haven't had those final tests yet.

I know on the, Double Tap podcast,
you also mentioned about there's, more systems
coming online during this year.

What's the sort of the the rough estimate of,
you know, when we'll say, say the, you know, the, the 40 so quality
version of the evolve. Wow.

So firstly you have the, the
the two brow notes evolve.

Braille keyboard come out first.

So we'll have the, the 32 salvation
and will also have a 27 version.

They will also be coming out early
this year.

Then later in this year you'll have the 3040.

So be 40 cells with a quality keyboard.

And I really anticipate
this would be a very good product.

A lot of people have inquired about
when's it coming, because they're really looking forward
to the quality keyboard.

So, yeah, we we can confirm that
there is going to be a quality version.

In terms of a day,
I don't like to give dates, you know, me.

It's going to be it's definitely
going to be later part of the year.

But, yeah, we'll see.

We'll keep you posted
if you carry on with the newsletter.

The question I always ask you all the time just to refresh on the podcast here,
it does have an insert key, doesn't it?

The query cable. Yes.

The query keyboard
will have a dedicated insert key.

Yeah, right.

We've got the Pro note
evolve 30 to the 20.

The 40.

How does this go with our current product
line.

It so the buy 20 the 40 in the mantis.

How does that sort of equate
to our product line going ahead?

I mean are we still going to keep
all our product lines so people can still enjoy, you know, hybrid brow displays
versus a full brow note taker?

The quick answer to that is yes.

And I think it's really important
that there's choices available right?

So I mean, let's let's take now
for example, there's many choices.

And I think we've we've never been
in such a great situation where there's so many different
braille displays available.

For example,
there's a lot of 20 sells out.

There's a lot of 40s out there.

They all have different, different
kind of enhancements in their own ways.

But yes, we will be continuing further,
developing our, brilliant lines
and of course, the mantis line.

How it fits, though, really is,
it all comes down to the individual.

So it may be
that you are in a situation where you, you know, you have a laptop
already and a computer and you know, you're happy just to have a display
sitting there with you.

Maybe you want to take your display
and use it with another computer at work.

Or maybe you've got one at work
or one at home.

But where the pro bono evolved fits in
is that it will do all of that.

It combines you kind of computer
and you display without having the need to mess around
the device, turn on your display and then turn it back on again and hope
for the best that it will connect.

I mean, obviously when you look
at Bluetooth, it becomes very annoying.

Bluetooth connectivity is not always
the greatest option for connectivity as, as we all know,
but with a fixed device that has Braille there at your fingertips, all the time,
it's not going to let you down.

But then also the brownie
evolve takes you on a journey, you know?

And it depends on what journey that you're
where you're starting from.

So you could be a younger,
younger student.

You could be aged 6
or 7 wanting to learn braille, wanting to learn how to use a note taker.

So to the point where you're in college,
university, where again, you want to do something quite powerful,
but you haven't yet transitioned over to full screen,
you really use music, or you could be a power user
where you want something on the go.

You know, like a laptop that you can take
without having to carry a laptop.

And the browse.

Thinking of carrying around
brought spice to it.

Can you actually use the evolve
as an external display in its own right?

So, you know, we've now
got the Braille display in the evolve.

But you know, for my iPhone and my iPad
and so on, can I actually use the evolve as a refresh
overall display with those products?

Yes. The,
if I will have two Bluetooth version five chips, so one chip would be used
for your kind of your visuals, such as your headsets,
keyboards and mouse.

If obviously teacher wants to use that
or your headsets.

And of course, the other Bluetooth module
will be used to, to use for terminal so you can connect
to your iPhones and Android devices.

And you were talking about a
like a young student learning Braille.

Will we have learning tables for Braille
like we do on the current.

My first note taker. Yes, we will.

And so a couple of things
I want to mention that yeah, obviously we are using Nvda
in case of powered by Nvda, which is kind of our own version
that we've taken.

But we have customize it so that
it supports all of the, Duxbury tables.

Of course, you still have the ability
tables, but we've also added the, the language tables
that, used in schools and education.

So these are the method twos and threes.

And we also have
all of those learning tables available.

So you take off series and Mangold
and other other learning tables out there.

I can't remember all of them,
but yes, we will support all of them.

We've talked about everything
this device can do and where you can go with it.

Will we have a case
to transport the device or how will we anticipate folks
carrying it from place to place?

Yes, it will have a case.

I have a carrying case.

So we'll have a lanyard
and it will have magnetic tips.

So when the magnetic tips kind of cover the brown, evolve them,
it will connect to the Eva magnet.

That's inside the brown evolve
and of course, trigger, asleep.

So once you've closed it, it will automatically kind of lock itself
and go to sleep.

And then of course, you can lift it up
and then it will, wake the device up again as well.

And I believe
you'll be able to change that as well.

So think of it like,
you know, like laptops, you can close the lid and open the lid
and you can decide what to do with it.

We very similar approach to that.

Will we be able to customize
the thumb keys which appear on the front, the HumanWare signature thumb keys
and the modifier keys?

If somebody wanted the windows key, maybe
on the left hand side of the spacebar instead of where it is on the right hand
side, will that be possible?

So again, the short answer is yes.

I know with the modify keys,
you know, personal preference is, is something we always like
to try and everyone happy.

It's not always possible,
but yes, we have a default key assignment for those modified keys, but there is
an application that can also be in store called shop keys.

That's, s h ERP keys.

Shop keys.

And once you have,
installed an application that will allow you to actually modify
or change those modify keys.

So if you do what those window when the keys are left,
you can with the brown thumb keys.

That is something as well
that will will be made possible as well, but not for shop keys
that may or may be through the key soft, kind of side of things.

We mentioned add ons.

You mentioned add ons for,
Microsoft Word and Outlook, and I do believe they'll be coming
to PowerPoint and Excel as well.

This is a little bit of a different delivery system
than we had with the previous note taker.

How do we handle updates
and not windows updates?

Because we know that windows can update
as as it does, just like a normal laptop.

But for the HumanWare, add ons
which bring that key soft functionality,
how are updates delivered?

Okay, so within the HumanWare
my suite of applications.

So you'll have your traditional some of
your traditional key soft core apps.

So you'll have key files, picture reader, a braille editor, cookie graph, C mask.

We also have
then the key soft control center.

And that keys of control center
will give you access to enable and disable your modifier keys.

Allow you to disable your add ons through Microsoft
and Outlook and PowerPoint and so forth.

So if you don't want to use those add ons,
you have the choice.

And of course, then you have the updater,
which is within the key of Control Center.

So if you've, if you set the option to, check for updates automatically,
you'll be notified of, of those updates, of course, and you'll just update them
through the key of Control Center.

And that'll allow us to update the add
ons as we need to.

Right.
We're not dependent on windows updates.

If there's something that we need to kind
of send to the device, we can do that.

And then folks can update the add ons
as they want.

Correct? Yeah. It's all through the key.

So so it is a bit like know
taking a key software data.

So the key of that data
is basically through the key soft control center application.

So it's an it is a standalone app.

Hemo application
that really kind of controls how we update all those key
soft core functions.

That's great.

And there's a lot of ports on the device.

Can we run through kind of the ports?

Just kind of around the, the outer edge?

Yeah, sure. Yeah.
That would be just okay.

So folks know what to expect.

The furthest away from you on the top
left is your Kensington lock.

And as we get closer to you inwards, you
then have a HDMI cable.

You then have two usb-C Thunderbolt.

And that's really key
because the usb-C Thunderbolt ports that will allow you to plug in your power
on any one of those, so you don't have to be picky which one
you can plug into any one of those.

Likewise, it will also offer a video out.

So if you don't want to use the HDMI port, you can also use the video out
through the usb-C or any one of those.

As we can again, get closer to you, you'll have an LED kind of, section
and then a power button.

Okay, that's on the left hand edge.

So the right edge again,
we'll start with the top right.

It's furthest away from you.

You have your USB, a port.

And then as we get closer to you,
you'll have your, headphone jack, which could also be used
to plug in a stereo microphone.

It had the volume key.

So up and down volume keys.

And then we have an action button,
which at the moment is, assigned to the, record button or dictate button because you of course,
you can dictate on the device, but you can adjust that and change
that to a copilot, but if you wish.

So you mentioned the external microphone.

So that 3.55 Jack, does the Evolv
also have its own built in microphone?

It does. Yeah.

It has a stereo blocker phone Built-In
along with your stereo, speakers as well.

So again, it's it's
very, it's very a good specification certainly with, the process.

We forgot to mention
about the Ram, right?

I mean, when we look at a computer,
I mean, when we look at and comparisons of laptops and specifications,
you know, there's a lot of parameters that you need to to assess for,
I think we haven't mentioned.

Is that how much Ram
that you've got on the device?

And we can confirm
that we have 32GB of Ram and our internal storage is 512GB.

So plenty of storage, plenty of Ram,
plenty of power to do what you need to do.

You know,
that's that's that's really exciting.

I mean, that's more than any other quote.

No tiger that I've seen.

And I thought if my you know,
if my standard windows laptop had 30 gigs of Ram and a 512 Giga Drive,
I would feel like it would be Christmas.

So this is right up there
amongst the specs.

Well, I'm actually using it as we speak.

I'm actually using my, Brownie
Evolve to do this, podcast.

It's actually a better spec
than my old laptop.

Late to the party department.

But, yeah, it's a better spec
than, my own computer work and just,
any kind of final thoughts that you have?

I know we could spend hours
just talking about the evolve and the excitement that it
that it's bringing to the market.

But, you know, you're you've been working
with this for probably years now.

What are your kind of thoughts on
how this was initially thought up and then how it's going to be
when it's released?

Well, firstly,

I'm really, really looking forward
to get to to getting this out the door.

For what we've, we've heard
so far will be really positive feedback.

So yes, we showed it to people
from the beta testers.

It's really been some great feedback
that we've received.

And of course we have a we have a really solid
good roadmap as well for the brand evolve.

So honestly, it's going to come out
with, with version one, of course.

And that will still be
I mean, as we see today, it's actually better, what it can do
compared to the predecessor.

Right.

Better on the brown note touch
plus what that was able to do.

So with the Microsoft's,
add ins for office, sorry, through word
and PowerPoint, Excel, this device is going to be pretty, pretty cool.

And what it can do,
not just from an accessible, accessible point of view,
but from that usable point of view.

And I'm really looking forward to
to getting more feedback.

So, for those that are,
of course, in America or even visiting, here we will be showing the, the brown Knight evolve, during a tia
and we will likely, of course,
look for preorders as well during a time.

So stay tuned
for more information on that.

But yeah,
if you're if you're visiting here, come by next to our booth
and, have a, have a CP yourself.

And there is also a webpage
which we could put in the show notes of
if people want to register their interest.

Right, if they want more information,
kind of as details are, are evolving
or being released about the device.

I'm sorry man.

Oh well I have to get on it.

Had to do
it, had to do it. It won't be the last.

So yeah.

You can visit our website and under the resources tab,
there's a new page will come in soon.

The brand evolve and that tells you a bit
of information, on the brand evolve.

And also a registration link
where you can show your interest and,
then you'll be staying.

We'll keep you in touch.

Keep you updated of,
when's it going to be fully launched?

You know, with the exact dates,
possible trading options.

That's another thing as well.

So a lot of information
that we need to still get out.

Please get yourself registered on that,
on the page.

And, you'll be informed of all the greatest and latest updates
on the brand evolve and did well.

Thank you,
Andrew, as always, for coming on and just giving everybody
a little glimpse of what's coming.

And this is really exciting
to kind of share the news and bring people up to date.

People can hear it here first.

What what's coming?

Yeah. Thanks very much for inviting me,
guys. Really appreciate it.

And, yeah, like I said, I am
really super excited about this project.

We've been working on it
for over two years now.

So, I'm looking forward to feedback,
whether it's it's positive or negative.

You know, all feedback is welcome.

And that's really important to me because then we it shows what
we need to do to make it even more better.

So yeah, look forward
to seeing anyone that arrives here and give them some feedback.

Welcome to the first part in corner of 2026.

And for this segment, as longtime
listeners will know, we usually contact a distribution
partner of ours or someone who's been in the field a long time and has partnered
with HumanWare in some way.

And we have, quick chat with them
and they let us know how they got into the field,
and they talk about kind of where they are and what they do in conjunction
with HumanWare.

But today we are going across the pond.

We're not doing any U.S. distribution partners this time.

We are actually getting a real treat and going to talk to Martin Roberts, who is our product
specialist and trainer in the UK.

And Martin is here to tell us all about what he does,
how he got involved with HumanWare.

And I'm sure we will have
tons of fun stories along the way.

So Martin, welcome.

I'm so excited you're here.

It's good to be talking to you, Rachel.

It's been good podcasts.

We come in leaps and bounds and I've been listening to the episode,
so it's nice to be aboard.

I want to start out as all good stories
do at the beginning.

And Martin,
I would love for you to tell us how did you get involved
with HumanWare?

Because you've been here a little while,
haven't you?

I have, well,
I was I've been here since 2005, so it was my first job after university.

I was actually applying for jobs
in the UK civil service initially, and that's when I came to government
and I the HumanWare job came up and I thought, well, I'm,

I'm in just about technology
and it'd be good interview practice.

And I got the job.

You've stayed
with the company for this long.

How is your job changed over the years?

And the technology's changed.

You know, when when I first joined, we
we would have debates about do we take people's email addresses
when we when we sell to them, you know, to that
what am I going to like required.

Yeah, I can totally do,
you know, I mean, you know, people had, you know, dialog
was was the main stage in people's houses.

You know, you download their emails on their promos
and or the dialog and stuff, whereas now it's all life, right?

I've seen all the kind of interaction
great people I've, you know, worked with a human where I like, you know,
Jonathan Martin was a big inspiration.

You know, the way he, he, he brought the bridle on and kind of helped crystallize tea
soft as a, you know, a product that we, we still use today in a different guys,
you know, key soft. Yes.

It's been around for such a long time.

And when something works and makes things
very simple and approachable, it should, kind of stand
the test of time as key soft.

Does you mention key soft.

And because it's January
and because we are celebrating

Braille Awareness Month,
how would you say that?

Well, first, how do you kind of enjoy
using Braille in your life, either personally or professionally?

And how would you say key
Soft is maybe helped you use Braille or even raise awareness of Braille as you travel around and
and meet other people and do your job?

I suppose the ability to take notes
quickly and efficiently.

For me, Braille.

Braille.

In my life, I use more braille
when I'm with my eyesight and anything really, because, you know,
we now have the like the Bradley in 20 is possibly
one of my most used devices, you know, just because it's always with
me, it's always that.

And it is getting more and more powerful
every year.

We're adding more and more things to this.

So what started off as a, you know,
very basic braille display, just become, you know, you know, don't just some apps,
but those apps are getting more and more, polished each release.

We do.

And, you know,
so I think that's quite exciting.

And I mean, who could have imagined
multi-line braille?

You know, he's a lot.

Much. Well, so who would imagine that?

You know, that's the first step on a huge
journey for most of my brain, I feel.

But, who would have imagined that
that would have been the thing for multi-line braille, I guess.

Let's just talk about
when you first started.

We had Braille paper, and that's what
it was with multi-line right?

Yeah.

That was your multi-line braille.

You want multi-line prayer here. Here,
have a book.

Sorry if it's in multiple volumes.

This is what you get and it's great.

I still enjoyed reading hard copy Braille
just the other day.

I braille out a recipe,
and I was able to follow it even a little bit easier than I would
if I was doing it digitally, because it was so easy.

Just scan them down the page,
find the steps I had already completed, and then continue to incorporate
the next steps.

So hardcopy
braille is definitely not going anywhere but the digital multi-line braille
as we're all seeing.

And like you said, it's such a journey
and we're only just beginning now that we have real devices in our hands
and that we can show to people.

I mean, I've had a relationship
with Braille where when I was at when I was at school,
we use a lot of PCs.

We used also cross
then I went to college, which we would call like, yeah, I guess
we have college and then university.

So it's college
and we started using windows.

So I had that, relationship.

And then when I went to university,
I realized that my Braille skills had dropped quite significantly
because I just wasn't.

I was also using quality all the time.

So I kind of got a keynote companion,
which was the predecessor to the Braille.

That's what I first got
when I went university.

So I had this companion, and that really
helped get my Braille skills up.

So I met Pedro back in those days,
back in like 1998 or something.

Initially before I, you know,
went to university and got a companion.

So like, my relationship with Braille
is quite long gone, but having nearly lost it or,
you know, neglected it for a few years,

I realized how valuable it actually is.

And, you know, we get this in students.

I'm sure you see the US as well,
where they working on a Braille note.

And, you know, it's when you use that key
soft environment, it's actually getting students
onto a laptop that can be done.

The challenge, you know, because we know,
we know, we know that soft is it's actually easier to use for most teachers
than a screen reader on a PC.

And the braille display on top right,
I think for the most part, there's going to be some who just say,
okay, we we're going to use a, a PC and a screen read and a Braille display,
and that's brilliant if you've actually got
the skill set to teach that.

But we sometimes have situations
where some, some people just aren't invested enough,
and that's where keeps up.

Simplicity really can help,
I guess is we always kind of walk around and live life where we're raising
that Braille awareness, which is ideally what we want to do
for everybody.

Help give those kiddos a good start.

I travel independently,
I rarely travel with members of our team.

We don't work like you do in the US.

We we don't really have dealers
so much in the UK.

We work for HumanWare within the UK.

So I cover the whole country
and then my colleagues.

And what are we capable of doing?

Braille demos.

I will support them on some of their maybe
more challenging screen reader or demos.

Well,
you know what, people want to get into more depth and do,
kind of more advanced things.

And that's what I, that's what I'm.

But then I will also do a little bit
of outreach work to schools where we have, or customers who
maybe they just need a bit more support.

And, you know, we like we want to, you know, it's always good to have
a good relationship with customers.

So I'll go and do that kind of work.

And it's part of the, the value,
I think, that we can bring in.

I think that's part
of what you do as well.

Then I do, little bits of support
that we have a very capable, we've got, three days and we got Lewis
and we got Allison and Lottie working the support team
in the UK as well, because we, we take, we tend to take the European support
calls to Martin.

You travel around the UK.

I travel around the US.

Along with Joel Zimba
who is our other product specialist, and we get to go and champion
Braille out there in the world and help teachers
realize that our products are usable.

They're not meant to be overwhelming, and we have lots of support
material, as well.

I think another thing
that we can't avoid mentioning is that one of the really exciting pieces
of this for, for me, is as well, getting to try products before customers
get them, getting to find quotes, implement,
you know, suggest features.

And really, you know, get that try and get that influence on on
what the customer will finally have because myself
you old Lewis David Webb bridge there are more, you know,
there are many more people in the company who are blind who do use these products or partially
sighted on a, on a, on a daily basis.

Right?

We actually really do care about what,
what what customers are getting and what they have in their hands.

Martin, thank you for everything you do
and for coming on to talk about it.

Cheers.

No problem. Thank.

Hey everybody.

And welcome in this segment
would normally be the trials and triumphs.

But we are trying something different.

This month for January for the new year we happened to receive some listener mail.

So if you would like to also contact
our listener line you can do so at
[email protected].

We would absolutely love it.

And if you would like to be like Rosemary,
who contacted us, she has the following to say.

As my vision worsens,
I decided to write organizations which send me unreadable text, unreadable because they're going
for pretty rather than readable, she says.

NPR had the format of white text
on a pale green background.

After contacting them,
they've written back and since changed their format
to something more readable.

A person from a local organization
sent me a flier with apricot text on a red background.

After I wrote,
they sent me a flier with black text on a pale pink background.

The last organization

Rosemarie tells us about
is the American Academy of Ophthalmology.

They sent me a pamphlet on age
related macular degeneration, which had white text on an avocado background
at the bottom of the front page.

Can you believe that?

I wrote them an email explaining
my difficulty reading the information.

They sent me a stock reply four days ago,
which did not address my concern at all.

When I called their service center,
they said they'd give me a personal response later.

Well, as we haven't heard anything further
from Rosemary, it's probably safe to say
that she has not heard back from the American Academy of Ophthalmology
and is still awaiting a response.

Rosemary conclude
by saying she loved episode seven.

That was her first podcast episode from us
and that episode is low vision tech.

We interviewed Shelly Brisbane,
who is a fantastic podcaster,
author and journalist in her own right.

So go and check that out.

You definitely won't be disappointed.

And Rosemary says, I look forward
to hearing the first six episodes.

Thank you so much, Rosemary.

We love your advocacy efforts.

It's so wonderful that you are willing
to write these organizations and tell them what works for you,
so keep it up.

This is exactly what it's all about.

If you would like to be like Rosemary
and right into the listener line, please feel free to do so at
[email protected].

Again, send us a note to the
[email protected].

Hey everybody, and welcome to the upcoming shows segment.

We have just two upcoming shows for you.

The first one is the Assistive Technology
Industry Association, or Atea Conference, that will be taking place
in Orlando, Florida at the Orlando World

Center Marriott from January 29th
through January 31st.

The next show is the Illinois
ADR conference and that will take place at the Chicago
Marriott in Naperville, Illinois.

So if you happen to be at either of those
two places, come by and say hello.

We will have the new Braille node evolve on display,
as well as all of our other products.

And we'd love to see you.

If you have comments or suggestions,
we'd love to hear from you!

Please send them to
[email protected]

That's [email protected]

Thanks so much for listening to see things
differently.

We'll see you next month.