Intel Reader: A device that turns any book into an e-book

The Intel Reader (Click to enlarge.)
[PHOTO: Intel]

Today, Intel launches a mobile reading device that converts printed text to digital text and then reads it aloud. The device weighs a little more than one pound, has a 4.3 inch screen and a 5 mega-pixel camera with a flash. Similar to netbook computers, the Intel Reader is powered by an Atom processor and promises long battery life: more than 4 hours of book "reading" or the ability to remain in standby mode for up to 5 days.

This small, portable device will allow blind or dyslexic users to gain freedom and independence by being able to read everything from menus to tax forms without waiting for assistance.

Last week, I got a chance to try out the device and was impressed by its ease of use and versatility. For starters, it is significantly smaller than previous reading assistance devices that were often confined to a desk at a local library. Capturing text from a book or magazine with the Intel Reader was made easy by the fact that the camera faces downward, perpendicular to the screen, allowing the user to hold the device comfortably in front of them. This innovation may spread to cell phones and shopping devices as it is currently very awkward to photograph text or bar codes with the rear facing camera on most cell phones.

Dorrie Rush, Marketing Director for accessible technology for Lighthouse International, digitizes a printed page using the camera lens built-into the bottom edge of the Intel Reader. (Click to enlarge.)

The device's target audience is the approximately 55 million Americans who either have a visual impairment or have a reading based learning disability, but it quickly becomes clear that this device has the potential to find additional audiences. 

College students and commuters might use such a device to digitize books to enable listening on an MP3 player or while commuting in the car. The device can output audio files read at various speeds so an experienced listener can output the text as an MP3 at 150 words per minute to speed their way through the content.

Click here to download and listen to the MP3 file created by the Intel Reader from a typical menu the device captured with its built-in camera.

This video demonstration from Ben Foss, the Director of Access Technology for the Intel Digital Health Group shows the device in use. It is notable that Ben came up with the idea for the device after struggling with reading throughout his schooling as a person with dyslexia. Ben contends that "Frustration is the real mother of invention."

Priced at $1,499 this device is significantly cheaper than previous accessibility technology solutions which were often so expensive that many users could not afford to have their own personal device. It will be interesting to watch how the device is received by those with accessibility needs and whether it finds other audiences who are attracted to this flexible, mobile solution for digitizing printed text. —Dirk Klingner