PORTABLE  PRINT  READING  DEVICE  FOR  THE  VISUALLY  IMPAIRED

    For more than two years, C.A.Technology, Inc. and its President, Oleg
Tretiakoff, have been involved in the Project entitled "New and Improved
Print
Reading Machine for the Blind" supported by the National Science Foundation
under
Grants DMI-9801554 and DMI-0296066.

    The result of these efforts, the Portable Print Reading Device, "P2RD",
now in
its final design phase, is expected to be available during the second
quarter of
2003.

    The P2RD comprises two compact and lightweight units:
 - a high resolution digital color camera
 - a pocket size remote control unit

     The P2RD provides all the functions required to capture the image of an
object,
recognize the text it contains, and convert this text into synthetic speech
or
Braille.
     The P2RD also provides the functions needed to store a document and
navigate
inside stored documents:
 - move to specific page of chosen document
 - move to beginning of page, paragraph, line or word
 - search character sequence

     The P2RD provides audible clues to help the user frame precisely the
image of a
document.
     The P2RD can read text carried by an object located close by or far
away, as
long as the image generated by the zoom lens of its camera provides an
adequate
resolution for this particular text.
     The P2RD camera provides all the photographic capabilities found today
in a
typical high end digital color camera.

     Several accessories, including a portable Copy Stand and a portable
Book Reader
will also be available.
     When used with the Copy Stand, the P2RD provides audible clues to help
the user
place the tip of a pen precisely at a specific location on the document
placed under
the Copy Stand, allowing the user to add handwritten notes to the document,
for
example to fill a form.
     When used with the Book Reader, the P2RD allows the user to read and
store
rapidly several pages of any book placed on its reading surface, without
damaging
the books in any way, even if they are thick and hard covered. The user can
easily
center the P2RD camera on the page of any book smaller than the 9 by 12
inches
reading surface.

     A flat tactile graphic array, will become available later as a part of,
or to
be added to the remote control unit. It will allow blind users to read by
touch both
text characters and graphic shapes, for example mathematical symbols. Its
price is
not known a this time.

     The target price to the end user is, as of today, $1800. Advance orders
can be
placed immediately by mailing the order with a $600.00 deposit per unit
ordered, to:
     C.A.Technology, Inc., 9500 S. Ocean Drive, Jensen Beach, FL 34957, USA.
     For more information, please send an email to:
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Just an email away......
Justin


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