Episode 79 - Cave Paintings

Part 2 of 2. 

Love them or hate them, AI writing tools like Chat GPT have the potential to change the way we write, communicate, and learn. One group looking to harness the technology with, and for, the Blind community is Be My Eyes, an outfit which  connects Blind and low-vision users with sighted volunteers through live video calls. Now,  Be My Eyes has partnered with OpenAI to create Be My AI, a free app-based service that provides AI-generated descriptions of user photos. The tech is currently being tested and played with by a large group of users, Christine among them. This week, Christine shares illuminating examples of what the service can -- and can't yet -- do, and JJ breaks down the AI descriptions from a Describer's point of view. 

Talk Description to Me is not affiliated with, nor sponsored by, Be My Eyes or OpenAI.

Love them or hate them, AI writing tools like ChatGPT have the potential to change the way we write, communicate, and learn. One group looking to harness the technology with, and for, the Blind community is Be My Eyes, an outfit which  connects Blind and low-vision users with sighted volunteers through live video calls. Now,  Be My Eyes has partnered with OpenAI to create Be My AI, a free app-based service that provides AI-generated descriptions of user photos. The tech is currently being tested and played with by a large group of users, Christine among them. This week, Christine shares illuminating examples of what the service can -- and can't yet -- do, and JJ breaks down the AI descriptions from a Describer's point of view. Part 1 of 2.

Talk Description to Me is not affiliated with, nor sponsored by, Be My Eyes or OpenAI.

Ravines are a distinctive part of the urban landscape of Toronto. They create a network of natural green space that is one of the city’s defining features.  Edited by Christine and introduced by JJ, you’re about  to experience a described walk through part of one of them, led by Arborist Todd Irvine, funded by Park People's Ravine Champions program and organized by Katherine Sanders and guest Describer Rebecca Singh, this piece guides and informs as it walks you through the stories that exist in Toronto’s Urban Forest.

The Star Trek universe is alive, well, and moving at warp speed. To celebrate Star Trek Day JJ joins Christine in her backyard for a casual  conversation about the visuals of two Trek shows, the animated series Lower Decks, and the live action prequel Strange New Worlds. Fast-paced animation, and the complexities of prequel aesthetics, are too much for traditional inline description, so with the sound of passing shuttlecraft and starships overhead (ok, maybe they're just planes headed to the airport!) Christine and JJ indulge in a geeky, chit-chatty, description deep dive. 

Christmas is a wonderful time to get in touch with old friends, to catch up over a warm mug of hot chocolate, to say "How have you been? I've really missed you!" Well, we've really missed you!

This year, to celebrate the season, we'd like to make this small Christmas offering: a reading of How The Grinch Stole Christmas by the one-and-only Dr. Seuss. But Christine is Christine, JJ is JJ, and this is Talk Description to Me, so in our reading of the classic Christmas tale, a few descriptions of the picture book illustrations have been woven into the text in playful Seussian rhyme!

Now let's pour that hot chocolate and catch up, shall we?!

Talk Description to Me is hitting pause -- for the time being! To mark their final episode in this two-year run, Christine and JJ packed a picnic, hopped on a ferry, and headed to the Toronto Islands. Sitting on a park bench, facing the Toronto skyline, the two friends shared one last description-rich conversation before unplugging their mics for a spell. 

To all of our listeners, thank you for taking this journey with us! Please stay subscribed so that you don't miss a moment when we plug back in!

Fuelled once again by Christine's insatiable curiosity, today Talk Description to Me explores the visuals of river systems. How do rivers form? Are the headwaters obvious? Are stream networks visible in satellite images? Does a river in the Amazon look the same as a river in Egypt? With the help of diagrams, descriptions of maps, and tactile primers on continental geography, JJ and Christine dive headfirst into the cool, rushing waters of the world's great rivers.

Back in May, Christine and JJ began examining and describing the world of virtual reality. Today the intrepid pair wraps up the three-part series, exploring surreal spaces and fantastical experiences, including a trippy meditation realm, and a journey to Jurassic World. Then JJ's  in-house tech expert Owen joins the conversation to provide a teenage take on VR. 

Spy movies are perfect for Audio Description. There are subtle clues to describe, exotic and seedy locations to expound on, and often great visual storytelling for the Describer to work with. But what about those moments that whip by too fast for the AD Narrator? Today, Christine and JJ break down the visuals of spy movie tropes: gadgets, lairs, disguises, hacking, and tracking. 

If you live in a city, you have lots of animals as neighbours; squirrels, raccoons, rats, skunks, maybe even foxes or coyotes. But what do they look like? How do they move, eat, and interact? This week, Christine and JJ describe the visuals of urban wildlife. That's right trash pandas -- we're talking about you!