i"ll agree with you on that commeht! Kelly ----- Original Message ----- From: "Kimberly A. Morrow" <morrowka@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> To: <real-eyes@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Monday, January 28, 2008 11:11 AM Subject: [real-eyes] Re: Fw: [acb-l] well shut my mouth! > Hmmm--a $2000 phone??? And I thought my Nokia 6620 at $500 which = > incorporates the Talks software was expensive! I don't think many blind = > folks are prepared to spend $2000 on a cell phone.=20 > > Kim > > > > > Kimberly A. Morrow=20 > Communication Specialist=20 > Unity > 1901 NW Blue Parkway=20 > Unity Village, MO 64065=20 > 816-524-3550 x3010=20 > > visit www.unityonline.org=20 > visit www.dailyword.com > > -----Original Message----- > > From: real-eyes-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx > [mailto:real-eyes-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]On Behalf Of Terrie Arnold > Sent: Monday, January 28, 2008 10:41 AM > To: real-eyes@xxxxxxxxxxxxx; Missouri List; adaptive information systems > inc.; BlindPeopleExperiences@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx; Valorie Stanard; peg hall; > CCB-L@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx > Subject: [real-eyes] Fw: [acb-l] well shut my mouth! > > > > ----- Original Message -----=20 > From: "Carl Jarvis" <carjar@xxxxxxxxxx> > To: "acb" <acb-l@xxxxxxx> > Sent: Monday, January 28, 2008 10:25 AM > Subject: [acb-l] well shut my mouth! > > > Could it be that the following development has some slight baring on = > NFB's=20 > stand opposing accessible paper money? > I'm starting to save my paper dollars...I think that's what they are, = > for=20 > the day this little jewel hits the market. Gosh, for just over 2,000=20 > dollars we should see every blind man, woman and child living the good = > life. > > Carl Jarvis > > > BALTIMORE (AP) - 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 > K-NFB Reading Technology Inc.: > http://www.knfbreader.com > Kurzweil Technologies Inc.: > http://www.kurzweiltech.com/ktihome.html > Applied Media Analysis: > http://appliedmediaanalysis.com > Hosted by > G > > > > -------------------------------------------------------------------------= > ------- > > > No virus found in this incoming message. > Checked by AVG Free Edition. > Version: 7.5.516 / Virus Database: 269.19.14/1247 - Release Date: = > 1/28/2008=20 > 10:59 AM > > To subscribe or to leave the list, or to set other subscription options, = > go to www.freelists.org/list/real-eyes > To subscribe or to leave the list, or to set other subscription options, > go to www.freelists.org/list/real-eyes > To subscribe or to leave the list, or to set other subscription options, go to www.freelists.org/list/real-eyes