Wednesday, March 9, 2011

LookTel Money Reader App

Here is an article from the New York Times about an inexpensive App that accurately identifies the denominations of United States paper currency from $1 to $100 dollars. The Application is currently available for the iPhone and the iPod Touch with built in camera and according to the developer’s website, “Recognition will happen in real-time and without delay – there's no need to hold the device still or take a photo and wait for a result.” This reduces the need for blind people to rely on sighted folks to help them identify what is in their wallet.

The accompanying video shows a user launching the LookTel Money Reader Application on their iPhone 4, the user then hovers the iPhone over a table with various bills placed about in a grid like pattern; as the iPhone passes over a bill a voice announces the denomination of each bill. In the second part of the video clip, the user holds the iPhone in one hand and a wad of folded bills in the other; after the user launches the LookTel Money Reader App he (or she) hovers the iPhone over the wad of bills and flips through them while a voice announces the denomination of each exposed bill.

1 comment:

  1. This is truly a great app that actually does what it says it does. As the article notes, comparable stand alone products cost $100 at the least.

    What I found most interesting were the comments prompted by the NY Times article. Of course many wondered how a blind person could use a touch screen and those were responded to in very good ways by blind people who use that technology. I was most amused and concerned though by the commenter who wanted to know how a blind person could find the camera on the Iphone? A good reminder of the perceptual notions related to disability that even these outstanding improvements in technology don’t seem to mitigate.

    --Debbie Cook

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