Newton Teen Heads 'Pix-Ease Slam' to Describe Images for Visually Impaired

NEWTON, MA – Newton teen Schuyler Grygiel is spearheading the "Pix-Ease Slam" this Saturday at the Carroll Center for the Blind's Technology Center.

Grygiel leads a team of about 20 volunteers, mostly comprised of teens from Newton and the surrounding area, who will take single visual images and describe them in 25 words or less. These images with the text description will be uploaded into a database on the Carroll Center's website to be used by the blind and visually impaired in PowerPoint presentations.

The descriptions will be read by a computerized voice for the visually impaired to determine if an image is appropriate to enhance a PowerPoint presentation.

Grygiel, a Boy Scout in Troop 205, expanded on the idea from CCB technology director Brian Charlson, who is blind. His goal is to have an initial database of 1,000 text-described images by the end of the day Saturday.

The Carroll Center trains newly blind and visually impaired people of all ages to use computers, digital devices and programs, with the goal to get them back into the workplace or classroom.

The "Pix-Ease Slam" will take place Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Carroll Center for the Blind's Technology Center, 770 Centre St. in Newton.

Photo via Flickr user OTA Photos, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0