Hello everyone,
On 26 Sep 2006, at 5:40 AM, Jacob Schmude wrote I'm going to look into pen scanners as well and see if any of them can be used by the blind--they'd be even more portable.
At Apple Expo in Paris a couple of weeks ago, I tried the Read Iris pen scanner and found it impossible to use as a totally blind person. The problem is keeping straight on the line. The scanner takes a little time to process the information, so you cannot adjust your tracking as you go. I have been using an Optacon for over 30 years, so I'm used to tracking along a line of print. I'm not saying that pen scanners will never be usable by the blind, but the processing will need to be speeded up hugely before they become practical.
Anne
