Scifi & Gadgets » SciLife

Interview: JABstone founder Joe Bureau

icesnake — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 13:05:24 +0000

Due to a recent stroke in the family, I recently was motivated to look for a method of helping non-verbal people communicate without making everyone around them learn sign language, or play charades. There are a number of apps available for smartphones and tablets, notably the iPad and the Android platform. After comparing features (and prices), I settled on a AAC (Augmentive and Alternative Communication) app for Android called JABtalk (which I plan to review here also, Real Soon Now ™). I was able to reach the developer, Joe Bureau, directly and he graciously consented to an interview.

Without further ado, here’s Joe:

Q. Tell us about yourself and your company.

A. My name is Joe Bureau. I’m a software engineer living in the Seattle WA area. I’ve been working in the software industry for the last 15 years working primarily with early-stage startups. In 2011, my wife and I started a software company called JABstone, which specializes in speech communication technology for Android. Our first product is an augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) application called JABtalk. We currently have over 20,000 active users in over 70 countries around the world. Our website is www.jabstone.com.

Q. What motivated you to start developing smartphone apps?

A. I first started developing smartphone apps for one of the early-stage startups I was working for in 2010. My initial experience was writing a location based application for the iPhone. I then ported that application to Android. Prior to building smartphone apps I spent a lot of time doing java development so stepping into the Android world was very straight forward. My experience with iPhone development was much more challenging since I had to learn a new language (objective C), new development tools (xCode), and was working on an unfamiliar operating system (Mac OS).

Q. Where did you get the idea for JABtalk?

A. In 2009, my wife and I took our five year old son, Wyatt, to a speech communication evaluation center to be evaluated for a speech communication device. Wyatt has Down Syndrome and struggles with verbal communication. The speech center we visited had an array of speech communication devices ranging from $8000 dynavox machines to $600 iPads. We tried several of the top communication apps for the iPad and spent a couple months evaluating the $8000 dynavox. After witnessing our son’s frustration trying to learn the various speech systems, it became clear he needed something much easier and intuitive to use. Having spent the previous year building iOS and Android applications, I knew I could build an app tailored to his specific needs that would give him a much better chance of communicating with us without the frustration he was experiencing with the other AAC applications he had been trying. Our son’s need for an easy to use speech communication device was the driving factor that led to the development of JABtalk.

Q. Why did you choose Android instead of iOS?

A. I get this question often. When we first started JABstone, our goal was to provide the most affordable speech communication app available. We also believed that a child needing a communication device should have access to the device at all times. This means taking it to school, to the playground, and anywhere else they may need it to communicate. At the time, the leading AAC app on the market was only available on the iPad and was $200. By the time a person purchased an iPad plus the application, they were looking at a minimum investment of $800. The idea of sending Wyatt to school with an $800 piece of fancy technology didn’t seem like a wise strategy. Being involved in the technology industry, I knew the market would soon be flooded with inexpensive Android tablets and would be a much more practical solution for the problem we were trying to solve. From my own software development experience, I also knew developing an application for Android would be much faster and cheaper than it would be for iOS. As of today, over 70% of JABtalk users are running the app on devices that cost less than $200 so I think Android was the right decision for our particular needs and goals.

Q. How long was the development process for JABtalk from idea to Google Play and Amazon’s App Store?

A. Building software is a very iterative process. The first version was pretty basic and only offered a few fundamental features like importing a picture and audio files from an SDCard. The first version probably took a month of mostly weekends to create and publish to the Google Play store. During 2011, we released 11 updates to JABtalk and now have dozens of features as listed on our website. If you were to ask how many hours have been spent working on JABtalk over the last year, it would probably be a couple hundred hours.

Q. What are the challenges of developing for the Android platform?

A. There are two main challenges with Android in my opinion. The first challenge is the fragmentation of Android versions available in the marketplace. Apple has the advantage of controlling what versions of iOS are in use by automatically pushing new versions of the operating system to iOS devices. Android users are at the mercy of device manufacturers or cellular carriers to send them updates. Unfortunately, making sure users have the latest and greatest version of Android isn’t always a priority or even in the financial interests of cellular carriers or device manufacturers. If you want your app to be available to the largest number of users, you have to write your app in a way that is backward compatible with versions of Android that may be 2 or 3 years old. This means you can’t take advantage of the latest Android features. For example, one of the features I want to provide JABtalk users is the ability to control the speed of a scrolling window. The API to add that functionality is only available in Android 3.0 and higher. Since more than 70% of JABtalk users are running Android 2.3, I can’t offer that feature unless I want to create a different version of JABtalk specifically for Android 3.0 or greater.

The second challenge developing for Android is the number of Android devices in the market that look and work differently. For example, the Nook Tablet, Kindle Fire, and Samsung Galaxy all run a flavor of Android but all look radically different from each other and have different hardware capabilities. Since each device has different capabilities, JABtalk has to detect the hardware capabilities of each device and suppress or enable certain features on the fly. While this isn’t a challenge from a technical perspective, trying to describe the features and capabilities of JABtalk can get complicated since the features available are completely dependent on the capabilities of each Android device. The wide variety of devices and capabilities can make reproducing and debugging a problem very challenging as well.

Q. If you had known all that before starting on JABtalk, what would you have done differently?

A. I’m not sure I would have changed anything if starting over. I still believe Android is the best platform for our particular needs and goals. Android owns 50% of the smartphone market now and I personally believe that trend is going to continue going upward. The iPad currently dominates tablets, but it’s hard for me to believe Android won’t overtake the tablet market as well over the next few years unless Microsoft can pull a rabbit out of their hat with Windows 8.

From a development perspective, I wish there were one set of tools or a specific technology available to allow you to create truly native applications for all platforms. If you want to create an application today that performs well and can take full advantage of Android or iOS features, you need to use tools and frameworks unique to each platform. That means if you want to write native Android applications, you’re typically going to use Java for your programming language and Eclipse or IntelliJ for your development environment. If you’re writing a native iOS app, you’re going to use objective C for your programming language and Xcode for your development environment. If you’re writing a native Windows phone application, you’re going to use a C# for your programming language and Visual Studio for your development environment. There are tools available today, like PhoneGap, that do a pretty good job of providing a cross platform framework using web technologies, but since no native user interface widgets are used, the resulting app look more like web app than a native Android or iOS app.

Q. What advice would you give to someone wanting to develop Android apps?

A. The first question they should ask is if the app really needs to be an Android app. In many cases, an app could just as easily be implemented as a web app optimized for smartphone sized screens and accessed via a web browser. If the app doesn’t need to leverage native smartphone features (i.e. camera, microphone, GPS, etc…) and doesn’t need to have a native look and feel, it may make more sense to build a smartphone optimized web app instead. If the obvious choice is to implement your software as an Android app, visit the Android developer website http://developer.android.com so you can get the free development tools necessary to get started and begin learning best practices for designing your app http://developer.android.com/design. I would also caution people away from using third party tools like Adobe Air or Mono for Android when getting started. It’s important to acquire strong fundamental skills when learning any new technology so you fully understand what you are doing and can troubleshoot problem when they arise. Once you understand a new technology and are competent with the native tools provided, using third party tools to speed up development isn’t as much of a concern.

Q. Anything else you’d like to say to our readers?

A. If you know anyone who could benefit from a free speech communication application, please direct them to www.jabstone.com.

Would You Get Augmented?

Contrapaul — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 19:52:38 +0000

Like a lot of you I’ve been playing through Deus Ex: Human Revolution lately, and I couldn’t help thinking about whether or not I’d opt to get augmented. There are quite a few different ways characters are augmented in the game, many much more subtle than the half-machine protagonist. The thought of consciously choosing to replace a limb with a cybernetic seems crazy, but a number of characters seem to have chosen to do just that. Of course, it might be difficult to see an arm as “perfectly good”, when you can buy one that is “perfectly better”.

One of the most interesting concepts in the game though isn’t the arms, legs, and eyes- its the brain implants. At one point you might end up talking to a girl who has bought a chip to help her with analysis, so she can compete with other augmented brokers. This idea is much more scary than the thought of simply getting high-powered arms. The thought that “regular” humans might no longer be able to compete in business and education is not something touched on often in sci-fi. It takes the “bump” that an Ivy League education, or being president of an organization in college gives you and magnifies it. Imagine writing a resume where you list augments rather than skills! “I possess a Mitsubishi Advanced Calculations Unit, an Intel Statistical Analysis Engine, and an ARM Writing/Speaking Package”.

The game portrays augmentation at a stage of evolution where there is no question that augmented individuals are “better” than their normal counterparts. An interesting view though would have been to watch the debate as augmentations were right at the threshold of pushing that boundary. At what point did an ADD correcting chip give a student an unfair advantage, or an arm replacement give a person the ability to start punching through walls? The game’s narrative involves this debate, but far enough in the future that the issue is very black and white.

I for one hope this particular part of the future holds off longer than 2027. I doubt I’d opt to get a new limb or four, but an implanted chip could be crucial to compete. What about you? Would you choose to become less than 100% human to get a boost in one area or another?

The Future Isn’t Here… Yet. Robot Maids and Moon Bases

Contrapaul — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 14:00:57 +0000

Robot Servants

Sure, you might consider a Roomba a robot maid, but while it may clean your floor, it’s no butler. If a massive amount of science fiction literature was to be believed, we should all have had android Alfreds by now. Japan is getting closer to this particular prediction, because for whatever reason they seem to like robots a whole lot more than we do. When Honda’s ASIMO grows about 2 feet taller, and can walk up stairs safely, we’ll at least get the drink serving robot. Then we just need to put vacuum cleaners in its feet and call it a day.

Moon Colonies

One of the quickest ways to tell if someone is a nerd is to ask how they feel about NASA having to scrap their plans for a moon base. Besides that however, moon colonies really felt (and feel) close to happening! After all, 41 years ago we managed to land on the rock, you would have thought that somewhere between 1969 and 2010 we would have set up some sort of permanent structure. At this point our best bet is probably a privately funded moon base, so Bill Gates, Richard Branson, Google, do the future a favor and help us start moving off this rock on to others.

The Future Isn’t Here… Yet. is a new weekly column that will look at predictions that science fiction and pop culture were sure we would have by now. To suggest anything, please comment!

Every Space Mission We’ve Ever Done on One Map

icesnake — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 21:00:16 +0000

Every Space Mission We’ve Ever Done on One Map

By way of EXTRALIFE

The Germophobe’s Guide to ‘Con Cosplay

Daniora — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 22:22:37 +0000

In spite of the reputation of the geek as a solitary creature, there are times when we must gather en masse at various conventions. We are not content to meet in groups of 3 or 4. No! We must pack thousands of us into a hot, crowded convention center. Geeks from all over flock to these gatherings and, as a result, the likelihood for the passing of germs is high.

Rare is the person who comes away from a ‘con unscathed. In light of the recent events regarding PAX and the presence of an uninvited guest (Swine Flu), I thought the topic should be discussed. Sure, you could walk around in a surgical mask and a pair of latex gloves to protect yourselves from germs, but the ‘con is the perfect venue to be a bit more creative. I’ve compiled a list of the top 5 costume genres you can use to keep other peoples’ germs at bay.

1. Ninja/Power Ranger/Snake Eyes/ Cobra Commander

The key feature here is some type of cloth facial covering that could easily hide a surgical mask and make you look quite dapper as well. The requisite pair of gloves also protects your hands from germy game demos. All these costumes are fairly readily available from various costume retailers or are simple enough to put together yourself.

2. Storm Trooper/Darth Vader/ Boba Fett

Again with this genre is the mask to hide a less aesthetically surgical one, but this time they are hard masks. Plus, the odd sound your voice will make coming through the various layers will only serve to enhance the cosplay experience. And, again, the gloves are part of the outfit. These, however, are probably better for the more die hard fan, as purchasing one or making one yourself can be quite daunting.

3. Steam Punk/WWII Soldier/Psycho Mantis from MGS

The big draw here: Gas mask. Rather than use a fake one, get a real mask and outfit it with a couple of filters rated to keep biological microbes and you’ll be all set. All in all, it’s fairly simple to put together a decent outfit from thrift or army surplus stores. A pair of thin leather gloves will make button mashing easier and safer.

4. Transformer/Gundam

While certainly not the easiest costume to move around in, you could probably hide an entire respiration system within a good cardboard robot. Make sure to bring a friend, though. Maneuvering by yourself could prove quite hazardous.

5. Mascot-style Characters

While this is certainly something I would never encourage, there’s certainly no better way to keep everyone away from you than by dressing up as a terrifying large headed stuffed animal.

I hope that now before you head off to your next convention that you’ll remember what you’ve learned here and will take the necessary, geeky precautions.

Breaking the cable habit

Patrick — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 13:57:47 +0000

Why, you might ask, would this be a suitable topic? Because it’s the technology that we have now that inspires this post. I believe we’ve got a confluence of things occurring right now that make it entirely plausible for a reasonably tech-savvy individual to completely replace their cable box:

Netflix: missed your favorite show? Who cares, just queue up the season DVDs to be mailed (or, if you’re lucky, it’s available to watch immediately)
Hulu: Why not just stream the show for free? Hulu will even let you build up a queue complete with subscriptions
Over-the-air HDTV: pull in those local channels, for free, using a simple antenna and your fancy new flat-screen (or an older TV with a converter box)
BitTorrent: plenty of ways to find espisodes of shows for download as well, though this is, at best, a bit of a grey area when it comes to the legality.
Digital stores (Amazon/iTunes/etc): just purchase your favorite episodes to watch at your leisure

Now, admittedly, a lot of these require you to have high-speed internet (any digital download or streaming) and/or pay (Netflix, digital purchases), but the options are varied. However, DSL is reasonably priced ($20-30/month); slap a Netflix subscription on top of that for another $15 or so, and you’re still coming out cheaper than anything the cable company (well, that I’ve seen from Comcast) has to offer – plus you’ve got high-speed internet to boot.

I guess what remains to be seen is how the cable companies will adapt to the new technology. Yes, cable internet is most likely the fastest that most people can get ahold of (unless they’re in a FIOS market), but that doesn’t give you any discounts on your cable bill. Will the Comcast’s of the world fight back against the pressure of free HD and online programming? Only time will tell, but I’m not holding my breath.

San Diego Comic Con ’09

missiondeep — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 13:08:08 +0000

The following pictures were provided by our man Tom “On The Scene” Racine from Tall Tale Radio as he struts his stuff around San Diego Comic Con ’09

James Cameron’s “Avatar”

Star Trek DAC

District 9 Truck

The Green Hornet Car

Dalek

I hope everybody is having fun out at The San Diego Comic Con and thanks Tom.

Classical Geek: Authors you should know

Daniora — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 13:58:42 +0000

Geeks today have a lot on their minds. So much new technology arrives every day, new and exciting television and movies, books and fan fictions abound. There’s so much going on that it’s easy for newer geeks to jump right in to the new stuff without paying homage to all those that came before. With so many sub-par film adaptations, it’s easy to loose sight of the originals and how great they truly were. Classical Geek is your guide to a classic geek education.

Part 1: The Forefathers (and mother) of SciFi Literature

I present to you, fair readers, a list of some of the most influential authors in Science Fiction literature. The writings of these greats have influenced every aspect of SciFi culture. This is by no means a completely comprehensive list; there are too many to mention in one place. I did my best to cover a wide variety of authors, including those who you may have passed over as a result of having been forced to read them in school. I present them to you in chronological order.

Mary Shelley (1797 – 1851) – The novel as a form of literature didn’t become popular until the late 18th century. Shelley’s Frankenstein is arguably the first true science fiction novel and helped shape the genre. With the advent of the microscope and thermometer, medical science was taking its first baby steps during this time. Shelley took these new advancements and produced her own vision of what might happen. It really was the first novel of the genre; at its core, it was fiction based in science.

Jules Verne (1828 – 1905) – Along with H.G. Wells, Verne helped to expand and popularize science fiction. Around the World in Eighty Days, Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, and Journey to the Center of the Earth also helped influence the Steampunk sub-genre. Many of Verne’s writings were rejected by publishers as being “too scientific” for the general public, and, as a result, many were not released until after his death.

H. G. Wells (1866 – 1946) – The influence that Wells had on the science fiction community cannot be denied. The 1938 radio drama adaptation of War of the Worlds caused mass panic. The Time Machine presents the reader with a dualistic of the future that could be. The Island of Doctor Moreau is still the scariest book I have ever read. Seriously. In addition to his many fictional triumphs, Wells also published two books standardizing rules for wargames. That’s right. Anyone who has ever played Warhammer or any other miniature game has H. G. Wells to thank for it.

H. P. Lovecraft (1890 – 1937) – No one’s writing better embodies the notion that “there’s something out there and it’s going to get us” better that Lovecraft. The Lovecraft mythos of Cthulhu and the other elder gods has become part of modern mythology, possibly one of the last authors to truly do so. Even though Lovecraft is usually categorized as a horror author, I think it’s safe to say that the notion of some life form beyond the stars that is just waiting to consume the world falls neatly into the category of science fiction.

Arthur C. Clarke (1917 – 2008) – 2001: A Space Odyssey is one of my father’s favorite books. He had a big influence in my love of SciFi, so many of his favorites are mine, too. The interesting about 2001 is that it was a collaboration between Stanley Kubrick and Clarke based on the short story “The Sentinel” that Clarke had written years earlier. Kubrick thought the story would make a great movie, but believed that it would be better to allow the story to work itself out in novel form before confining themselves to a script. Anyone who has seen Wall-E cannot deny that Clarke’s influence is still far reaching today.

Frank Herbert (1920 – 1986) – Dune is widely held to be the best-selling science fiction novel of all time. Herbert believed that science fiction could be used to help build a better future. He felt that the dark visions that many authors had for the future could serve as a guide or warning against what could be. His works are rife with commentary on politics, science, philosophy, religion, and ecology. Herbert helped the genre become elevated in the public eye as something more than literary fluff.

Isaac Asimov (1920 – 1992) – If you’ve seen the recent movie I, Robot with Will Smith, pretend you haven’t. Not that I have any real problems with the movie, but the only thing it has in common with the original book is the title. Asimov’s Robot and Foundation series are part of a sub-genre that he called “social science fiction”. Asimov’s works focus on the social interactions of beings and the rules and ethics by which they must abide, as well as the consequences when they don’t. His main characters tend to be an “everyman” that the reader can identify with who is forced to make difficult decisions relating to the complex society in which they live.

Ray Bradbury (b. 1920) – Bradbury is my favorite SciFi author. I can’t get enough. His writings tend to sway in and out of science fiction proper, some hovering around more general fiction, some leaning more towards horror or fantasy. Some of the more heavily SciFi rooted stories are The Martian Chronicals. When compared with War of the Worlds, they provide an interesting counterpoint view of life on Mars and Martians. Many of his works are collections of short stories rather than full length novels. For those younger geeks in our audience, I recommend Fahrenheit 451 as an excellent book to write a paper on. It’s a very enjoyable read and there’s lots to write about; teachers love it.

Douglas Adams (1952 – 2001) – While many of the previous science fiction authors include humor in their writings, none, I feel, do it so effortlessly as Douglas Adams. Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy is a fantastic story in every iteration it has been presented. The almost dadaist absurdity found throughout lends a lighthearted feel to even the most dire situations. In most science fiction, authors present a future or alternate past where all of the characters are a part of that world. Even in The Time Machine, Wells’ hero may be foreign to the times he visits, but the notion and technology of time travel are his own. The fantastic thing about Adams is that Arthur Dent, the hero, believes that he lives in a completely ordinary world. Then, out of the blue, he discovers that his world is not at all ordinary but that he is living a science fiction novel. Hilarity ensues.

That is my whirlwind trip through the greats of science fiction. None of these tiny descriptions do any sort of justice to the epic proportions of these works of literature. I beseech you to go out, read them, and reclaim your nerd roots.

Classical Geek is a series dedicated to ensuring today’s geeks are properly educated and informed.

Moon Landing Video Found?

Tudor Lewis — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 15:33:08 +0000

Fox News and several British press sources are reporting that Thursday’s NASA press event commemorating the 40th Anniversary of the Lunar Landing may include an announcement that the original video has been found! The footage we normally see is what was broadcast live on TV, involving a TV camera pointed at a NASA monitor.

Here’s hoping that the new footage will be available online soon. I can think of no greater use for our new 40″ LCD than to watch high-quality footage with my 8-year-old son.

Down… goes… Netflix?

Patrick — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 13:47:19 +0000

It appears that the Netflix website went down over the weekend, but the company states that DVD shipping isn’t affected.

I’ve just checked it myself, and I was able to log in, so hopefully it was just a temporary blip in the road, and they’ve gotten things smoothed out.

Now back to your regularly scheduled watching!

(Initially found via Appscout)