The K-NFB Reader (an acronym for Kurzweil — National Federation of the Blind Reader) is a handheld electronic reading device for the blind. It was developed in a partnership between Ray Kurzweil and the National Federation of the Blind.

Keypad of The Reading Edge,[1] a precursor of the K-NFB Reader

The original version of the reader was composed of a digital camera and a PDA, which contained specialised OCR software and speech synthesizers to read the scanned material aloud. It was released at a price of $3,495.[2]

The software was later ported to the Symbian operating system, to be used on Nokia N82 camera phones, with a new price of $1,595.[3]

Developed by the National Federation of the Blind and Sensotec NV in 2014, an iOS port was released at a price of $99. An Android version was released shortly after.[4]

KNFB Reader can read:

  • Receipts
  • Package labels and mail
  • Product and nutritional information
  • Print on your computer or tablet screen
  • Longer documents such as books and user manuals
  • Private documents such as tax materials, mortgage documents, bills, and medical reports
  • Ebooks and documents in the ePub format
  • Documents in more than thirty languages

Innovative features

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Source:[4]

  • Text Detection (shows you where there is print to capture)
  • Tilt and Viewfinder Assist (ensures you capture the entire page)
  • Text Highlighting (pinpoints text for dyslexic and other print-disabled users)

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Still Scanning after All These Years: A Profile of Kurzweil Educational Systems". The American Foundation for the Blind. Retrieved 2024-07-09.
  2. ^ "The KNFB Reader becomes the Property of the Nation's Blind". Retrieved 2016-02-25.
  3. ^ "KNFB Reader Frequently Asked Questions". Archived from the original on 2009-02-08.
  4. ^ a b "KNFB Reader | National Federation of the Blind". nfb.org. Retrieved 2021-11-05.
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