Altix is a Polish company focused on accessible tactile experiences including games and educational aids including a forthcoming talking and tactile globe. Shelly speaks with Janusz Mirowski, director of Altix to learn more about the globe and the other products on display at their booth.
Blind Bargains audio coverage of CSUN 2018 is generously sponsored by the American Foundation for the Blind.
Transcript
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Hide transcriptTranscribed by Grecia Ramirez
Almost live from beautiful San Diego, it’s blindbargains.com coverage of CSUN 2018, featuring team coverage from across the Exhibit Hall and beyond, brought to you by the American Foundation for the Blind.
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Now, here’s Shelly Brisbin.
SHELLY BRISBIN: Welcome back to Blind Bargains. We’re on the exhibit floor of CSUN 2018, and I’m talking with Janusz from Altix.
Janusz, welcome to the show
Janusz Mirowski: Thank you.
SB: And tell me about, first, your company. So the big thing that you have on display here that everybody is probably noticing is the talking globe. But tell me something about the other things that your company does.
JM: Yeah. Our company’s founded by a blind person, and we are doing tactile products, tactile information and assistance for the blind. We are doing plan and maps for the buildings, and we are doing, also, tactile pictures for education.
SB: Okay. So you’ve got checkerboards –
JM: And last but not least is checkerboards and different games for children, but of course, we want to also – not only to learn, but also to have some fun.
SB: Great. So let’s talk about the globe. Want to?
JM: Yeah.
SB: Tell me about it.
JM: We have a prototype of the globe, tactile – it will be a tactile globe. Right now, it’s not. It’s only a normal globe.
SB: It just has little bumps on it.
JM: With bumps on it. You have –
(Computerized voice announces: Czech Republic)
SB: Oh. I see. So if I touch a bump, it’s going to speak?
JM: Yes.
COMPUTERIZED VOICE: Poland.
JM: Oh. You find our country.
SB: There you go.
JM: Poland.
SB: See?
JM: Perfect.
SB: Oh. Is that the national anthem it’s playing or –
JM: Yes.
SB: Very nice.
JM: Because we have different modes in this globe.
COMPUTERIZED VOICE: Countries. General information. Capitals. Official languages. Population. Area. Anthems.
JM: And in this way, if you touch a country --
SB: Let’s pick another. There we go.
COMPUTERIZED VOICE: China.
JM: -- it will play anthem, or if I change information –
COMPUTERIZED VOICE: Countries.
JM: -- for capitals --
COMPUTERIZED VOICE: General information. Capitals.
JM: And now I touch, for example, I don’t know, my country –
COMPUTERIZED VOICE: Poland. Capital city: Warsaw.
JM: You can – you will know that capital city of Poland is Warsaw.
SB: Right.
JM: And in this way, you can learn geography from the globe.
SB: Okay. So it’s going to be a tactile globe. Will people be – so they’ll be able to feel the borders of the country –
JM: Yes.
SB: -- and the terrain --
JM: Yes.
SB: -- and -- okay. Cool.
JM: But we decided that this is – we want something more than only tactile. That’s why we are putting speech in it.
SB: Great.
JM: Yeah.
SB: And when is this going to be a product? When will it be available?
JM: Our goal is to have it on the third quarter of the year.
SB: Okay. And I assume that you’ll probably be looking to sell it mostly to schools, libraries, places like that?
JM: Yes, but also to individuals.
SB: Okay.
JM: I think that every child needs to have a globe.
SB: I agree with you.
JM: I hope so.
SB: Yeah. So the globe sits on this box, which is where it has the controls --
JM: Yes.
SB: -- and that’s where the speech comes, and there’s braille on the box so that you can control –
JM: Exactly.
SB: -- what it does.
JM: Right. And this box will be smaller in the final version.
SB: I was going to say, that’s a really big box.
JM: Yeah. It will be smaller.
SB: Okay.
JM: But for the prototype, you know, to have a possibility to change the different things, we made bigger one –
SB: Right.
JM: -- for the prototyping purposes.
SB: And it’ll still have braille on it and –
JM: Oh of course.
SB: -- so it’ll be easy for --
JM: And we are even thinking about the symbols, because not everybody knows braille.
SB: Right.
JM: And finally, we think this will be a symbols.
SB: Okay.
JM: And what – we have five buttons: Quieter, Louder, Stop, Mute, and Mode. And of course, we have jack input for headphones.
SB: Excellent. And do you have a guess as to what the pricing will be?
JM: I hope that this will be between 500 and 1000 dollars.
SB: Okay. And –
JM: Not super expensive –
SB: No.
JM: -- but also not –
SB: But not cheap.
JM: Yeah. Because, you know, this is technology.
SB: So if people want to learn more about your company and then possibly are interested in the globe, what should they do? Where should they go?
JM: The best way is to visit our site, Altix.PL.
SB: Excellent.
JM: And spelling for the Altix is A-l-t-i-x, dot PL.
SB: Dot PL. Okay.
JM: Yeah.
SB: Great. Thank you so much for being on Blind Bargains.
JM: Thank you.
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