Intel unveils text-to-speech Reader device

The Intel Reader captures text and reads it out

Intel today announced the UK launch of its Intel Reader, a handheld device that captures text and reads it out for the benefit of dyslexics and people with poor sight.

The 630g device is the size of a thick paperback, and packs in a 5-megapixel autofocus camera that can cope with pages measuring up to 12.5in by 18in.

Processing the data takes around a couple of minutes per page, judging from a demonstration, and the software is clever enough to deal with newspaper-style multiple columns. It will not, however, stitch partial images together to facilitate the reading of larger pages.

Text appears on the 4.3in screen as it is read out and can be enlarged to facilitate reading. The small screen size is paradoxically an advantage for poor-sighted people because it corresponds to their field of view when they it hold it close to their eyes, according to Ben Foss, director of access technology at Intel's Digital Health group.

Foss, a dyslexic, explained that reading a book for him is like a disabled person trying to climb stairs. "They can do it but they may need to lie down and pull themselves up by their arms. It is not easy," he said.

Foss claimed that an average book can be scanned into the device in about an hour, and that users can begin listening to it while some of the text is still being processed. Audio translations can be saved as MP3 files and played on any suitable device such as an iPhone.

"For the first time in my life I'm going into a bookshop and buying a book," he said.

However, dyslexics are most likely to appreciate the ability to read items like forms, or the rules of a game, a facility normal readers take for granted.

The £1,000 Reader packs a selection of British English male and female voices, and other European languages are in the pipeline. It uses an Atom processor and a 4GB solid state drive, with 2GB free for files. Intel reckons this is enough to hold up to 600 page images, with their associated text, or 500,000 text-only pages. Files can be transferred to or from a PC via USB.

The battery lasts a claimed four hours of text-to-speech work between charges, or up to five days on standby. An optional Capture Station, consisting of a stand and document platform with supplementary controls, costs £249. Grants are available to people who need such a device.

Judi Stewart, chief executive of the British Dyslexia Association, said that the Reader could transform the lives of dyslexics who are often highly intelligent and skilled in other ways.

"The only problem is the price. I'm hoping the price will come down," she said.

Intel is hoping that Virgin entrepreneur Richard Branson, who is dyslexic, will try the device. "We have a challenge for him," said Foss. "If he doesn't like it, our chief executive Paul Otellini says he will personally clean a Virgin plane."