KNFB Reader
Designs, entertainment, the finest mobile... Sometimes we forget that the primary purpose of technology is to make life easier for peopleLuckily, proposals such as KNFB Reader sometimes appear, which can mean a real change in the daily life of a blind person. Currently available for iPhone and iPad, this app uses the device's camera to recognize the printed text of brochures, menus, or posters. Then, use your voice to let the user know what it's about. A concept that seems simple but is behind it four decades of research The app KNFB Reader is available for iOS (should be coming to Android) by 100 dollars.
KNFB Reader uses the mobile camera to take a picture of a written text (whether it is a poster, a brochure or a restaurant menu) and analyze it almost instantly. Afterwards, the app begins to read the written content so that the blind person can interact with everyday objects that surround you. According to the tests carried out by the users themselves, the level of precision of this app is very high, which represents a great step in their independence and comfort at when using everyday objects. And this technology can save many headaches when eating in a restaurant, when shopping or when reading all kinds of printed texts.
Another key feature of this app is that it has a help viewer to center the image on the text you want photograph and a stabilizer to avoid having to repeat the photo more times. In addition, it is prepared both to read text in a single column and to read texts that are distributed along several columns The great news for Spanish users is that KNFB Reader is not only available in English, but is also capable of recognizing other languages such as Spanish , French or German (among others).
This mobile app is the result of four decades of research by Ray Kurzweil, a veteran employee of Google and expert scientist in artificial intelligence, in collaboration with the National Federation of the Blind. To give an idea of the progress this technology has experienced since then, the first prototype presented by Kurzweil was the size of a washing machine and it cost 50,000 dollars. In recent years this technology has been improved so that it can be used with a camera and a mobile Nokia… priced at $1,000. Undoubtedly, making this technology available in the form of an app is a very big step that will greatly facilitate its use on a mass level. At the moment, this app is only available for iOS for $100. However, it is planned to extend this app to the Android platform in the coming months and even take it to Google Glass. This step makes sense because the glasses are controlled by the head and could be an even more natural way to interact with objects.
KNFB Reader
