If you have difficulty reading what are you supposed to do when faced with printed documents, such as government forms, bill statements, recipes, or pages from a print book. Even though we live in the digital age the majority of books still come as hardcover or paperback print books. In fact 77% of books that are published each year are published as print books. Only 15% of books are published as e-books. This means there are a huge number of interesting books that are out of reach for those challenged by the printed page.
Fortunately there are devices that can help read all of this material out loud to you. Three of these devices are the OrCam MyEye Pro, OrCam Read, and Envision Glasses. You simply look at the printed document. These devices take a picture and analyze the print and then read it out loud.
Often, on my free Saturdays, I go to the local bookstore to look at books. I find the section of. That holds the books that I am interested in. Given my low vision, I have to then take each book off the shelf in order to see the title of the book. If the book interested me, I carry it to the checkout desk and ask someone to read the back cover to me. In this manner, I am able to decide if I wanted to buy the book. When I get home I take the book to my computer. I then scan the book into my computer using a scanner to turn the print book into my own personal e-book. The computer can read the book to me. By the way, in the United States it is perfectly legal for you to scan your books into your computer for personal use as long as you do not post them to the Internet. However, converting your print books into e-books for your personal use varies from country to country. So check out your country’s laws before converting your books.
However, with the OrCam MyEye Pro attached to one’s glasses frame, you can read the titles and back covers books while at the bookstore. After writing the book you can sit in your favorite easy chair with the OrCam MyEye Pro and have the book read to you. You no longer struggle. You just simply relax and read the book like other individuals.
OrCam MyEye Pro
What exactly is the OrCam MyEye Pro? OrCam MyEye Pro ($4250 or $180/mo for 24 months) is exceptional at reading documents aloud. The OrCam MyEye Pro is about the size of the pack Juicy Fruit Gum and clips to the side of your glasses. It has a built-in 13 megapixel camera. The Orcam MyEye takes a picture of the printed page in a book, items on a menu, a letter received in the mail or even the screen of a computer or tablet. The OrCam MyEye Pro perform optical character recognition (OCR) on the picture. The OCR which happens on the Orcam device takes the print in the picture and renders it as e-text which then can be read out loud. The Orcam MyEye has a small speaker next to your ear so you can hear the text being read aloud. You may choose to pair the Orcam MyEye with a set of Bluetooth headphones or earbuds.
One of the major advantages of the OrCam MyEye Pro is the ability to control the device by voice commands. You initiate voice commands by saying the wake up word “Hey OrCam” and giving the voice command. Voice commands can form actions such as:
- “What time is it”?
- “What is the date today”?
- “Start reading”,
- “Read phone numbers”
- “Read amounts”
- “Reading speed up/down”
- “Volume up/down”
- “Change reading voice”
A complete list of commands can be found on the Internet. The OrCam MyEye Pro can also be controlled by tapping and swiping on the side of the device while it is attached to the frame of your glasses.
Besides reading text Orcam can recognize people’s faces and announce who the person is in front of you. This is very helpful not only for blind individuals but also for dyslexic individuals who often have a hard time remembering people’s names. Often while being at work or at social events people would come up to me and say, “Hi, Jim, how are you”? I would answer them but could not remember their name. This is because many dyslexic individuals, like myself, have what is known as a short-term serial memory deficit. This deficit makes it difficult to learn and remember names, phone numbers, and items presented in a sequence list. OrCam MyEye can learn and have this information available for you when you need it.
If you are colorblind Orcam can also focus on a piece of clothing such as a shirt or pair of socks and tell you what color the item is. For people who have difficulty telling the different between denominations of currency Orcam can announce the amount of the bill in your hands, for example a $1 bill versus a $10 bill. Orcam can also read barcodes and tell you the name of the product you are holding.
OrCam Read
OrCam Read is an additional device produced by OrCam. Instead of attaching to your glasses OrCam Read is a handheld device which you point at print that you would like read aloud. It is about the size of a magic marker or highlighter. Once you turn the device on it can be also controlled by voice commands. The Wake up word for OrCam Read is “Hey OrCam.” There are a series of buttons on the top of the OrCam Read for silent operation. The OrCam Read projects a red laser dot on the page to guide you in taking the picture. You simply point the laser at where you would like to start reading, take the picture and have the text read aloud.
For convenience you can hang the OrCam Read by a lanyard around your neck. When you want to read something you simply grab the OrCam Read and point it at the text, take a picture and listen to the text being read aloud. The OrCam Read can be paired with Bluetooth headphones or earbuds for private listening.
For quick and easy scanning of a book the OrCam Read can be attached to its stand. You then position the book under the OrCam Read and give the voice command to take a picture. In this way in a short amount of time you can scan an entire book. The pictures you have taken as well as the associated e-text is saved for future reading. Fortunately, the OrCam Read is less expensive than the OrCam MyEye Pro costing only $1990 or $84/mo for 24 months.
Battery Life
One of the shortcomings of the OrCam products is the short battery operating time. For the OrCam MyEye Pro the battery last from 1.5 to 2.0 hours of operation. Fortunately there is an external charging pack that extends the battery operation to 4.0 to 6.0 hours. This battery pack is called the OrCam MyCharger. The OrCam Read has a battery operation of 4.0 to 6.0 hours. Both devices can be operated while plugged into a power supply or battery pack.
Avoiding the stigma of disability
A nice advantage of the Orcam products are that they can be used in an inconspicuous manner. Many students and adults who need assistance in reading prefer to do so inconspicuously. This is particularly true of students who prefer not to stand out from their peers while using assistive technology in school. Often professionals in schools find that students reject using assistive technology for the very reason that the technology makes the student appear different from other students. When the technology is inconspicuous it allows both adults and students to not appear different from their peers.
Hopefully you or your student will accept and use OrCam MyEye or OrCam Read. These devices can help you conquer print books. In my next blog post I will discuss the Envision Glasses which are very similar to the OrCam products. However Envision Glasses come with some unique advantages that are well worth exploring.
James Nuttall, PhD 