Comments on: Needed: Better ‘reading pen’ for disabled people

By: David Rothman

David Rothman — Sun, 10 Sep 2006 19:09:22 +0000

Any other TeleBlog folks who can help Caroline? Meanwhile big thanks to Garson. David

By: Garson Poole

Garson Poole — Sun, 10 Sep 2006 11:47:34 +0000

Response to Caroline Carson: Inventor Ray Kurzweil and the US National Federation of the Blind developed a device recently called the K-NFB reader that is relevant to your question. Here is a description:

Technology that scans and reads printed material to the blind is nothing new, but this personal reader is the first truly handheld device to do the job. Combining a state-of-the-art digital camera with a powerful personal data assistant housed in a custom-designed, attractive case, the Kurzweil–National Federation of the Blind Reader puts the best available character recognition software together with text-to-speech conversion technology, all in the palm of your hand.

Here is a link to the K-NFB website and here is a link to a post by Branko Collin on the Teleread blog about the device.

By: Caroline Carson

Caroline Carson — Sat, 09 Sep 2006 22:41:58 +0000

I read an article in the Los Angeles Times 2 – 3 weeks ago about a woman with learning disabilities whose college bought a machine for her that would scan her textbooks and then read them outloud to her.
Do you know a machine that could do this?

By: David Rothman

David Rothman — Sat, 03 Jun 2006 16:23:16 +0000

Jim (and others), you can reach Tom Peters at infoNOSPAMPLEASEtapinformation.com. Just stick the @ in its usual place and drop the stuff in caps. Best of luck helping out your father. David

By: jim hills

jim hills — Sat, 03 Jun 2006 16:13:08 +0000

What a great idea. My Dad is blind and I would love to get a reading pen for him. Are there any new types available?

By: David Rothman

David Rothman — Mon, 05 Dec 2005 04:10:31 +0000

Hi, Donna. I’ll forward your note to Tom Peters, a specialist in reading-related devices for the visually impaired. – David

By: Donna Behymer

Donna Behymer — Sun, 04 Dec 2005 20:42:23 +0000

I’ve been looking for a device that will assist my mother who is legally blind from macular degeneration (she has peripheal vision only). When I first heard about the talking pen idea, I thought it would be great for her to “read” her mail, directions, etc.

Do you think it would be OK for her?

Thanks for any insight or suggestions.