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Posted 3:52 PM 2/7/2012 : Tech Tips: Apps some really can't live without

TUCSON - Is there are tech gadget that you just can live without? Or so you think? Well, for some people technology is more than just a gizmo or gadget to play with - they really can't live without it.

Our tech contributor Quincey Hobbs stopped by the News 4 Tucson studios with some of the tech available to help enhance the lives of many people.

• What are some examples of assistive technology?
For the visually impaired, there is the Haptic Shoe. This shoe uses a system of GPS, proximity sensors, and vibrations to guide a person from one location to another. The proximity sensors located in the toe of the shoe detects obstructions from about 10 feet away. It is designed to lessen the dependence on a cane.
Another tech for the visually impaired is an app that provides Braille on touch screen devices. Since Braille is based on groups of 8 raised dots, the program uses all of a person's fingers with the exception of the thumbs to read vibrations instead of dots.

• What is Caption Fish?
Captionfish is a search engine of movies and theaters that have captions for the deaf and hard of hearing. Locally, the movie theater at Foothills Mall has captionfish movies, but what from I understand the theater and movies vary on a regular basis. From its website you have access to captionfish app for you phone and also captioned theatrical trailers.

Sign 4 Me is also an app for the hearing impaired. As the name suggests it translates your typed text into sign language. So far this appears to only allow you sign with someone else, but I can easily see this evolving into an app that will record a person signing and translate it in to text.

• How does iCommunicate work?
Well, iCommunicate is an app that provides tools to create communication boards, custom text to speech resources, speech cards and a lot more for Autistic children. A site with a similar name, icommunicatetherapy.com has resources for Parkinson's, ALS, and Stroke related speech disorders in adults and it also has speech and language resources for children dealing with Apraxia, Autism, and Stuttering.
Another app that was designed for those with Autism spectrum disorders or communication needs is "First Then Visual Schedule". It is an app that allows a caregiver to provide positive behavior support via a structured environment.

Here are links to the sites and apps Quincey mentioned:

http://www.captionfish.com
http://signingapp.com/sign4me_desktop.html
http://www.grembe.com/
http://www.icommunicatetherapy.com/
http://www.goodkarmaapplications.com/first-then-visual-schedule.html