Mobile App Aids Blind During Movie Night
Movie night is great fun for the family, unless you can’t see well enough to know what’s going on. Lisa Maria Martinez, the director of community services at the LightHouse for the Blind, describes the typical experience:
“Often I’m handed the handset for the hard of hearing,” she said. “Then I have to rely on the fact that they’ve charged the device…and that they’ve turned on the audio-description tracks. A lot of times they don’t [turn it on] and I have to go look for someone…and I’ve lost the first 15 minutes of the movie.”
But that is about to change. Pixar and Disney recently addressed this dilemma by designing an UP app that syncs to a movie track and describes what’s happening visually. Last month, Volunteers tested out this new app for the movie The Good Dinosaur, equipped only with headphones and iPads. The response was positive. Ms. Martinez described how the app helped her follow the movie:
“During the movie,” she explained, “I realized that it had dialogue, [but] not nearly as much as other movies. If that wasn’t there, I’d be so lost. Being able to have accessibility in my own power, it’s empowering to me.”
It’s possible that in the near future, there will be more movies available through UP apps.
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