Optical character recognition tool might have applications for assistive technology users
WordLens is a new iPhone app that can be used to recognize text within graphics and translate it (just Spanish->English and English->Spanish for now). Because this uses optical character recognition, we wonder if the technology could also be used to address the inaccessibility of bitmapped text on Web pages by capturing text and relaying it to a speech output program instead of a translator.
TechCrunch: Word Lens Translates Words Inside of Images. Yes Really.
Instapaper auto adjusts contrast based on time of day
Instapaper is a neat little iPhone app that lets you save websites for future perusal. What’s interesting about its latest release is that it lets you enter your location, and adjusts the text/background contrast from dark-on-light to light-on-dark around the local time that the sun sets. Since we all need more contrast as we age, could you also enter your birthdate and have the contrast auto-adjust for that too?
Sneaky snapper
Camera Camouflage is a new iPhone app that will pretend to call your phone. Every time you speak, or make any noise louder than the ambient environment, the app snaps a picture. Great hands-free photography option for people with severe dexterity impairments.
Still better Windows text-to-speech
Balabolka adds new features to free text-to-speech for Windows. You can import all kinds of files, set the voice characteristics you want, change the speed and emphasis, etc., then export the results as audio files, say for an mp3 player. Note that this is not a screen reader — it’s a utility for producing better-than-average synthetic speech for almost any text you have.
Balabolka Enhances Windows Text-to-Speech with Reading Styles and Audio Export
Diminished Reality
We’ve covered augmented reality interfaces, where a video image is superimposed with additonal content, such as the history of a building your camera is pointed at. Now researchers at the Technische Universität in Ilmenau, Germany are going the other way — removing objects from the camera’s output, in real time. This might work well as a wayfinding interface for people with low vision or cognitive disabilities. Imagine a street scene with all the signs still there, but none of the bustling, distracting people. Like a 10 megapixel neutron bomb.
Gizmodo: Magic Software Eliminates Objects From Reality Itself
Nokia if you got ‘em
You’ve got a Nokia N8 phone. You’ve got a TV or other display with an HDMI interface. You plug the former into the latter, and voila: an instant magnified, touchscreen-style interface for a limited number of functions, such as running a slide show or operating a calculator. More capabilities to come, we hope.
MobileCrunch: Nokia turns any display into a touchscreen with “Plug and Touch.”
Like a hand with a cool seven-letter word, or like QWXJJZK?
The first commercial app is now available for the Kindle: a uniplayer version of Scrabble. Can it be used with Kindle’s voice output capabilities? Now that there’s a precedent, will there be other apps that take advantage of Kindle voice output? Will Larry Wanger’s article on Kindle accessibility affect the number of blind users who even buy one? Tune in tomorrow…