Tech Shout!

On Monday, the National Federation of the Blind unveiled a device called K-FNB that reads text to visually impaired people. This device was developed by American inventor Raymond Kurzweil. The K-FNB combines a Personal Data Assistant (PDA) and a digital camera, which means that people will be able to read menus, train timetables and product labels in shops.

“It’s not quite like having a pair of eyes that work, but it’s headed in that direction. This is really the hottest new technology to be developed for blind people in the last 30 years,” said James Gashel executive director for strategic initiatives at the Maryland-based National Federation of the Blind, who calls it “the camera that talks.”

There are about 10 million blind and visually impaired people in the United States and that number is expected to double in the next 30 years as baby boomers age, giving the reader a large potential audience. “It’s always been considered desirable to have a reading machine that a blind person could carry along with them,” Kurzweil said. “We’re getting phenomenal feedback.”

About thirty years ago, Kurzweil came up with the first invention that converted text into audio. It was about the size of a washing machine. This device eventually gave way to software that could be paired with a computer and scanner and perform the same function. But his latest device has a huge advantage: portability.

The K-NFB will be sold through Massachusetts-based Kurzweil Education Systems Inc. and will be available via the Internet. For now, those who have tested the reader say they have enjoyed being able to read items they never have before, like magazines etc.