Worn like a ring – See how it works
The 3D-printable device, called FingerReader, was developed by researchers at MIT's Media Lab led by Roy Silkrot. It is equipped with a tiny camera that "sees" text and then, thanks to its synthetic voice, reads the words aloud.
The easy-to-use device (essentially worn as a ring on the index finger) can be used to read various texts, such as books, newspapers, magazines, hotel directories, documents, maps, etc., in printed or electronic form. One simply points with one's -now electronic- finger at what one wants to read (i.e., listen to).
FingerReader is based on special software that records finger movements, identifies written words and processes them to convert them into speech. Special vibration sensors warn the blind person when their fingers leave the written text, so they must return them to the correct position.
The researchers stated that their goal is not to abolish Braille for the blind, but to give them new possibilities to read texts that are not currently available in this script.
The researchers have already begun further testing so that their device can be commercialized (at an unknown price at this time) and, in addition, be available for smartphones, as so far it does not work well with text on touch screens. No other device exists that provides this feature so comprehensively in real time.
