[Reader-users] Cell Phone Can Read Documents for Blind

[David Andrews]

>
>Cell Phone Can Read Documents for Blind
>By ALEX DOMINGUEZ (Associated Press Writer)
> From Associated Press
>January 28, 2008 12:18 AM EST
>BALTIMORE - Chris Danielsen fidgets with the cell phone, holding it 
>over a $20 bill.
>
>"Detecting orientation, processing U.S. currency image," the phone 
>says in a flat monotone before Danielsen snaps a photo. A few 
>seconds later, the phone says, "Twenty dollars."
>
>Danielsen, a spokesman for the National Federation of the Blind, is 
>holding the next generation of computerized aids for the blind and 
>visually impaired.
>
>The Nokia cell phone is loaded with software that turns text on 
>photographed documents into speech. In addition to telling whether a 
>bill is worth $1, $5, $10 or $20, it also allows users to read 
>anything that is photographed, whether it's a restaurant menu, a 
>phone book or a fax.
>
>While the technology is not new, the NFB and the software's 
>developer say the cell phone is the first to incorporate the 
>text-to-speech ability.
>
>"We've had reading devices before," Danielsen said, noting similar 
>software is already available in a larger handheld reader housed in 
>a personal digital assistant. Companies such as Code Factory SL, 
>Dolphin Computer Access Ltd. and Nuance Communications Inc. also 
>provide software that allows the blind to use cell phones and PDAs.
>
>Inexpensive hand-held scanners such as WizCom Technologies Ltd.'s 
>SuperPen can scan limited amounts of text, read it aloud and even 
>translate from other languages.
>
>However, the $2,100 NFB device combines all of those functions in 
>one smart phone, said James Gashel, vice president of business 
>development for K-NFB Reading Technology Inc., which is marketing 
>the phone as a joint venture between the federation and software 
>developer Ray Kurzweil.
>
>"It is the next step, but this is a huge leap," Gashel, who is 
>blind, said in a telephone interview. "I'm talking to you on the 
>device I also use to read things. I can put it in my pocket and at 
>the touch of a button, in 20 seconds, be reading something I need to 
>read in print."
>
>Ray Kurzweil, who developed the first device that could convert text 
>into audio in the 1970s and the current NFB device, said portability 
>is only the first step. Future versions of the device will recognize 
>faces, identify rooms and translate text from other languages for 
>the blind and the sighted.
>
>The inventor plans to begin marketing the cell phone in February 
>through K-NFB Reading Technology. The software will cost $1,595 and 
>the cell phone is expected to cost about $500, Kurzweil said.
>
>Dave Doermann, president of College Park-based Applied Media 
>Analysis said his company is working on similar software for smart 
>phones that could be used by the military for translation and by the 
>visually impaired.
>
>"We don't anticipate ours being that expensive, but unfortunately 
>we're not quite to the release yet," said Doermann, who is also 
>co-director of the University of Maryland's Laboratory for Language 
>and Media Processing.
>
>Doermann said the company, which has received funding from the 
>Department of Defense and the National Eye Institute, hopes to have 
>its software ready in the next 12 to 18 months.
>
>Kurzweil's device uses speech software provided by Nuance, said 
>Chris Strammiello, the director of product management at Nuance, who 
>said the company has also developed a prototype reader that uses the 
>Internet to access more powerful server-side computers.
>
>"As you can harness the power of remote environments and do that so 
>quickly with the Web technologies, it gives a lot more capability, 
>flexibility and options to the way you solve these type of 
>problems," Strammiello said.
>
>There are about 10 million blind and visually impaired people in the 
>U.S., a number that is expected to double in the next 30 years as 
>baby boomers age.
>
>Kurzweil said those with vision problems are not the only ones 
>expected to benefit from the technology. Dyslexics, for example, are 
>expected to be among the users of the current device because of its 
>ability to highlight each word as it's read aloud, helping them cope 
>with their disability, which affects the ability to read. The 
>highlighting function can also help them improve their reading skills, he said.
>
>"What's new here is both blind people and kids can do this with a 
>device that fits in their shirt pocket," Kurzweil said.
>
>Marc Maurer, president of the National Federation of the Blind, said 
>the device and its PDA predecessor are a "form of hand-held vision" 
>that will make the visual environment "much more readily available 
>to the blind."
>
>---
>
>National Federation of the Blind: <http://www.nfb.org>http://www.nfb.org
>
>K-NFB Reading Technology Inc.: 
><http://www.knfbreader.com>http://www.knfbreader.com
>
>Kurzweil Technologies Inc.: 
><http://www.kurzweiltech.com/ktihome.html>http://www.kurzweiltech.com/ktihome.html
>
>Applied Media Analysis: 
><http://appliedmediaanalysis.com>http://appliedmediaanalysis.com
>
>Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.