A system that permits eyeglasses to transform printed or screen text to audible words has been developed at International Florida University. The new system is a small indication of just what can be done with today's existing technology. The EyeTalk (based on the FreedomLens), as it is called, consists of web cams built into the glasses. The visual text that the web cams sees is converted to audio using text-to-audio conversion software. That audio is then streamed to an earphone that the reader wears.
More applications like the FreedomLens are expected to continue to emerge, not only as a way to help the blind read, but for all types of navigation applications where visibility can't be relied on. And that's because the technology needed to construct applications like the FreedomLens is already in the consumer marketplace. Virtual eyeglasses (eyeglasses that receive text from a data stream and project that data on the lens of the eyeglasses), web cams, text-to-speech conversion software and USB data cards are all mature technologies and are available from a number of different vendors.
The technology challenge is really in the selection of the different components, how well the technology works in different environments and how inexpensive and how easy the interface is to use, says Mark Stansberry, author of the Very Best Algebra Notes. He added that his ebook was formatted to be pocket projector ready and that he is looking at applications such as EyeTalk to see what the formatting issues might be for talking virtual eyeglass ready ebooks.
Learning Library Links
Florida International University: http://news.fiu.edu/2013/04/fiu-students-develop-eyeglasses-that-read-to-blind/58314
Electronic Products: http://www.electronicproducts.com/Optoelectronics/Image_Sensors_and_Optical_Detectors/How_a_pair_of_eyeglasses_will_give_blind_people_the_ability_to_read.aspx
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