Mobile Phone Reads For The Blind

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."

[...] The Nokia cell phone is loaded with software that turns text on photographed documents into speech [...] it allows users to read anything that is photographed, whether it's a restaurant menu, a phone book or a fax. [...]

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. [...] 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." [Source]