14 DAY TRIAL // Blind people can usually read only words written in Braille, a tactile writing system written with embossed paper. Now, though, MIT offers an alternative.
Braille is all well and good, but there is no question that the majority of books, newspapers, and signs are not available in that format.
So a team of researchers from MIT Media Labs got together and created a ring, of sorts, that you strap around your finger and performs text-to-speech.
Which is to say, a blind person can tie it to their index finger and listen to the words as they slide the fingertip over a page.
Granted, the voice is clipped and metallic, inflicting crimes against intonation everywhere, but it's still better than nothing.
Besides, the Finger Reader team (Roy Shilkrot, Jochen Huber, and others) are working on a better voice technology.
The FingerReader can read 12-point printed text (uses a camera for that), and there's even a sound chip that beeps and bings when you stray too far from a line.
In addition to the blind, people with “disability, ability, and superability” are meant to benefit from the invention, Ph.D student Shilkrot said.
Keep in mind that, at least for now, FingerReader can't read medicine bottles or other sheets with very small text.