PaperPort Notes App Adds OCR Functionality

Nuance's PaperPort Notes app for iPad received a major update. The highlight of the update is the ability to take a picture of text to add the text to your notes. The Optical Charactor Recongition (OCR) feature is slower than other competing apps but is accurate. The improved cameras on the newest iPads allow OCR to work well. To learn about the other features of the free PaperPort Notes app click here. Click here to download the app.

Click read more below to view screenshots of PaperPort Notes.

iTunes 11 Feature Helps Visually Impaired Redeem Gift Cards

A feature in Apple's iTunes 11 allows you to scan a gift card code using your computer's camera. The feature is particularly intriguing for the blind, visually impaired and for dyslexics. While it may be inconvenient for most people to type the 16 digit code, it is impossible for users who are blind or visually impaired, and can be a struggle for some dyslexics. To use the feature position the gift card in front of the computer's camera. For people with visual impairments VoiceOver, Apple's built in screen reader on your Mac will help you frame the card in the picture. Then iTunes recognizes the code and credits the money to your iTunes account. This feature makes it possible for the blind and visually impaired to easily and independently redeem iTunes gift cards. Maybe this cool scanning feature will make its way to iOS in the near future.

Click read more below to view pictures of the scanning feature in action.

Scanner Pro Review

Scanner Pro is an app for the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch. It works best with the iPhone because it has a higher quality camera. Scanner Pro allows you to take a picture of a multi-page document and then convert the images into a PDF file. Images can be taken with the camera or imported from the camera roll. When using the camera to capture an image there is an option to have the picture taken when the camera is perfectly still for better image quality.

Scanner Pro allows you to take pictures of multiple pages before saving them to a PDF which speeds up the process of scanning multiple pages. Once you have taken the pictures of the document you can change the contrast and brightness. Scanner Pro can automatically detect the edges of a document but it does do not do as good of a job at detecting edges as other scanner apps such as TurboScan and JotNot.

The app struggles even more if the document is on a light background. The inability of Scanner Pro to consistently detect the edges is a major downside. If Scanner Pro does not recognize the edges of the document automatically you can adjust the edges manually but this takes time and slows down the process considerably. Once you adjust the edges Scanner Pro has great features to manage and share your document. You can send documents by email, iDisk, WebDAV services, Evernote, Google Docs and Dropbox. The app allows you to share you documents over Wi-Fi as well. Another cool feature allows you to password protect the entire app or individual documents. Scanner Pro costs $6.99 in the App Store.

Scanner Pro is a well done app but the problems detecting edges really slows things down. Because of this one problem I would recommend JotNot or TurboScan instead. If Readdle, the maker of the app, fixes the edge detection problem it would be a different story.

Click read more below to view screen shots of Scanner Pro in action.

Color ID: Free Color Identifier

Color ID is a simple free app that recognizes colors using the iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch's camera. Point the camera at the object you want to know the color of to use the app. Turn on VoiceOver to hear the color of the object be said allowed. Click here to download Color ID. Color ID is ideal for people who are blind or color blind and need to identify the color of clothing or any other object.

TextGrabber: Fast, Cheap, Accurate OCR app for iPhone

TextGrabber is a low cost OCR app for iPhone that quickly and accurately converts printed text into digital text that can be edited or read aloud using text-to-speech. Click here to download TextGrabber. The app is easy to use. Snap a photo of the text you want to read then crop the photo and finally read the text. TextGrabber only takes a few seconds to convert the printed text into a digital format. Once the text has been recognized you can have it read aloud to you using VoiceOver. TextGrabber can also translate captured text into many languages. One negative of TextGrabber is it does not have built in text-to-speech,  or Speak Selection, a new iOS 5 feature, does not work. In day-to-day use I found that TextGrabber and ZoomReader offer similar OCR speed and accuracy. To improve the accuracy turn on the flash while taking the picture. TextGrabber does not feature built in text-to-speech with highlighting while ZoomReader does not offer a cropping tool for removing unwanted text. To read more about ZoomReader click here. Click read more below to see screen shots and examples of TextGrabber in action,including a step- by -step depiction of TextGrabber converting a newspaper article.

iOS 5 Camera Accessibility

iOS 5 introduced many new accessibility features including Assistive Touch, Siri and Speak Selection. One hidden feature gives blind and visually impaired the ability to take pictures with VoiceOver and the built in camera on the iPad, iPod Touch or iPhone. Your iOS device will tell you how many people are in your picture and if the people are in the center of the screen so you can get the best shot. This is just on feature in a growing list of iOS accessibility features.

SayText App Review

SayText is a free OCR app for iPhone that recognizes text within a document and reads it back to you with VoiceOver. The app does not work as quickly as the Intel Reader but is fairly quick. The app is very simple to use and does not include a lot of features. Focusing the text in iPhone camera is hard and requires a steady hand. The app includes an automatic image capture feature when the text is in focus. Make sure the camera flash is on to increase the image and scan accuracy. SayText is free in the iTunes app store so there is no harm in trying it out.    

Intel Reader Unboxing

I just received the Intel Reader that I won from the Care Innovations Facebook contest. Click here for more information about the Care Innovations Facebook giveaway. Watch the video to see an unboxing of the Intel Reader and some additional information. The reader is very small and light but has extremely fast text recognition. It is powered by an Intel Atom processor which is the same processor that powers many netbooks. The software and hardware are easy to learn. The Intel Reader has very large buttons that are well spaced which makes navigation easier. The image capture is extremely accurate because of a five megapixal camera on the bottom. I have only had the Intel Reader for a couple of minutes but expect a full review later in the week. Until then click this link to check out an overview of the Intel Reader.

LookTel Money Reader App is a Handy Tool

For many blind and low vision people recognizing what bill you have in your hand is impossible because all US bills are physically identical. With out any assistive technology the only way to keep track of what bill you have is to ask a sighted person and fold all bills differently. But what happens if the store clerk is dishonest and gives you a one dollar bill instead of a five? Now there is a solution. The LookTel iOS app identifies the bill that is being held in front of the iPhone's camera then it speaks the amount out loud. It only requires a small portion of the bill to be in view of the camera. The LookTel app is $1.99 in the App Store. With the LookTel app you won't have to rely on the clerk to no how much money you are being handed.