NewsHottie
10th Jan 2010, 18:40
http://dvice.com/assets_c/2010/01/intel reade reading small-thumb-550x447-31698.jpg
While 3D HDTV is wowing those who can see, Intel is thrilling the vision-impaired with its Intel Reader. This text-to-speech handheld looks like a bulky digital camera but can simultaneously scan and read aloud any printed matter in real time. Intel describes it as point, shoot and listen.
On the bottom of the Reader is a sophisticated camera that "sees" the text, and Loquendo text-to-speech (TTS) software "reads" the text and displays it in large characters on the Reader's LCD screen while reading it aloud in either a male or female voice. Words are highlighted as the Reader reads, and lets you know when you've come to the end of a page. As with all TTS gadgets, you can vary the speed and pitch of the read-back voice.
During our demo, the Reader read a book flawlessly, if a bit drone-like; Kindle's cleverly-inflected synthesized speech sounds like Liev Schreiber by comparison. But inflection isn't the point here. Unlike the Kindle, while only reads books you pay for, the Reader can read anything put in front of it. Intel will sell the Reader not only to the vision-impaired, but into the education market and for the learning-disabled.
You can also buy a tray that's looks like an overhead projector. It holds a book or magazine down under a plastic strap and the Reader is hooked into a crane extension above it, the camera pointed down and the screen facing out.
At $1,500, the Reader is a bit pricey; the tray runs another $350.
More... (http://dvice.com/archives/2010/01/intel-reader-sc.php)
While 3D HDTV is wowing those who can see, Intel is thrilling the vision-impaired with its Intel Reader. This text-to-speech handheld looks like a bulky digital camera but can simultaneously scan and read aloud any printed matter in real time. Intel describes it as point, shoot and listen.
On the bottom of the Reader is a sophisticated camera that "sees" the text, and Loquendo text-to-speech (TTS) software "reads" the text and displays it in large characters on the Reader's LCD screen while reading it aloud in either a male or female voice. Words are highlighted as the Reader reads, and lets you know when you've come to the end of a page. As with all TTS gadgets, you can vary the speed and pitch of the read-back voice.
During our demo, the Reader read a book flawlessly, if a bit drone-like; Kindle's cleverly-inflected synthesized speech sounds like Liev Schreiber by comparison. But inflection isn't the point here. Unlike the Kindle, while only reads books you pay for, the Reader can read anything put in front of it. Intel will sell the Reader not only to the vision-impaired, but into the education market and for the learning-disabled.
You can also buy a tray that's looks like an overhead projector. It holds a book or magazine down under a plastic strap and the Reader is hooked into a crane extension above it, the camera pointed down and the screen facing out.
At $1,500, the Reader is a bit pricey; the tray runs another $350.
More... (http://dvice.com/archives/2010/01/intel-reader-sc.php)