DISCOVERY: Finger Computer Reads Books Aloud

There is no shortage of audiovisual software and Braille scanners
for the visually impaired. In many ways, such technology allows
people to overcome their visual disabilities and consume media and
books like anyone else. But many of these systems aren’t very
mobile, and in the end, they require a series of multiple steps to
translate text into audio.
Helping to close that gap is the FingerReader, developed by MIT
Media Lab’s Fluid Interfaces Group. The prototype is a finger-
mounted computer that reads text aloud as users run their finger
across each word. Here’s how researchers describe it :
The FingerReader is a wearable device that assists in reading
printed text. It is a tool both for visually impaired people that require
help with accessing printed text, as well as an aid for language
translation. 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.