Wearable Device Helps Visually-Impaired People Read

By Dianna Dilworth 

fingerreaderResearchers at the MIT Media Lab have invented a tool that makes it easier for visually-impaired people to print read books. The FingerReader is a ring-like tool that these readers can wear to help them read printed text.

Here is more about how it works from the MIT Media Lab website: “Wearers scan a text line with their finger and receive an audio feedback of the words and a haptic feedback of the layout: start and end of line, new line, and other cues. The FingerReader algorithm knows to detect and give feedback when the user veers away from the baseline of the text, and helps them maintain a straight scanning motion within the line.”

We’ve embedded a video demo of how it works after the jump.

FingerReader – Wearable Text-Reading Device from Fluid Interfaces on Vimeo.