macular degeneration, macular, diagnosis Underwhelmed – My Macular Degeneration Journey/Journal

Underwhelmed

It appears the only time I get to write anymore is when I am waiting for my ride. I may have to leave this and dash out the door at any second. Or dash upstairs and grab a new pair of pantyhose. Whatever possessed me to put on stockings with two ankle biters (literally! ) in the house is beyond me.

Speaking of my puppygirls, I cannot believe they are zeroing in on four months of age and 30 pounds each! They are totally, TOTALLY! a formidable demolition crew. They are now tall enough to reach the tops of tables and nothing is safe.

Finding a matching pair of gloves or slippers is also a challenge. Yesterday I had on one slipper sock and a slipper! Who cares if they matched? We are all friends here!

I have been aware I need to write the final page on Seeing AI. I have been using the scene option on and off with mixed results. Etta Puppygirl was NOT pleased to be called a cat! Basic scenes such as a Christmas tree at the Y are dealt with a little more efficiently. The Christmas tree was identified correctly. However, a rack of little girls’ gymnastic leotards was identified as papers on a shelf.

It appears they have backed off from attempts at being exact in their descriptions. When I tried taking a photo of a coffee maker I was told it was something indoors. I also got some responses that suggested the machine was not sure what it was. I find it refreshing when a machine admits its shortcomings!

I guess my final word on all that is something along the lines of “Great progress but still a ways to go.” I am a ridiculously hard critic, I am aware, but I would not depend on the app at the level of accuracy I have gotten from it. Maybe if I were blind and getting 50% accuracy I would be thrilled. With the vision I have, I am sort of underwhelmed.

On to the person recognition feature. I admit, I tried it one time. I recently cannot get my act together. Work, pups, researching retirement, etc, and it is bedtime. The one time I did try it, the thing thrilled my 54-year old gym buddy. It estimated she was 33! It also said she was happy. My buddy has a great smile.

Not much of a review, I admit. Anyone else want to take on the assignment? I am a very harsh critic and some of you may be more pleased than I have been.

I still see scenes and I use other clues to recognize people. Remember to use setting, body type, posture and walk not to mention voice to identify people. In two years I have succeeded in training one – that was 1 – person to tell me his name when he starts to speak to me. In other words, don’t hold out hope most people are trainable! Another option is to buy a monocular and check out faces that way.

That is it for now. Gotta roll!

Written January 12, 2018


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