Recently, Intel start to sell a new portable handheld e-reader that can snap pictures of books and newspapers and then read them back to people who have a hard time reading the printed page.

Called the Intel Reader, the device can assist the people with reading-based disabilities, such as dyslexia or low-vision, or for those who are blind.

The Intel Reader, about the size of a paperback book, has a high-resolution 5 megapixel autofocus camera with a focus range of up to one meter. With the power of an Intel Atom processor, allowing users to point, shoot and listen to printed text. For large amounts of text, Intel offers a separate device called a “portable capture station” that makes it possible to use the reader as a scanner for more quickly capturing and converting multiple pages from a book or large documents.

For people with low vision, the Reader’s 4.3 inch LCD display (16:9 aspect ratio) can zoom in and out of text, the size of which can be easily adjusted, according to Intel.

Prototypes of the paper-back sized device were tested with more than 400 visually-impaired users, including some who were completely blind. The reader can adjust the speed of reading, and it’s 2GB of storage can hold about 500,000 pages of text; roughly 600 pages of scanned books, claims Intel.

The device can play back scanned items, but it also supports MP3s, WAV files, text files and the DAISY (Digital Accessible Information System) format, used to publish books for people with reading problems. Of course, it is possible to download text documents (simple text files, no complex files like .PDF or .DOC) or audio files (.wav) on the device. The battery can power about four hours of playback between charges with its 3300 mAh Lithium-Ion battery.

About the controls, the Reader offers tactile buttons and voice operated menus so that visually challenged individual can control it comfortably. Those with a low vision can increase the font size of the text and also zoom in the screen to view the text clearly.

Ben Foss, who developed original concept for the Intel Reader, said the device is also intended to assist those with severe Dyslexia, an impairment he himself grew up with. “We want people to experience the independence of being able to read on their own in a public place or anywhere they want to.” As he says, really hope this Intel Reader can increase independence for visually impaired.

But the Intel Reader is not so perfect: it can’t recognize hand writing, and doesn’t yet work internationally (the latter is coming soon. However it is quite amazing that it makes it possible in a relatively simple way to grab a menu in a restaurant or a random document, and to turn it into text for immediate audio translation.

The Intel Reader has list price of $1499 and is available in U.S. through select resellers, including CTL, Don Jophston, GTSI, Howard Technology Solutions and HumanWare. Though the price looks expensive, it may be worth checking out against the Braille readers.

For more details of the Intel Reader, please kindly click the following link from Intel official website:

http://www.intel.com/healthcare/reader/index.htm