Mobile Phone Software that Reads to the Blind developed

Day in and day out we keep reporting about innovative technologies. From groundbreaking mobile phones with fold-out displays to gigantic Plasma HDTVs to revolutionary contact lens, 2008 has witnessed a flurry of mind-blowing technologies just within a month’s time. But this time around that aptly define novel technology, and is truly for a good cause.

Technology futurist Ray Kurzweil and the National Federation of the Blind have got together to develop the “the smallest text-to-speech reading device in history.”

K-NFB Reading Technology is a joint initiative between Kurzweil Technologies Inc. of Wellesley Hills, Mass. and the Maryland-based National Federation of the Blind developing reading software for text-to-speech devices. The technology will be installed on the Nokia N82 mobile phone, which will most probably operate in a Symbian OS. This technology will give users the ability to take pictures of text and then convert the text into audible speech. In the past, the National Federation of the Blind has installed the technology on digital assistants, however this time the first time that it would be embedded in a mobile phone.

This new piece of technology will not only enable the visually impaired to hear the content of the documents, but will also facilitate individuals with learning disabilities or dyslexia to enlarge, read, track, and highlight printed materials with the help of the handset’s large display, noted the National Federation of the Blind.

Ray Kurzweil, President and CEO of K-NFB Reading Technology, Inc. said, “Technology that enlarges the printed word or converts it to speech has dramatically improved the lives of millions of Americans with many types of disabilities, enabling them to read and comprehend printed materials to which they never before had access.” Adding, “This innovation has created opportunities disabled people had never considered before due to the large amounts of reading required in certain occupations. The first machine of this type was the size of a washing machine. As optical character recognition technology is integrated into smaller and smaller devices, access to print becomes available almost instantaneously.”

In addition, the knfbREADER Mobile also incorporates all the other key features built into the N82, such as music playback, an integrated GPS receiver, wireless communication, an in-built 5MP autofocus camera, Web and email access. Calendaring and task management features are also packed in.

While the Nokia N82 mobile phone is priced at around $500, the software will cost around $1,595.

In the recent past companies have developed devices and services for the visually impaired that are sure to get them out of the constricted world of Braille on mere paper. While Microsoft and Digital Accessible Information System (DAISY) Consortium are in the works of rolling out a standards-based project that would allow visually impaired or print-disabled users to work on computer systems; Yahoo! India made services accessible to the visually disabled. IBM and Google are also not way behind. Apart from the leaders, several other companies have made life simpler for them by introducing things like “Seeing” shoes, special cameras etc.