Do you know someone who’s dyslexic, visually impaired, or functionally illiterate? If so this would be the perfect Christmas gift to give them but it’s a gift with a hefty price tag attached, $1,500. The Intel Reader invented by the Intel’s Digital Health Group. Because of its name, it’s often confused with trendy ebook readers made for Amazon, Barnes & Nobles, and Sony Corporation, but there’s no comparison. With any of those trendy ebook readers, like Amazon’s Kindle Reader, the book has to be downloaded on the reader as an ebook file, with the Intel Reader, all you have to do is hold it over the printed page and the Intel Reader translates the text into audible sounds and words.
The Intel Reader has some very respectable specs. The Intel Reader has a 4.3-inch LCD display, with 4 gigabytes of flash storage and USB slots for adding more memory. At 6.5" X 5.35" X 1.3" and 1.38 pounds, it’s small enough and light enough to carry in a coat pocket or purse.
The Intel Reader works much like your standard point and shoot digital camera. You simply hold the reader above an open book, magazine, or some other text, using the large LCD screen to frame the page(s). Like with a point and shoot camera, you push the release button partially to focus and then all the way down to capture the pages in to memory After you capture all the pages into memory, press the play button and the written text becomes words just like a downloaded ebook. This was an over simplification of how you operate the Intel Reader but it comes with a detailed instruction book that makes mastering it as easy as turning on the light next to you bed. If you would like to see for yourself just how simple it is to set up and use the Intel Reader, you can download the user’s manual as a pdf format herehttp://download.intel.com/healthcare/reader/pdf/intel-reader_brochure_b.pdf.
The rate at which the Intel Reader plays back the translated text is adjustable from 120 words per minute to 250 words per minute. The average adult speaks at a rate of 225 to 250 words per minute. The Intel Reader’s software creates audio files that can be played back directly or easily transferred to a computer and then burned to a CD or the audio files can be transferred to cassette tapes.
The Intel Reader carries a hefty price tag today but it’s still new technology. It’s only been on the market two years but I expect that the price will start dropping rapidly just as the cost of desktop computers and digital cameras have over the years.
If you are one of the lucky one where cost isn’t a concern, this gadget makes a terrific Christmas gift or birthday gift, or just a gift to help a needy person enjoy more of life.
