New FingerReader Gadget Enables Blind to Read Any Book – Goodbye Braille

Braille system was developed in 1829 by Frenchman Louis Braille for the blind people to help them read and gain knowledge. The system employed the use of dots that were raised and the user would move his/her fingertip on the line of Braille text to interpret it and make some sense out of it. When compared to standard way of learning, the Braille system requires some training to get used to, however, despite having the required training the biggest drawback is that not all books and magazines are readily available in Braille format. So what does science do? MIT researchers have come up with a ring (shall fall under the category of wearable technology) that is capable of reading text aloud and the team is hoping this would result in a breakthrough for the vision impaired patients.

So what is the FingerReader? Essentially speaking; it is a huge ring which the user wears on the index finger. Afterwards, this index finger is used to trace out a line on screen or text written in a book. The gadget comes with a camera that is able to identify text when it moves over it and this identified information is then read aloud via the ring to the user. Haptic feedback has been employed to let users know when the finger moves away from the line or when the line ends. The best part is the fact that this gadget can be used with text and as well as for electronic format information – resulting in opening a whole new world of information for those whose vision is impaired.

FingerReader has more uses than the one stated above. MIT is hoping that this gadget will also be used to offer translation services which will allow you to read different languages without much difficulty. The gadget can also be used as a learning tool for teaching someone to read.