[bookshare-discuss] Innovative computer 'eyes' help blind read: The iCAREReader

"Shelley L. Rhodes" <juddysbuddy@xxxxxxxxxxxx> · Thu, 17 Mar 2005 10:00:39 -0500

New type of scanning and OCR style thing, I can see where this would be 
beneficial.

Arizona Republic
Thursday, March 17, 2005

Innovative computer 'eyes' help blind read: The iCARE Reader

By Alison Stanton, Special for The Republic

Thanks to an innovative device developed by students and staff at the Center 
for Cognitive Ubiquitous Computing (CUbiC) at Arizona State University, 
visually impaired people will now have a chance to read their mail, browse 
through a magazine or look over a restaurant menu quickly and easily.

Graduate students Michael Rush and Sushant Bhatia began creating the 
computerized device, called the iCARE Reader, in 2002, collaborating with 
ASU's School of Architecture and Design.

The iCARE Reader uses a 13.7 megapixel camera to take a picture of any type 
of printed page and load it within seven seconds into a computer. The text 
can then be read aloud at different speeds by a synthesized voice. 
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"This is a tremendous opportunity to bring the power and potential of 
computing and information technology to help individuals with disabilities 
and in general in the realm of enhancing human performance," said Sethuraman 
Panchanathan, 43, director of the center, part of the Ira A. Fulton School 
of Engineering.

Unlike traditional scanning devices that can also convert text into voice, 
Panchanathan said the iCARE Reader is faster, more accurate and lets 
visually impaired people skip through documents quickly and easily.

"You can go back by word, character or paragraph," he said.

Laura Bratton, a junior majoring in psychology at ASU, said she enjoys using 
the iCARE Reader.

"It's a lot faster than the traditional scanners," said Bratton, 20, who was 
diagnosed at age 8 with a condition that has caused her retina to 
deteriorate.

Bratton, who works in CUbiC and helped test the device, said she uses the 
reader about once a week and likes the freedom that the device provides.

"I have used it mainly for pleasure readings - books that are not available 
in alternative formats that I can scan, mail and personal letters," she 
said. "I think it will provide me the chance to do more things independently 
like read books and fliers."

Terri Hedgpeth, 43, is a disability research specialist at CUbiC who lost 
both eyes at 18 months of age due to retinal blasphoma. Hedgpeth said that 
before developing the iCARE Reader, staff members met with visually impaired 
people, disability specialists and teachers to learn what would be wanted in 
such a device.

"We took the unique approach. We decided to ask the consumer what they 
want," the Tempe resident said, laughing.

Once the iCARE Reader was created, Panchanathan said he and others from 
CUbiC sought additional feedback from visually impaired people and other 
groups.

"We are getting feedback before we deploy it," Panchanathan said, adding 
that CUbiC recently debuted the iCARE Reader at the Foundation for Blind 
Children in Phoenix.

John Black, 56, a research scientist at CUbiC, is proud of the work done to 
create the iCARE Reader.

"All my life I've had a love affair with books, and allowing people access 
to these books is important to me," the Tempe resident said.

Hedgpeth said she knows from personal experience that without new and 
innovative devices, many visually impaired people simply avoid reading 
things that are not readily available in Braille.

"For a lot of visually impaired students and the elderly, if it is too much 
hassle to read, then people don't," she said.

Hedgpeth, who has used other forms of reading technology for years and found 
them "tedious and time-consuming," loves the ease of iCARE Reader.

"It's a lot easier. I like to be able to go in there and put something down 
and know what it is quickly," she said. "This gives the person a chance to 
read a book the way anyone else does."

"The important word is 'independent,' " Black said. "We are hoping to give 
independence to people to read without relying on anyone else."

http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/tempe/articles/0317t-icare17Z10.html

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