2019-06-13 00:52:24 (edited by heartssong 2019-12-12 06:57:05)

Hi all. I am a member of the Radegast team. Radegast is a viewer that allows the blind to access Second Life. It is being developed by Cinder Roxley and we would love your help. The goal is to increase its functionality. We believe that blind programmers will be able to contribute significantly to the project and would love your help. The current program is written in C# but is being rewritten in C++.
I am a blind Second Life user and have been for eight years. Radegast is a great program and could be even better with more help. If you are interested in assisting the links are provided below.

The Radegast website: http://radegast.life

Radegast code:
http://github.com/cinderblocks/radegast

Libre Metaverse code:
http://github.com/cinderblocks/libremetaverse

For those wanting to come in-world and use Radegast, please download the program and register through Virtual Ability's website:
http://www.virtualability.org

Then, e-mail Virtual Ability and let us assist you in starting your Second Life. This is what we do. As a blind trainer, I can help you get the most out of Radegast and your Second Life and help you based on what you'd like to do in-world.

Here is the Radegast help guide. We recommend that everyone study this and use it as a reference:
https://radegast.life/documentation/help/

2019-06-13 01:27:27

Getting a 403. Would you mind elaborating on what this is designed to accomplish?

"On two occasions I have been asked [by members of Parliament!]: 'Pray, Mr. Babbage, if you put into the machine wrong figures, will the right answers come out ?' I am not able rightly to apprehend the kind of confusion of ideas that could provoke such a question."    — Charles Babbage.
My Github

2019-06-13 08:32:08

same here

Paul

2019-06-13 12:31:22

403 here as well.

2019-06-13 15:01:36

I have no idea why it is giving a 403. The site was working fine for me yesterday. Type in:
http://www.radegast.life

The project is a rebuild of the Radegast viewer for use in virtual worlds like Second Life. Second Life already has a well-established blind community who depend on the viewer. But the viewer code is outdated and we are rebuilding from the ground up. Cinder Roxley is the main developer.

2019-06-13 15:03:45

Thank you guys so much for your interest!

2019-06-13 15:13:11

Okay. It gave me a 403 too. So I recopied the URL. Sorry about that!:
https://radegast.life/

2019-06-13 19:33:31

So where's the C++ code? Or, rather, where in the system do you need help? I can't find any information about what needs to be done and so on, and I found the git hub repository at https://github.com/cinderblocks/radegast

"On two occasions I have been asked [by members of Parliament!]: 'Pray, Mr. Babbage, if you put into the machine wrong figures, will the right answers come out ?' I am not able rightly to apprehend the kind of confusion of ideas that could provoke such a question."    — Charles Babbage.
My Github

2019-06-16 09:07:40

I am not sure where Cinder Roxley is keeping the C++ code for the new viewer. What you have is the code repository for Radegast in its current form. Cinder Roxley is supposed to be registering on her so she can talk to you guys herself. She knows this sort of thing better than I do.

I would also suggest contacting her via the Radegast site for further details.

I am sorry. I wish I could provide more info, but I am not a programmer! I just think having blind programmers on board would be invaluable because no one knows how we navigate with screen readers better than we do.

2019-06-16 19:59:42

@9, very true! I hope she can inform us with more info.

"On two occasions I have been asked [by members of Parliament!]: 'Pray, Mr. Babbage, if you put into the machine wrong figures, will the right answers come out ?' I am not able rightly to apprehend the kind of confusion of ideas that could provoke such a question."    — Charles Babbage.
My Github

2019-06-18 16:44:42

I hope she can too. I am so sorry. I probably should have asked her to post this topic instead of me since I don't code. But I am trying to do as much as I can because she does so much of it on her own.

2019-06-18 20:30:45

Its alrighty, its good you submitted the information; you've sparked this discussion, which is all you probably needed to do.

"On two occasions I have been asked [by members of Parliament!]: 'Pray, Mr. Babbage, if you put into the machine wrong figures, will the right answers come out ?' I am not able rightly to apprehend the kind of confusion of ideas that could provoke such a question."    — Charles Babbage.
My Github

2019-06-18 21:19:56

@11, it is all fine. No need to feel sorry at all. Even if you don't code you still have informed the community of a project like this.

Paul

2019-12-06 17:06:16 (edited by heartssong 2019-12-06 17:17:07)

I am so sorry it has been so long since I have posted here. Cinder is redoing the code in the current program instead of creating a completely new one. Here is the link to the Radegast code. It is up to date:
http://github.com/cinderblocks/radegast

Libremetaverse is also something they are working on updating. The link for that is below should anyone wish to take a shot at it. It is a part of the project. I would chat with someone there about what they need help doing as I have no clue. It is way over my head.

(http://github.com/cinderblocks/libremetaverse

2019-12-06 21:20:31

Hi,
both projects seem to be done in C#. That would be appreciated if you could rename the topic, since C++ and C# are completely different languages.

2019-12-08 02:10:55

Sorry for the mix up! I don't code. I am just trying to get our developer some help. And I think the blind community would be a tremendous asset in this department since the viewer is being developed for the blind.

2019-12-08 02:19:30

The topic title has been updated as well as the post. Thank you!

2019-12-08 22:30:11

I have updated the topic. Cinder, the developer, says the program is currently in C# but is being rewritten in C++.

2019-12-08 23:19:26

Sl isn't even good for us. The text mode gives a fraction of what's really there and you need help to do everything. I feel more helpless in SL than I do in my real life. How could this be fixed with continuing to work on the viewer when the issues are fundamentally translation between graphics and text.

Facts with Tom MacDonald, Adam Calhoun, and Dax
End racism
End division
Become united

2019-12-09 01:25:14 (edited by heartssong 2019-12-09 01:37:17)

I use SL just fine with no help. Let me suggest you come train with me and let me show you how easy it can be to navigate and have a fullfilling SL life. I host parties, attend events, ice skate, fish constantly, craft potions to assist me in my fishing, shop, explore.

The only thing I don't do in SL that a few people do is drive a car. I teleport instead. But I have been on my share of trains and a yacht with friends. Teleportation is so much faster. smile

Everything else is possible and I do whatever I want to, as do a whole community of blind SL users. I would suggest you give it a try, especially if you have not done so in a long time. If we see something that needs fixing, the Radegast developer is quick to fix it. Hence why we are asking for assistance. We want to improve Radegast faster. It is a great program, but there is always room for improvement. Remember that Second Life is not like anything we have been able to do previously so it takes time to learn. It takes patience and a willingness to succeed in-world. But this is true for anyone coming in to SL, not just the blind.

We have a dedicated team to assist you and two in-world groups, both of which we encourage you to join. The first is Virtual Ability, a disability support group full of awesome people I am proud to call friends. We have a ton of fun. The other is Blind Users Support group, a group of over 120 members consisting of blind SL users, visually impaired SL users, business owners, etc. Some of these blind users own their own land and businesses.

2019-12-09 01:32:05

For anyone who wants to learn more here is the link to Virtual Ability's website: http://www.virtualability.org

Second Life really is a great thing and I am so sorry you had a rough go, Iron. I do hope you will give it another shot! We'd love to have you.

2019-12-09 03:23:43

I know this so off topic, but can you give a link to second life? haven't played and would love to help yall! And maybe have some fun too? haha smile. I don't know how to program, but I see a bit that you and I have the saim moadivation, what I am basicly saying is that I would love to help you all!

My chiptune archive is https://chiparchive.com/files/.
And the new sync key is
BQHTXTVRWGMFSI3BI3ZVQ4TGEOGNJJO64
Twitter is https://twitter.com/thechiptunearc1?lang=en

2019-12-09 06:07:25

I have been on there before, and everyone was cool and really willing to help out. The thing is though, it feels weird for me to go on SL and basically have worse of a disability in there than I do in real life. I couldn't really walk around, I had to teleport even in the same area. I couldn't read signs. I couldn't buy or pick out clothing because most of them have HUDs which the text viewer couldn't really work with. When I could, I had no idea what went together with each other.

When I went to events, I would have to teleport around and pick a seat and hope that I didn't sit somewhere someone else was sitting. In an event which is supposed to be professional in nature, such as a presentation, lecture, etc. that is embarrassing.

I basically had very little access to a world in which things were graphical and in 3D. And said access came in the form of text. Now, as an avid MUDder, I have no problem with text based things; however, it just felt like grasping at straws to try to make something work that just wasn't meant to.

Now, I know there are a lot of people on there with different disabilities, and SL is liberating to them because they can see, and while in their real lives, they may be stuck in a wheelchair or a bed, in SL, they can be fully ambulatory and that's got to be amazing. I'm really not trying to take that away, or diminish the good that other people are getting out of it.

For me though, imagine someone who is able to organize their clothing so they know what works together, dress themselves, bathe and take care of other personal hygiene, cook their own meals, walk around inside and out, orient to new environments,etcc. Then strip about 90% of that away and that's how I feel when I'm in SL and it's just not a good experience for me.

Facts with Tom MacDonald, Adam Calhoun, and Dax
End racism
End division
Become united

2019-12-09 15:49:55

I'm glad to see this is still being improved.
I tried it a couple of years ago, and I liked it then. I just wished I could shop and see the Christmas events more independently.

2019-12-10 08:35:10

I'm astounded that clothing objects do not have a name attribute so you can hear info like "Red hat with palm palms".
I also find it strange that one could not do a virtual view, similar to AHC's map view, to see chairs that are empty, or press a button to hear where chairs are in relationship to you.
How is VR support? I wonder how the accessibility client works with VR controllers?