Jason Dunn
03-31-2010, 04:30 PM
<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://gizmodo.com/5505999/smartphones-turn-into-assistants-for-the-blind' target='_blank'>http://gizmodo.com/5505999/smartpho...s-for-the-blind</a><br /><br /></div><p><em>"We've seen software and applications designed to assist visually impaired individuals in the past, but nothing's been quite what we're shown in this video. The LookTel software actually allows phones to recognize and audibly identify objects almost instantly."</em></p><p><object width="600" height="360" data="http://www.youtube.com/v/Lf-0Dj95SgY&ap=%26fmt=18" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"><param name="src" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Lf-0Dj95SgY&ap=%26fmt=18" /></object></p><p>Technology is at its best when it enables us to do new things, and this is a great example of Windows Mobile enabling the blind to leverage technology to improve their daily lives. LookTel allows blind users to point a Windows Mobile device equipped with a camera at an object, and the optical character recognition built into the software will read the label on the container and speak it aloud. Custom labels can be made for containers without labels, and the software can be trained to recognize those labels. It's a really neat system that demonstrates the power of technology to fill a need.</p>