News from Handy Tech North America - KNFB READER & the N82

[Bob Campbell]

Hi.  I got this from another list and thought it would be of interest  to 
others who use the N82 or anyone interested in new accessibility issues.
I don't intend  it as  promoting the product: just sharing the info.
Bob C.



K-NFB Reading Technology
January 28, 2008
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

--Cell Phone Can Read Documents for Blind

Dear Customer:

Handy Tech North America is pleased to be an
authorized dealer of K-NFB Reading Technology
products.  We are now taking orders for the
newly released K-NFB Reader, version 2
software which runs on the Nokia N82 Symbian
phone. The cost of the K-NFB Reader bundle
from Handy Tech North America is $2,495.
This package includes the Nokia N82 phone,
K-NFB Reader software and your choice of
either Talks or Mobile Speak screen reader.
Note that the K-NFB Reader is a self voicing
application which does not require the use of
a third party screen reader; however, a
screen reader is necessary to access the
other features of the phone such as contacts,
messaging, calendar appointments, caller ID
and call logs. We are pleased to offer the
newly released KNFB Reading system to our
customers.


Here is a link to a demo of the reader:


http://www.triumphonic.com/demos/readerdemo.mp3
(http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001JDx4ckL3Yd9AOcW8mM9c_8YoxlawKaAPgkIEaTdUfoEK59lT4YrJRJtBP0WpdGbsCrQEJFE66T1kxuchMlRRcWGlaEsIkY-smspyqMNZgMG3Nm553JhER1U2zX8rgIropZPbNqW66JUBWrnziyDdTg==)

The following is the press release of the
K-NFB Reader announced earlier this morning:


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Cell Phone Can Read Documents for Blind
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
By ALEX DOMINGUEZ

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
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."




~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Contact Information
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
email: earle at handytech.us
phone: (651) 636-5184
web:
 http://www.handytech.us