Computer chip giant Intel on Tuesday announced the launch of a new kind of book and text reader that it said will be a boon to people suffering from blindness and dyslexia.
The Intel Reader uses a 5-megapixel autofocus camera to capture text from any source, which a proprietary text-to-speech system  then reads aloud. Up to 50,000 pages of text can be stored on the device's 4-gigabyte hard drive.
The device is about the size of a paperback book and features tactile control buttons that can be operated by a blind person. It went on sale in the United States for 1,499 dollars, with a separate device designed to facilitate text capture costing an additional 399 dollars.
"We are proud to offer the Intel Reader as a tool for people who have trouble reading standard print so they can more easily access the information many of us take for granted every day, such as reading a job offer letter or even the menu at a restaurant," said Louis Burns, vice president and general manager of Intel's Digital Health Group, in a statement.
The idea for the Reader came from Ben Foss, a dyslexic Intel researcher who had trouble reading books and documents.
"I am thrilled to be able to help level the playing field for people who, like me, do not have easy access to the printed word," said Foss in a statement. "The Intel Reader is a tool that can help give people with dyslexia, low-vision, blindness or other reading- based disabilities access to the resources they need to participate and be successful in school, work and life."
© 2010 Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa) under contract with MarketWatch. All rights reserved.
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