Some time ago, I got a Kangaroo pc to test with the the vOICe. The Kangaroo has the following advantages.
- It is small and thin.
- It has a built-in battery.
- It runs true Microsoft Windows
- It has multiple USB ports.
Disadvantages
- No 3.5 MM jack so you need to use wireless speakers or headphones or a HDMI splitter cable that separates the video from audio.
- You need to carry a separate keyboard.
- The Kangaroo PC is not easily available. A cousin gifted me one for my birthday.
I finally have a working setup with the device.
The first challenge is to setup the device. You will need to connect a keyboard and monitor to it unless you have a USB sound card or plugin a splitter HDMI cable. The USB sound card may be easier because some of them, set themselves as the default sound device.
I then installed NVDA on it along with NVDA remote. so that I could control the kangaroo PC from my existing setup. I set NVDA remote to connect automatically.
I then connected it to my wireless network and I had remote control
I then had to install the vOICe and the drivers for the video glasses I was using and I was ready to go.
Another thing I did was set the kangaroo PC to login automatically. Yes, it is more secure to use the fingerprint sensor but I want a device that gives me vision at the touch of a button. Moreover, I do not have any sensitive information on that machine.
BOQ
Kangaroo PC
HDMI male to female cable with audio
An UVC compliant infrared camera for night vision
Notes
- You will not get any indication if the kangaroo pc is on or off. To switch on the device, ensure that you are wearing headphones and hit the power button for about 2 seconds. The unit does have lights therefore a light probe may be handy.
- I have not tried wireless headsets but they may be a better option.
- You will need to use the doc because the main device does not have any USB ports.
- If using a UVC compliant camera, ensure that you have ffdshow installed and read the FAQ on MJpeg compression
Leave a Reply