An article from the June 1998 issue of the Braille Forum,
published by the American Council of the Blind (http://www.acb.org)

MASTERING THE CODE TO INDEPENDENCE
by Nolan Crabb
    If there's anything in the world more common than a cold,
it's probably a bar code symbol.  These ubiquitous little symbols
appear on virtually everything we buy, and now an Illinois-based
company has developed a device that helps you harness the bar
code and use it to solve the mystery of what's in that can, box
or package.
    The device is called i.d. mate, manufactured by En-Vision
America of Normal, Ill.  It works on a simple premise.  It lets
you create a voice message that is linked to the bar code on any
product you might buy.  Consisting of a scanner and a main unit,
the i.d. mate is very portable.  To use it, the blind operator
would simply sweep the scanner over the product he or she is
about to buy.  The scanner beeps once it has found the bar code
and recorded the unique number.  If you know that you have a can
of Campbell's tomato soup, for example, you could scan the can,
listen for the beep, then record the name of the product and type
of soup.  You might simply say "Campbell's Tomato Soup."  Your
voice message is stored on a small flash memory card.  Next time
you go to the store and scan the soup cans, your i.d. mate would
speak your voice message when it saw the tomato soup can.
    The i.d. mate was originally conceived as a way for two blind
brothers to play cards with sighted members of the family,
according to Philip Raistrick, president of En-Vision America.
He recognized that each playing card had its own unique bar code
on it.  Using a personal computer and a bar code scanner,
Raistrick designed software that would allow his brothers to hear
what their card was through an earphone.  "One of my brothers
didn't know braille," he explained, "so this was a good
substitute."
    Of course, Raistrick recognized the difficulty of using the
original design of his machine.  Its biggest drawback was its
lack of portability.  He set to work building a product that
could be carried easily and that would allow a blind user to scan
any product for the bar code, then record a voice message that
would be associated with that particular bar code until the user
deleted the message.  Some two and a half years after his initial
design, Raistrick was ready with a prototype of a more portable
bar code reader/voice recorder.
    "This is a kind of database," he explained.  "Our software
associates the bar code number with your voice message and stores
it on the memory card."
    Raistrick said most users buy multiple cards for multiple
purposes.  "You could have a card for groceries, one for a music
collection, and still another for videocassettes or some other
product."
    Raistrick said bar codes are a natural for use by blind and
visually impaired people.  "These bar codes are about the size of
a postage stamp," he explained, "and they can be found on more
than 90 percent of all things manufactured and sold in the United
States."
    He said many people use the i.d. mate to label medicines.
"Not only can you have labels on the medicine, but you can record
the instructions for taking the medicine if necessary."
    Of course, the longer your messages, the fewer you can store
on the flash card.  Still, including cooking instructions on a
recorded label means that whenever the bar code scanner scans the
bar code for a meat pie, for example, you'll not only hear the
words "pot pie," you will hear the cooking instructions if you
recorded them.
    According to Raistrick, even clothing can be labeled and
scanned.  You could even include information about what piece of
clothing matches another clothing article.  "We know of
secretaries who are using this on those adhesive file folder
labels that are bar coded," he said.  It's a good way to have an
electronic filing system without filling a file drawer with bulky
braille dots.
    Some users even use the i.d. mate to determine patterns of
dishes that may not be tactile enough to feel, Raistrick said.
Randolph-Sheppard vendors also use the product to label stock.
    "One of the best features about our system is its ability to
decipher the bar code number no matter how you hold the package
you're scanning," Raistrick said.  "We could have used a cheaper
scanner, but the blind user would have been in a real fix because
those cheaper scanners won't work unless the package is exactly
right side up and the bar code is oriented in exactly the right
direction.  Our scanner is omni-directional, and you aren't
required to hold the product in any certain manner."
    The i.d. mate also includes a memo feature that allows you to
capture a phone number or other item quickly when you aren't near
the slate and stylus or your marking pen.  Your memo is stored on
the same flash card as your bar code information.  Each time you
insert one of the flash cards, it gives you the title of the card
þ "Software Collection," "groceries," "CD Music Collection," etc.
When scanning a bar code, you get immediate audio feedback from
the scanner that it has successfully found the information it
needs.  The unit also includes a talking clock, and the product
when shipped comes with carrying case, rechargeable batteries, AC
power supply, and a cassette tutorial.
    For additional information about the bar code reader and its
features, contact En-Vision America at (309) 452-3088.  Fax:
(309) 452-3643.  On the Internet, point your web browser to
http://www.envisionamerica.com or send e-mail to
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