This article is about an year old. Am posting it for those who may not have
read it.
Kurzweil-National Federation of the Blind Reader
Braille Monitor
July 2006
The Kurzweil-National Federation of the Blind Reader
The Revolution Is Here!
by James Gashel
>From the Editor: Jim Gashel is the executive director for strategic
>initiatives for the National Federation of the Blind. He has been as involved
>as anyone
in the planning and development of the Kurzweil-National Federation of the
Blind Reader. Now that the beta testing period is drawing to a close, it seemed
appropriate to ask him to make the announcement of the extraordinary results of
the collaboration between technological genius and the knowledge and expertise
of blind people. This is what he says:
David Wright holds the Kurzweil-National Federation of the Blind Reader.
In 1975 Ray Kurzweil invented the first multi-font optical character
recognition (OCR) technology capable of converting printed characters into
full-word
synthetic speech. This system, which was about the size of a small dishwasher,
was called the Kurzweil Reading Machine. Joining with Ray Kurzweil to test
and launch this product, the NFB secured financial support to purchase six
preproduction units at a cost of $50,000 each. This technology was unique and
revolutionary in its time.
Personal computers were not widely available and were not a mass-consumer
product in the 1970's, so the original Kurzweil Reading Machine was a
stand-alone,
dedicated reading system with its own internal computer and built-in scanner.
Today the more modern version of the same technology--the Kurzweil 1000--is
computer software running on a standard desktop PC connected to a scanner.
Although a certain amount of competition has developed over the last thirty
years, the Kurzweil Reading Machine and its offspring have been widely regarded
as the gold standard in text-to-speech conversion technology. However, having
this technology in a completely portable form has been an unrealized dream.
That was true until March 2006, when blind people throughout the United States
started to learn about and use the world's first handheld, text-to-speech
electronic reading system for the blind. This is called the Kurzweil-National
Federation of the Blind Reader.
The name says it all. Unlike the Kurzweil Reading Machine, named for Ray
Kurzweil as its inventor, the portable Reader has been designed by Ray Kurzweil
and the National Federation of the Blind. Therefore this device bears both
names. This name also symbolizes the fact that the blind themselves have played
a leading role in making the world's first completely portable reader a reality.
The Reader combines the latest state-of-the-art digital camera technology with
a powerful personal data assistant (PDA). These components are housed in
a custom-designed vinyl case that also contains internal circuitry to connect
the camera and PDA to operate as a single system. Aside from this hardware,
the software is completely new in blindness technology, with several features
especially designed for this unique device.
Here are some of the vital statistics: the Reader is 6 inches long, 3 inches
wide, and 2-1/2 inches thick and weighs 15 ounces. Although the Reader is about
a thousand times smaller than the original Kurzweil Reading Machine, the PDA in
the portable Reader is two thousand times faster. In fact, the portable
Reader can execute about 500 million instructions per second as compared to
250,000 instructions per second for the Kurzweil Reading Machine. It also has
a thousand times more memory (64 megabytes as compared to 64 kilobytes).
But the real difference is to have the power of reading in the palm of your
hand. Here are a few reactions from early users known as "Reader ambassadors"
and "Reader pioneers":
Dwight Sayer: I have a neat story. Last week my BrailleNote rep came over to
bring my GPS unit and some software. She had gotten the disks mixed up, and
no one sighted was around. She couldn't tell which one was mine. I said, "Wait
a second . . ." I picked up a disk and shot a picture just pointing the
Reader straight at it. . . . In a few seconds the Reader just rattled off the
text on the CD, and I found I had my software right in my hands. The rep,
who was drooling by that time, spent the next hour or so testing the Reader on
everything from her checkbook to a receipt she had in her purse. By the
way the ATM receipts that pop out of our great ATM machine at the National
Center were read with ease as I was wondering what my balance was. . . . This
little machine is a keeper!
Diane McGeorge investigates the navigation controls of the Kurzweil-National
Federation of the Blind Reader.
Ron Gardner: The first thing I did with the Reader was go around my home
snapping photos of the wall hangings. My grandchildren have given us some very
precious quotes which are contained in framed hanging art. The quotes are
covered with glass, and I wondered if the glass would reflect too much light.
I am happy to report that the Reader worked with or without the flash, and the
glass did not prevent a great job. It was terrific to be able to read these
things from my grandchildren!
Ramona Walhof: I demonstrated the Reader at my Lions Club this morning. I
started with the Idaho Potato Cookbook, which it does very well. It also read
the restaurant menu quite well, although it was green print on white inside
plastic. The Lions were more than astonished by its performance.
Amber Chesser: After over a month of anticipation and after a week of reading
about everyone's experiences, I finally began using my Reader on Friday
afternoon.
What a wonderful beginning it was, and what a wonderful weekend of reading I
have had! The Reader exceeded my expectations from the moment I took it out
of the box. It looked completely different from anything I had imagined. . . .
The unit is not bulky or too large; I definitely plan to carry it to all
of my university classes as well as to concerts, meetings, and anywhere else I
go every day.
I was also quite surprised at the accuracy with which I took the pictures from
the start. . . .I could write a lengthy post brimming with enthusiastic
descriptions
of everything that I read over the weekend. . . . I recognize that there are
definitely developments to be made, but at this time the marvelous designers
and developers have hit the nail on the head. Thanks, National Federation of
the Blind, for the honor of being a tester and for such an exciting creation!
Karl Smith: I just had to write one more time about my experiences at CSUN with
the Reader. This morning I attended a session discussing the future of
accessibility
for portable computer platforms. This was more or less a discussion session
with not a whole lot of substance. During the presentation the presenter
mentioned
that the NFB was about to announce the new Reader. Being much like a proud
grandpa with new pictures of his grandkids, I pulled my machine out and waved
it over my head. The presenter acknowledged that someone in the room actually
had one. The fun started after the end of the presentation. I was suddenly
surrounded by a large group of people wanting to see the Reader and know how it
worked. Someone gave me a legal-sized piece of print to read. . . A short
time later my trusty Reader began reading information on augmentative
communication. Everyone listened very quietly because of the low volume of the
PDA
speakers, while the reading kept going and going with pretty much flawless
results.
It was then that the man who gave me the paper admitted that he had purposely
given me what he considered to be a particularly awful piece of material to
scan. It was a printout of a half dozen or so PowerPoint slides from another
presentation. For me it was another one of those dream demos. It went perfectly,
and everyone was very excited. . . . Several of the people said that this was
the best part of the session. Folks, this thing is . . . the beginning of
a revolution. Rarely does a piece of technology by itself really represent the
beginning of an entirely new era for the blind. This one does just that
. . . man, this thing is fun.
Vickie Saucier: I have now had my Reader for three days, and I agree with Gary.
You're not getting it back except for repairs, if needed. I've experienced
all the problems and limitations that everyone else has mentioned. When Jim
first demonstrated it, I was in tears, and I still feel that way. At the first
brief demonstration by my representative, I was terrified and thought that I'd
never be able to use it. Changing that battery seemed difficult: remembering
the commands, focusing, flash cards, etc. really caused me some alarm, since I
am not a teckie like some of you. However, I mastered all those things except
for the flash card (I just have to read the instruction manual, and I'll know
how to do that too). I even demonstrated how to do all those things to another
pioneer who didn't attend the demonstration. I am looking forward to all the
future improvements, but for now I'm happy reading those Jell-O boxes and
cleaning a bookshelf in my office without sighted assistance. It goes
everywhere with me, and next week it's going to see Mickey with me and my
grandson
at one of my favorite places on the planet, Disney World.
Juliett Cody: Yes, the Reader is good on bulletin boards. I did it on campus
today, and I was pleased. I was looking for scholarship applications, so the
postings were as large as a regular page. I must admit it was wonderful to walk
into the scholarship office and not have to wait until someone could help
me. I love the Reader, and, like I said before, I am not returning it.
Ron Brown: On April 22 the Indiana State Library held a technology fair. The
NFB of Indiana was invited to show off NEWSLINE, so I decided to take the Reader
to the technology fair without any forewarning to the host. I charged up my
Reader, got together some prearranged documents to read, and went to the fair.
When I got to our booth, I set up shop and waited for the participants to come
by. It took only a few minutes for word to spread that the Reader was there.
Needless to say, the Reader was a big hit. Ours became the most popular booth
at the fair. Not only did the participants stop by, so did the other presenters.
The Reader and I worked from 10:30 a.m. until 3:30 p.m. nonstop. It worked this
long without my having to charge the battery. I had to change the camera
battery only once. Some of the people that gathered around started handing me
other documents to read. I took those documents and shot pictures of them,
and the Reader performed like a champ. I started grabbing Kernel books off the
table and any other document in sight to read. Yes, I threw caution to the
wind and went for it. When I opened a Kernel Book and held it away from me up
in the air; one guy from the crowd stated, "He's holding the book upside
down," and I shot the picture anyway. The Reader read the page about Mount
Everest being the tallest mountain in the world. I guess the Kernel Book story
I grabbed was "The Summit." The crowd went wild. I was told three people asked
how they could join the NFB.
All in all it was a beautiful day, and the Reader was a big hit. I have the
sore feet and the loss of my voice from talking so much to prove it.
James Solem: Recently I passed my prelim exams for my Ph.D. Needless to say,
the work has just begun. Yet the Kurzweil-National Federation of the Blind
Reader is making it possible. With the use of the Reader I was able to complete
the proposal, research prospectus, human subject review summary form, and
the informed consent form. Before having access to the Reader, I was unable to
read italics. The Reader does an outstanding job of enabling the blind to
complete legal documents.
I am currently scanning research information that I have pulled from numerous
libraries. I can read it remotely at the university library, study hall, gym,
or home. This has freed me from having to need a reader to complete my
dissertation. I finally feel like I have a tool that has made me independent and
equal with my sighted peers.
These comments indicate an overall positive response among early users of the
Kurzweil-National Federation of the Blind Reader, and we are only at the dawn
of this exciting new technology. Imagine what the future has in store for us
with this technology we have created to meet our needs. Now that the Reader
we have dreamed about is real, we have the opportunity and the ability to build
upon this new beginning and make our Reader an even more powerful tool
in the months and years ahead.
Even with its present capacity, however, the Kurzweil-National Federation of
the Blind Reader reads most printed documents, from letters and memos to pages
in a book; reads address labels and instructions; reads an entire page or just
a few lines of text for identification; and provides easy access to restaurant
menus. The Reader even reads play or concert programs, instructions for
appliances, and numbers on lottery tickets--the possibilities are endless.
There are hundreds of uses for the Reader every day. No other device in the
history of technology for the blind has provided quicker access to more printed
information than the Kurzweil-National Federation of the Blind Reader. The
world of the printed word is about to be opened to the blind in a way it has
never been before. Get ready; the revolution begins today!
For more information contact the National Federation of the Blind Reader
information and sales line at (877) 708-1724. A limited number of Readers are
available
at a special inaugural discount of $200 below the expected retail price of
$3,495.
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