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For Gary Wunder, reading a concert program or a handout at a meeting is a luxury he never dreamed would be possible.
Wunder, a computer programmer analyst in Missouri, is blind, and a new handheld device recently introduced by the National Federation of the Blind has opened a new world of possibilities for him.
The Kurzweil-;National Federation of the Blind Reader photographs and reads most printed materials with the click of a button. When the user holds the device, dubbed "the camera that talks," over a printed document - a letter, restaurant menu, airline ticket, business card or office memo - the contents of the document are played back in clear, synthetic speech. It is the first portable device of its kind.
A combination of a digital camera and personal data assistant, the reader uses character-recognition software and text-to-speech conversion technology.
"This little machine has completely changed my awareness about the print around me," Wunder said. "It is amazing to go to a public event and actually read the program, to go to a work meeting and be able to read the handout. What a thrill it is to take a business card and get the information off of it quickly enough to remember why I took the card in the first place."
The reader is portable and can store thousands of printed pages with easily obtainable extra memory. It has a headphone jack, so it doesn't disturb people in close proximity when in use. And files can quickly be transferred to a computer or Braille notetaker.
The portable reader was developed by the National Federation of the Blind and renowned inventor Ray Kurzweil. Kurzweil also developed the first omni-font optical character recognition technology, the first print-to-speech reading machine for the blind and the first CCD flatbed scanner.
The reader is expected to sell for $3,495. Kurzweil Educational Systems will handle sales through its channel of national dealers.
"This reader will make blind and visually impaired people dramatically more independent," said Marc Maurer, president of the National Federation of the Blind. "The result will be better performance at work, at school, at home and everywhere else we go."
There are 10 million blind or visually impaired people in the U.S. and this number is expected to double in the next 30 years. The reader will help millions of people who cannot see or cannot read ordinary print with ease.
To learn more about the Kurzweil-;National Federation of the Blind Reader, call 877-708-1724 or visit www.nfb.org. - NU |
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