Cell Phone Can Read to the Blind

4-ounce, $2K talking device is smallest reader ever made

By Matt Cantor, Newser Staff

Posted Jan 30, 2008 7:19 PM CST

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Cell Phone Can Read to the Blind — Chris Danielsen, a spokesman for the National Federation of the Blind, takes a photo of a document with a cell phone while demonstrating how the text on the document will be converted into speech, Thursday, Jan. 24, 2008, in Baltimore. The software on the phone is the next generation of computerized... (Associated Press)

A new cell phone can read aloud to people with impaired vision—and at 4 ounces, it's the smallest such device ever made, NPR reports. The $2,000 phone can help with the myriad daily tasks that seeing people take for granted, like identifying a $20 bill. "All you have to do is snap a picture,” said a blind product demonstrator.

The phone, developed by Kurzweil Technologies and the National Federation for the Blind, can also read pages of text. “No other device in the history of technology has provided such portability and quick access to print materials,” said the federation’s president. Readers have long existed, but not in this size—and integration with a high-tech Nokia phone adds to its appeal. (More technology stories.)

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