December 21, 2009 
One of the world’s largest IT companies Intel Corporation introduced the Intel Reader, a mobile handheld device designed to increase the independence of people who have difficulty with reading standard printed text. Intel Reader will ease life for people with dyslexia and other learning difficulties and those with vision problems, such as visually impaired and blind people for whom reading the printed text is difficult or impossible. It is estimated there are 55 million of these people in the U.S…
Intel Reader is pocket-sized and works in that way that it transforms the printed text into digital, which then reads aloud to the user. Its unique design includes high-resolution camera with a processor Intel Atom, so users can direct the device to the printed text, record it and listen. Intel Reader in the U.S. will be available through a network of selected distributors, including CTL, Don Johnston Incorporated, GTSI, Howard Technology Solutions and HumanWare.
“Intel’s Digital Health Department is an expert in finding innovative technology solutions to improve the quality of life,” said Louis Burns, vice president and general manager of Intel’s Digital Health. “We are proud to offer Intel Reader to help people who have difficulty reading standard printed text and allow them easier access to information that many of us daily take for granted, such as to enable them to read job offers or a menu in a restaurant,” concludes Burns.
The original concept of Intel Reader was developed by Ben Foss, a researcher at Intel who was in elementary school recognized as one of approximately twenty percent of people in the United States with symptoms of dyslexia. Throughout the school – high school, university and postgraduate – he had to rely on others when it neccessery to read something or otherwise himself had to go through slow and painstaking process of recognition of words on the page. In the adult age he had to reconcile with the fact that his multitude of content that he was interested in, from professional journals to light texts, is simply not available in audio formats.
“As someone who suffers from dyslexia, I am thrilled that I can reduce the disadvantage of people who, like me, have an uneasy access to the written word,” Foss said, adding that “people who find reading a hard task often feel lonely. We hope to open to doors to the world for people in these communities. Intel Reader is a tool that people who suffer from dyslexia, visual impairment, blindness and other difficulties with reading provides access to resources that they need to in order to participate actively in the academic, professional and personal life. “
Taken from: www.business.hr