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Inexpensive Reading Assistance Device?
N8F8 asks: "I would like to come up with an inexpensive reading assist device for the visually impaired. Something that would give them a close-up view of things without having to stoop over. For under $500.
What I would like is a method to connect a USB/Firewire webcam to a CDMA phone or PDA and display the picture in real-time. Or replace the PDA with an inexpensive eyeglass mounted display. Are there better options?"
The second option brought several possibilities to mind. Tiny cameras are cheap and plentiful- from USB/Firewire webcams to tiny spy cams. The ideal device would have built-in auto focus. The Apple iSight is the only webcam I've found with built in auto focus, are there others?
Tiny monitors are another matter. Many articles covering 'near eye displays', 'heads up displays' and 'head mounted displays' have been published. There are even a few interesting products on the market. Unfortunately they are all extremely expensive.
Nearly every new PDA, CDMA phone, digital camera and digital video camera contains a nice little LCD screen. Perhaps using one of these devices could help keep the cost down?"
"Over 1.2 million Americans are in the advanced stages of Macular Degeneration. People with very poor vision have a hard time reading everyday items like food labels, grocery store signs and newspapers. Many have resorted to carrying around large magnifying glasses and other tools so they can stoop over or pull things close enough to read. As you might imagine, this can make everyday chores rather cumbersome.
Initially, two ideas came to mind:
- A coherent fiber optic cable with a taper end to magnify the image
- A portable video camera connected to a tiny LCD monitor
The second option brought several possibilities to mind. Tiny cameras are cheap and plentiful- from USB/Firewire webcams to tiny spy cams. The ideal device would have built-in auto focus. The Apple iSight is the only webcam I've found with built in auto focus, are there others?
Tiny monitors are another matter. Many articles covering 'near eye displays', 'heads up displays' and 'head mounted displays' have been published. There are even a few interesting products on the market. Unfortunately they are all extremely expensive.
Nearly every new PDA, CDMA phone, digital camera and digital video camera contains a nice little LCD screen. Perhaps using one of these devices could help keep the cost down?"
I notice a lot of people suggesting magnifying classes and the like, however I have a couple of comments on Macular Degerneration.
Macular Degeneration is not merely marked by difficulty to see small things it is a condition that degenerats the light receptors in the eye itself. Primarily the portion of the eye that is used to see straight ahead. So basically they people end up using periphial(sp?) vision in order to see since most of their eyesight straight ahead is gone.
The need to increase the size of the text is not an issue of being able to focus on the text, but is a need to greatly magnify the text so that it can be seen out the corner of their eyes. Near-sighted and farsighted issues are completely different.
I too am interested in a low cost solution to allow the people I know to read letters, but it can be desk based... Currently I think the best option is to use a camera plugged into a 42" or larger television. But I would like to hear other suggestions.
PS. A recent report in Science news in suggests that there may be hope of treatment to stem the loss of sight. Soon it may prevent people with this condition from getting any worse. However it will not improve any loss vision. Improvement will probably have to wait on artificial eyes.
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