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?"

"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

A quick posting to the sci.optics newsgroup killed the first approach. Price, performance and reliability tip the scales in favor of the second option.

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?"