![]() The camera takes the photo and then translates the result into text. When the document is in focus, a beep should sound. According to the tutorial, the user must place the iOS device on the document with the camera facing down, then slowly lift the device up. When the app loads, there are four available buttons: "Take Picture," "Tutorial," "Settings," and "Info." The tutorial is easy to follow, but unfortunately, the app does not work properly. SayText Version 1.3Īs described in the iTunes Store, SayText Version 1.3 is a free product created for users who are blind or visually impaired. If scanning results come back as a combination of words and gibberish, try a different scanning distance, make sure the document is completely flat, and try scanning with more available light (and be careful not to block the light with your body). The document needs to be flat, since any wrinkling or folds will cause the app to read as gibberish. Depending on the size of the page, it may take several scans to capture the entire document. Finding the correct distance between the document and the camera lens takes some trial and error, and it's not always the distance that the app instructions recommend. These apps need good light as they will not work in very dim lighting conditions. (The iPhone 4S has a more sophisticated camera than the iPhone 4, but the slight improvement in performance is not enough to warrant getting the 4S.) Lighting conditions were the same for all tests. For this review, each app was tested three times using a printed sheet (a letter), a glossy page from a magazine, and a book page, on both an iPhone 4 and an iPhone 4S. SayText and TextDetective are designed specifically for people with visual impairments. The apps reviewed here are SayText, Prizmo, and TextDetective. Although these apps do not have all the capabilities of the pioneering K-NFB Reader Mobile, they are extremely inexpensive, and no additional screen reader is necessary. Users of iOS devices (iPhone, iPod touch, iPad, etc.) now have several choices for OCR apps. The K-NFB Reader, Nokia phone, and separate screen reader can be a very expensive combination. That software, however, can only be used on a limited number of Nokia cell phones, which not all carriers support, and although the K-NFB Reader Mobile is self-voicing (which makes the cell phone fully accessible), a separate screen reader program must be purchased and installed. The K-NFB Reader Mobile's software, an Optical Character Recognition (OCR) program, was developed by Ray Kurzweil and the National Federation of the Blind. ![]() When the K-NFB Reader Mobile was released in January 2008, it revolutionized how people with visual impairments could scan and read printed materials using their cell phone camera.
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