To your last point first.
I asked the developers of KNFB Reader if they had plans for an Mac OS
version and the answer was "No" butthat was then and this is now <smile>
so who knows, I guess they'll develop for the demand and they know the
market for their product better than I do.
For $128 the KNFB Reader is a true value for Money peice of software
that has the potential to give a whole heap of people a whole heap of
independence.
It wasn't all that long ago that one had to pay nearly $2000 for a good
OCR solution which was - no matter which way you look at it - totally
outragous. The KNFB Reader have changed the rules here across platforms.
I felt a little sorry for users of iPhone not all that long ago, if one
owned an Android device they could purchase the KNFB Reader for under
$30, Google was subsidizing the cost of the App so Android users were
able to pick up the KNFB Reader App for a quarter of what they would
normally pay. Apple didn't come to the party - and that's completely up
to them of course -.
The other irony of all this is the amount of online reading accessible
material now readily available, when I first started using Open Book 22
years ago I was scanning documents almost all day it seemed: letters,
books, maagazines, newspapers the works but now? Well all my utility
bills are sent to me via eMail or I can view them on a web page.
There are times when an OCR package is truly worth its weight in gold,
the other day I found a manual for one of the older pieces of Hi-Fi gear
I owned, the manual was in PDF format but wasn't accessible so I used
Docuscan+ to fix that problem.
On 3/06/2017 1:00 AM, Gordon Smith wrote:
I guess that’s one advantage that those used to using cameras on other
appliances have. I have trained people using applications such as OpenBook,
with the Pearl Camera, Sara CE, EyePal Roll and EyePal Ace, not to mention the
EseReader camera-based machine made by Rehan which is an Irish Republic based
developer. All of these appliances are camera-based, rather than the
traditional flatbed scanner. In general, I find that camera- based OCR is
considerably more accurate, not to mention versatile, than the old-style
flatbed. I have no idea why that should be, possibly because the cameras are
better quality, resolution higher, I’m not entirely sure.
In 2013 when I worked at a local organisation as a trainer, I was provided with
a Sara CE to work with. I still have that machine, though I rarely use it for
my own needs. I’m trying to get used to the Android version of KNFB on the
BrailleNote Touch, but I think I’m going to install it on to my Samsung phones
to see how well it fairs because the Touch’s camera doesn’t seem to lend itself
too well to this app.
Now, again, this could be my error, and I’m very willing to concede that it
probably is! But time will tell. I’m sure that there are KeySoft users out
there who have had a lot more success than I have, had to date. At any rate, we
shall see.
There is no doubt, however, that KNFB deserves great credit for their
cross-platform support. It will be interesting to see whether they decide to
release a MacOS version at any point.
========================================
My complements and kindest regards
Gordon Smith:
<[email protected]>
Accessibility & Information Technology Support Specialist..
Contact:
• UK Geographic – +44(0) 1642 688095
• UKFree Phone – 0800 8620538
• UK Mobile – +44 (0) 7907 823971
• Australia Geographic – +61 38 82059300
• US Geographic – +1 646 9151493Mobile/S
----------------------------------------
On 2 Jun 2017, at 04:49, Dane Trethowan <[email protected]> wrote:
I've always liked the KNFB Reader App ever since it first appeared for the
iPhone some years ago.
I've found many uses of the App though it did take me a while to get used to the idea of
being able to use a camera to recognise literally pages and pages of text, menus at my
local pub, pages handed to me whilst at an appointment and so it goes on, for those who
are considering the KNFB Reader then may I suggest you also read the book "Getting
The Picture" which is guide to photography on the iPhone from a blind person's
perspective - yes, you're dealing with a camera when it coems to the KNFB Reader and so
many other IOS Apps.
I had no hesitation therefore in purchasing the Android version of the KNFB
Reader App when it released and thus didnt' hesitate to purchase the windows 10
version of the same App.
I tested KNFB Reader for Windows 10 in two ways, I held a page around 6 inches
away from my Webcam for the first test.
Given that the page was held toward the camera just on spec - no aid to help me
line-up the page - the results were incredibly accurate and a litte more so
when I scanned the page on my HP Scanner using the KNFB Reader, the KNFB reader
by default just starts reading once the OCR process has been completed.
The Interface for the App is incredibly straight forward and you can get about
all the elements of the App by using the Tab key, cursor keys in the menu
system - which is very compact - and the spacebar to select or deselect an
option.
Naturally the KNFB Reader Windows 10 App - as do the KNFB Reader Apps for IOS
and Android - can integrate with your Dropbox account thus allowing you to Sync
your KNFB data and scanned work across platforms and versions of the reader.
Price for the Windows version is $128 US which I consider to be excellent value
for money.
--
**********
"Live each day as if you were goiing to die tomorrow, learn each day as if you were
going to live forever"
