Pocket-sized device that turns print into speech

Stuart Corner
Monday, 28 January 2008 14:47

Your IT - Entertainment

Imagine a pocket-sized device that is able to turn the printed word on a page into speech. Imagine how it could change the lives of the vision and reading impaired. Imagine no more: it's a reality. It's the knfbREADER Mobile from K-NFB Reading Technology and it's basically a Nokia N82 cellphone. It combines the image capture capabilities of the phone's high-resolution camera with the well-established Kurzweil character recognition technology. It's been developed by K-NFB Reading Technology, a joint venture between Kurzweil Technologies, headed by CEO Ray Kurzweil, the inventor of the first print-to-speech reading machine for the blind, and the US National Federation of the Blind.

According to the company "This truly pocket-sized reader enables users to take pictures of and read most printed materials at the push of a button. Blind users hear the contents of the document read in clear synthetic speech, while users who can see the screen and those with learning disabilities can enlarge, read, track, and highlight printed materials using the phone's large and easy-to-read display."

Dr Marc Maurer, president of the National Federation of the Blind, said: "The knfbREADER Mobile will allow the blind unprecedented access to the printed word, affording a level of flexibility and capability never before available. No other device in the history of technology has provided such portability and quick access to print materials. The NFB promotes equal opportunity for the blind, and this reader will make blind people dramatically more independent. The result will be better performance at work, at school, at home, and everywhere else we go. This reader will substantially improve the quality of life for the growing number of blind people and people who are losing vision, including seniors."

The reader will be distributed in the US Canada, Western Europe, and the Pacific Rim. Details http://www.knfbreader.com