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Video Magnification System for Seniors?
c4tp's friend asks: "Recently my Mother informed me that my grandmother's 80th birthday is approaching. She suffers from glaucoma and it is rather hard to read small text for her. The consensus with our family is to buy her a video magnification device, but the ones I found online were at the minimum of $500 (US), a bit steep for me (and my family). So what I am asking basically, is there a way to build/assemble the parts these retail devices use for a cheaper price?"
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I've had this sig for three days.
go rent brazil, directed by terry gilliam, one of they monty python guys. very good movie. see those itsy bitsy monitors they have? infront of them is one of those flat magenfying glass things that come in those kid's science kits. they're plastic and have concentric circles. you commonly see them in the rear window of RV's.... you could probably pick one up for a cool $20 at the RV store that comes in a 25" size.
moox. for a new generation.
I'm sure folks from the Dark Side will chime in if it's possible in Windows, but for sure Mac OS X and 9 have the capability to magnify text under the mouse. OS 9 required an addition from the CD, IIRC; OS X lists the ability as just another system preference. This is all in addition to text-to-speech abilities built in to the system, both in 9 and X, which is one thing I don't think Windows includes.
So, once again, buy a Mac.
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$tar -xvf
Is it not an option to change the display font size? I'd think that would be the most optimal course of action here.
This sig no verb.
WindowsKey+U, Start the Magnifier. Bam.
Not All Who Wander Are Lost
What I meant was say you take a piece of paper, maybe the daily paper, and you put it under this device, the device blows up your paper, onto a television screen, so you can see the writing more clearly. I did not mean enlarging things on computer screens.
I dont like it when people think about what I think (say). Rather I try to make them think like I think.
He's saying that a $500 device is too costly, which I believe would rule out a decent PC and scanner that's rigged to be easy enough for a non-techie-type to operate.
The first thing that came to mind was some sort of cheap overhead projector (not the expensive types that take video-in, but the ones that take transparencies and such). She could then project what she wants to read onto the wall. I dunno, just a thought.
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Here's a device for you. It's low-priced AND easy to use.
If I read the question correctly ... I think he is looking for some kind of camera / monitor setup that can be used to project / magnify on the monitor.... If that is the case I doubt he is going to find one for less than $500.00.
... you get > $500.00.
First you need a Camera.
Then you need an Arm. (That is IF this is the type of arm I think it is)
Finally you need a Monitor (which I could not find one that took composite inputs for cheap AND still have the resolution to display a high quality image). But you can guess that it is gonna be ~$300.00.
So if you add all that up
Just my >$500.00 worth (sorry, bad joke -1)
--Brian
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they work wonders, about 5-10 dollars US.
also, you weren't too specific about what type of video is she looking at, tv or computer monitor?
If she's using a tv, not sure what to recommend for that, but as a child, I would sit really close to the tv. Granted that might worsen the glacouma.
If it's a computer, you're referring to, then there's built in accessibility in windows. I know windows 2000 has it builtin, under Accessories, under Usability. It's caled Magnifier.
There are many available products which do this. Look around for one of the flat plastic magnifying lenses which are designed specifically for this purpose. It's analog and old school but they cost less than $10.
You lay them over what you want to read and voila... small text becomes big.
A fool throws a stone into a well and a thousand sages can not remove it.
http://www.x10.com camera to tv
typically $80 to $150 and spam sales
frequently. Work fine as wireless
so you can move around with it.
I have used it to videotape meeting notes
from the whiteboard.
rcb
We create our society every time we interact with each other. What kind of society did you create today?
The drivers for Matrox video cards come with a program called 'Desknav' that magnifies the entire screen, scrolling it as your cursor touches the edge. The computer is controllable from the magnified display. If you've got an old Matrox card lying around, give it a shot - it works with an old Matrox Millenium (NOT Millenium 2) I've got, so I'm sure it'll work with anything you have.
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What exactly are you looking for? Something to magnify printed text or something on a monitor? Try www.maxiaids.com
assert(birth_date<time-86400)
Fix the glaucoma.
Bravo, nicely executed! You posted a stupidly vague question to Ask Slashdot, which accepts darn near everything, and then posted an "Informative" comment clarifying your question. Way to go!
I've used devices made by Elmo, and from my experience, they are little more than a cheap camera mounted with zoom/focus controls on the base... you could probably mount an old camcorder over a well lit surface to do something similar, especially if you had one with a remote.
--- If we knew half the things we shouldn't we'd stop wishing we knew it all
The person who is going to use the system needs to be the one to pick it out. Low vision affects everybody differently. There are *many* products available for people with low vision, starting with a simple magnifying glass, lighted magnifiers, stand magnifiers, full page magnifiers, etc. Then there are the CCTV / Video magnifiers, which is what you asked about.
Yes, they're basically just a CCD (i.e., video camera, hooked up to a TV set / monitor). So you could buy a camcorder and hook it up to a TV. What you don't get is: 1) Variable magnification. 2) Various video modes (color, b+w, high contrast, inverse video). 3) A moving X/Y table for easy sliding back and forth (very useful to move the book, rather than the camera). 4) Easy-to-use controls. You want somebody who's 80 years old to learn how to fix the thing when it flakes out? And push all those little buttons on a camcorder?
But in any case, maybe a magnifying glass would do the job... Find an eyecare professional who has some experience (i.e., a low vision specialist, or at least somebody) and preferably some devices to demonstrate and try out. Then let the person who needs the assistance try things out until finding something that works.
Libraries frequently have video magnifiers that may give you more ideas.
What we did when my Grandfather started losing his sight is set up a scanner so that he could just zoom in in the ways the other posters have suggested.
I can see this being a problem because it's possible that your Grandmother doesn't have a computer or the slightest idea about how to use them (like my Grandmother).
On another note, we had a program called kurzweil when I worked in a library. It would automatically scan text, OCR it, and read it out Stephen Hawking style. It was pretty slick except for the price (I can't remember other than WAY too expensive) and the obnoxious installer. If I get motivated or if Grandpa's eyes get worse, I may try to cobble together an open source ripoff ala:
scan >> ocr >> tts
hell it probably already exists...
We've been looking for something like this for my grandma as well. To give you examples of things closer to what this reader and I are looking for, take a look at http://www.southwestlowvision.com/video.htm#max
A magnifying glass is a nice, cheap solution, but nothing like what a magnifying device like this can do for you. Ever tried to use a large magnifying glass to read something? They're heavy. It's hard to hold them and your reading item at the same time, especially for someone that's elderly. And these device can give you closeups of anything, not just reading materials, allowing you to see the details on a picture someone sent you, the knitting you're working on, etc. These devices are very important to improving quality of life for vision impaired people, yet they're often so expensive.
Most people would die sooner than think; in fact, they do.