Meet the Monarch! Bringing Braille and Tactile Graphics Under Your Fingertips – A chat with Greg Stilson, Head of Global Innovation at APH

Podcast Summary: From the 2023 NFB Convention in Houston Texas, Blind Abilities podcast host Simon Bonenfant spoke with Greg Stilson, Head of Global Innovation at American Printing House for the Blind (APH). Greg first takes listeners through the new Monarch Tactile Display. This braille display is a partnership between APH, Humanware, and the NFB.  From the APH Website: “Together with our partners at HumanWare and the National Federation of the Blind, we are working to create and develop the Monarch, a multipurpose device which can receive digital textbooks from APH and other providers, significantly reducing the time to fingertips for our students. APH and HumanWare have designed the specifications and user experience requirements and are equal investors in this project. HumanWare has manufactured the hardware and software foundation, while DOT Inc., a technology supplier for HumanWare, has developed new, innovative cell technology used in the tactile display of the device. NFB, the world’s leading membership organization representing blind people, has played a critical role in bringing the customer voice into the project. This ensures that Monarch will be powered by the people it serves”.  Preorders for the Monarch should be ready in 2024. In the United States, the Monarch will be available using Federal Quota funds, while all other countries will be distributed by Humanware.  Greg also gives an overview of APH’s other offerings such as the Mantis and Chameleon braille displays, and the low-vision magnification devices such as the Juno and Jupiter  as well as the Matt Connect Android Tablet. Additionally, Greg discusses the recently released Code Jumper, and Road to Code a set of tools designed to help blind people learn how to code. Greg closes the interview by talking about his personal journey through blindness and technology and how his experience is an asset to his current work at APH.  To contact the team at APH, send an email to the Customer Service department at cs@aph.org For those who are interested in the Monarch specifically, send an email to dtd@aph.org We hope you have enjoyed this interview. If you would like to learn more and contact us, you can follow us on Twitter @Blind Abilities On the web at www.blindabilities.com Send us an email at info@blindabilities.com Get the Free Blind Abilities App on the App Store and Google Play Store Give us a call and leave us some feedback at 612-367-6093. We would love to hear from you! Check out the Blind Abilities Community on Facebook, the Blind Abilities Page and Career Resources for the Blind and Visually Impaired group. You can contact Simon directly at mailto:sbonenfant2@gmail.com