| Recently, Intel start to sell a new portable | | | | reading problems. Of course, it is possible to |
| handheld e-reader that can snap pictures of books | | | | download text documents (simple text files, no |
| and newspapers and then read them back to | | | | complex files like .PDF or .DOC) or audio files |
| people who have a hard time reading the printed | | | | (.wav) on the device. The battery can power |
| page. | | | | about four hours of playback between charges |
| | | | | with its 3300 mAh Lithium-Ion battery. |
| Called the Intel Reader, the device can assist the | | | | |
| people with reading-based disabilities, such as | | | | About the controls, the Reader offers tactile |
| dyslexia or low-vision, or for those who are blind. | | | | buttons and voice operated menus so that |
| | | | | visually challenged individual can control it |
| The Intel Reader, about the size of a paperback | | | | comfortably. Those with a low vision can increase |
| book, has a high-resolution 5 megapixel autofocus | | | | the font size of the text and also zoom in the |
| camera with a focus range of up to one meter. | | | | screen to view the text clearly. |
| With the power of an Intel Atom processor, | | | | |
| allowing users to point, shoot and listen to printed | | | | Ben Foss, who developed original concept for the |
| text. For large amounts of text, Intel offers a | | | | Intel Reader, said the device is also intended to |
| separate device called a “portable capture | | | | assist those with severe Dyslexia, an impairment |
| station” that makes it possible to use the | | | | he himself grew up with. “We want people to |
| reader as a scanner for more quickly capturing | | | | experience the independence of being able to |
| and converting multiple pages from a book or | | | | read on their own in a public place or anywhere |
| large documents. | | | | they want to.” As he says, really hope this |
| | | | | Intel Reader can increase independence for |
| For people with low vision, the Reader’s 4.3 | | | | visually impaired. |
| inch LCD display (16:9 aspect ratio) can zoom in | | | | |
| and out of text, the size of which can be easily | | | | But the Intel Reader is not so perfect: it can't |
| adjusted, according to Intel. | | | | recognize hand writing, and doesn't yet work |
| | | | | internationally (the latter is coming soon. However |
| Prototypes of the paper-back sized device were | | | | it is quite amazing that it makes it possible in a |
| tested with more than 400 visually-impaired users, | | | | relatively simple way to grab a menu in a |
| including some who were completely blind. The | | | | restaurant or a random document, and to turn it |
| reader can adjust the speed of reading, and | | | | into text for immediate audio translation. |
| it’s 2GB of storage can hold about 500,000 | | | | |
| pages of text; roughly 600 pages of scanned | | | | The Intel Reader has list price of $1499 and is |
| books, claims Intel. | | | | available in U.S. through select resellers, including |
| | | | | CTL, Don Jophston, GTSI, Howard Technology |
| The device can play back scanned items, but it | | | | Solutions and HumanWare. Though the price looks |
| also supports MP3s, WAV files, text files and the | | | | expensive, it may be worth checking out against |
| DAISY (Digital Accessible Information System) | | | | the Braille readers. |
| format, used to publish books for people with | | | | |