IBM Extreme Blue Engineers Development Audio Software To Aid Blind In Virtual World

I have to say, we don’t hear much at all from IBM these days. Ever since the company let go of its personal computing hardware assets to live on under Lenovo’s auspices, they’ve kind of laid low, and have really only been seen in advertisements for their oh-so-cool BladeCenter systems and their new “Do” campaign, which, I have to say, befuddles me. Then again, I’m rarely able to get my head around what their geeks are doing.

I suppose all one really needs to know about IBM is that it’s big, it’s bad (in a good way), and it’s still got a major hand in whatever market(s) it’s currently in.

Today, however, IBM is making some headlines. Apparently, some engineers (students, to be more specific) from an IBM complex located on the hills of Ireland have emerged from their dark lair of mystery to tell worlds both real and virtual something very interesting: they’ve assembled an audio system that will allow the blind the option to experience virtual worlds strictly via sound. The sound space the students have designed for one particular VR title, Active Worlds, allows for the blind to navigate in a computer-generated three-dimensional environment much the same way they are currently able in the world we physically inhabit.

Alright, this news isn’t going to generate the grandest of headlines today, but you have to agree, this is nonetheless quite a substantial development.

The students at an IBM lab in Ireland were working as part of the company’s Extreme Blue research initiative for a span of 12 weeks, and developed their software – dubbed, simply enough, Accessibility in Virtual Worlds – to its current “proof of concept” point. Much work still needs to be done on it before IBM has the realistic option of delivering it as product intended for use by the public, but the fact that software engineers have been able to assemble the fundamental pieces necessary leads one to presume that the day will come when the disabled will be provided the tools necessary to enjoy many Web-based creations, both simple and complex, in the near future.

The system designed by IBM engineers for use within the Active Worlds environment is, in its basic form, an audible cue card. As one journeys through the virtual world, one is automatically told of the position and description of objects, obstacles, etc., and when encountering another member of the virtual world, can converse via speech-to-text software.

Colm O’Brien, one of the engineers tasked with the development of the system, capped the announcement of the team’s successes by saying: “It’s not right for blind people to be missing out on what the rest of us have available.” I second that, as I’m sure you do too.

According to a report published by the BBC on the development, the audio-based project “will be passed on to IBM’s Human Ability and Accessibility Center in Texas for further development."