New gadget can read to the blind

Mail Online

A device that can read aloud any word it is pointed at could transform the lives of the blind or partially-sighted. The gadget, developed by scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the US, is designed to be worn on the finger like a ring. When it is held over words on a printed page or a digital screen a synthesised voice reads the sentences out loud. The device could give people with impaired vision the ability to understand written material in any form -- from bus signs to medication notes to a restaurant menu. It could also enable users to access the vast number of books and other materials that are not currently available in Braille. The device, called the FingerReader, is equipped with a small camera that scans text. Reading is as easy as pointing the finger at text. Special software tracks the finger movement, identifies words and processes the information. The device includes vibration motors that alert readers when they stray from the script. Prof Pattie Maes, who leads the team which developed the prototype said: 'It is like reading with the tip of your finger and it's a lot more flexible, a lot more immediate than any solution that they have right now.' Developing the gadget has taken three years of software coding and experimenting with different designs. One problem that the developers have not yet cracked is how to make it work with touch-screen smart phones and tablets. At the moment, as the finger is run along a touch screen it moves the text, making it difficult for the FingerReader to capture the words. That is a problem the MIT team need to solve before the device is ready for market.