On 10 November, Intel unveiled a revolutionary reading device aimed primarily at people with reading disabilities, be it low-vision, blindness or even dyslexia. The Intel Reader is about the size of a paperback book. With it, the reader takes a photograph of a printed page. Then print is converted by the reader into digital text, which is then read aloud via text-to-speech technology. The device can capture printed materials of various formats, from paperbook to tabloid.
In this case, it really helps to SEE & HEAR the device in operation. For the next few days, you will find a video clip in our blog’s sidebar VIDEO FOR WRITERS. Thereafter, you can find it at our companion Video For Writers Website. You can also view a shorter, more advertising-like video.
Details about the reader are available at the Intel Reader homepage.
As I read about the various features, I realized that this deivce may well appeal to fully-sighted people as well. The text-to-speech output can be saved as mp3’s. Other audio books can be stored on the device. In other words, commuters might find the device very handy.
Perhaps most important to writers: this device puts within reach a huge audience that’s been difficult to reach. I foresee some writers choosing to write expecially for this audience, emphasizing visual and tactile description in text written especially for the ear.
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