[bksvol-discuss] Re: Fw: Hand held Reading Machine
- From: "siss52" <siss52@xxxxxxx>
- To: <bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sun, 17 Jul 2005 14:57:08 -0500
Hey Allison,
That forward is definitely interesting! Were you at either of the
conventions? We on the lists haven't heard much about either one of them.
Smile.
Sue S.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Allison Hilliker" <allison.hilliker@xxxxxxx>
To: <bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Sunday, July 17, 2005 2:41 PM
Subject: [bksvol-discuss] Fw: Hand held Reading Machine
Thought some may find interesting.
Allison
----- Original Message -----
From: "David Andrews" <dandrews@xxxxxxxx>
>
>>
>>Kurzweil Technologies and National Federation of the Blind premiere the
>>
>>world's first portable reading machine for the blind KurzweilAI.net, July
>>11, 2005 Kurzweil Technologies , Inc. ( KTI ) and the National Federation
>>of
>>the Blind ( NFB ) introduced the world's first portable reading machine
>>for
>>the blind last week at the NFB's
>>
>>2005 National Convention in Louisville, KY.
>>
>>The portable reading machine , which can fit in a user's shirt pocket, can
>>read print and text materials as users go through their normal daily
>>routine. It converts print into human
>>
>>-sounding speech and can read handouts at meetings, signs on a wall, text
>>on
>>packages, and electronic displays. The hardware consists of a consumer
>>digital camera with a standard PocketPC, so the hardware cost is expected
>>to
>>benefit from the rapid improvement of price-performance of consumer
>>electronic s. The camera and pocket computer are held together by a
>>snap-in
>>case.
>>
>>The technology was developed by Ray Kurzweil and his colleagues at KTI in
>>close collaboration with the NFB, which is organizing a comprehensive
>>testing program with blind users. Ray Kurzweil was the principal developer
>>of the first print-to-speech reading machine for the blind, also developed
>>in close collaboration with the NFB. Ray Kurzweil noted that "The new unit
>>is 10,000 times smaller than the original 1976 reading machine , yet the
>>computer it's using is 2,000 times more powerful." This new portable unit
>>is
>>expected to be available for sale in 2006.
>>
>>NFB Director of Strategic Projects Jim Gashel demonstrated the reading
>>machine to an enthusiastic audience of more than 2,000 blind delegates.
>>"There was cheering for several minutes while the machine read the
>>document," said Kurzweil, who followed the demo with a talk explaining the
>>machine , KTI's collaboration with NFB on the project, and the future of
>>this technology .
>>
>>The portable reader provides feedback to the user on what it sees, guiding
>>the user to properly frame reading material. It can report, for example,
>>if
>>one of the edges of a document is out of view. It is also capable of
>>stitching together portions of a document from multiple pictures taken by
>>the camera. It can detect and correct any degree of document rotation and
>>is
>>insensitive to three degrees of freedom of image tilt or rotation. The
>>software also includes image-enhancement techniques to compensate for
>>uneven
>>illumination and the low quality optics of inexpensive consumer cameras.
>>
>>Future version will include scene-recognition capabilities to locate
>>objects
>>such as chairs, lamps and people.
>>
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