Luxury Or Necessity?

Having the Intel Reader at my disposal for several weeks did feel like a little luxury. Passing it on to a colleague yesterday definitely stirred up some separation anxiety.

I thoroughly enjoyed the ease it brought back to recipe reading, and the angst it took away from the mail and the (dreaded) form. I used it as my own private teleprompter, to practice and give prompts, for a speech. I used it for reading printed documents, on a daily basis; I actually cleaned up the piles of paper I wanted to read, but had not quite figured out how – until now.

The Intel Reader passed two of my critical technology tests. It helped me feel like I could read anything, and it made me feel good about doing it. It also passed my usability test, with flying colors, which means: if I can operate this device…anyone can.

I, like Walt Mossberg of the Wall Street Journal, got better at Intel Reading each day. I originally thought I would be flipping through the pages of Vogue and the New Yorker, but this was not as easy as it looked. There were some articles that I photographed again and again, before I got a readable shot. Newspapers were equally as difficult, clearly a skill to be acquired over time.

I did take a few books off the shelf and read excerpts from a couple of them, once read by my eyes. This, for some reason, I excelled at; however, it also gave me a real appreciation for the Capture Station, an accessory available with the Intel Reader, for photographing entire books (without breaking them apart).

So now I will decide which category does the Intel Reader belong: luxury or necessity? At $1,500, and in the month of December, it can only come from one place…Santa, are you listening?

The Intel Reader Takes Form

I like my font big and bold (about 2 inches high) and at eye level; in this format I can read just about anything. Well, then again, I could not exactly call this reading. Let’s say, in this format, I could identify one word at a time, slowly. For me, “listening” is the new “reading.” It is far more enjoyable and, definitely, more efficient to hear printed words spoken, than to undergo the arduous process of deciphering words, which sometimes appear to be moving or broken. It can be like reading a book under water.

A few days ago, a former colleague asked if I would write a recommendation for grad school. I was happy to do it until she handed me the (dreaded) form. I am not fond of forms, especially the instructions about how to fill out the form. So I decided to take a picture of it with the Intel Reader and have it read me the instructions, where I learned that I could answer the questions on a separate page. I listened to each question and answered it in a word document in my computer, printed it, attached it, and voila, another form bites the dust.

Stay tuned for …Intel Teleprompter.

The Intel Reader Is My Sous Chef

There are many traits embedded in my DNA. One of my best inheritances is the joy of cooking. My passion for the food experience begins with the thought, the prep, then moves through the process, the aromas, the taste, and ends with a great sense of satisfaction.

The cooking gene was dominant in my father, who passed to me a penchant for turning Sundays into culinary events. He would fill the day with food and football, running in and out of the kitchen, so as never to miss a touchdown or a Hail Mary Pass, while garlic and herbs wafted about the house.

My mother’s genetics in the kitchen were a bit more recessive, but none the less, she instilled in me an early interest in the delicious chemistry of baking cakes and cookies. Instead of giving me a requested Easy Bake Oven at the age of 8, she got me started with my own set of cookbooks, baking the real thing.

My joy appeared to be in jeopardy, when my vision declined below the acuity required for cookbook reading. Of course, I did not put the cookbooks on the shelf without a fight. I tried magnifiers. I tried funky glasses. I typed recipe favorites into my computer and made the font very large. I pulled up recipes on the Internet and ran, back and forth, from kitchen to computer, measuring and mixing, one step at a time. I became very good at memorizing and improvisation but had to cut back on the baking, because the chemistry of sugar with butter and flour with baking soda requires strict adherence to measurement.

Cut to now.

The Intel Reader is my Sous Chef; it photographed a bunch of my favorites like Apple Cheesecake Tart, the best Banana Yogurt Bread on earth, Zebra Shortbread and Chocolate Decadence Cake.

Hearing my recipes, converted to speech by the Intel reader, was like being reborn. It works like a charm…a cup of this, a tablespoon of that. I can stop and start the reading with the push of a button, or go back and review with the push of another. Some recipes are formatted perfectly, while others require a bit of toggling between ingredients and instructions. Sometimes the pronunciation is funny, in which case I look at it in the screen (zoomed to big letters), or listen to the spelling by holding down the “ok” button. I have to admit, sticky fingers may be a potential hazard; remember, the Intel Reader is not dishwasher safe.
I think this is another one of those things that happens to be good for me, but really could be better for everyone. Last week I watched a segment of Martha Stewart and one of her guests was a Wall Street Journal reporter who brought a new digital recipe reader. I watched with intense anticipation, waiting for it to speak, but there was no voice: this ‘reader’ required you to read to yourself. Isn’t that so last year?

Coming next…how I used the Intel Reader with forms and meeting notes.

Mastering the Mail with Intel Reader

Every day, since I’ve had temporary custody of the Intel Reader, I’ve tackled my daily delivery of mail, with, almost, glee. Truth be known, reading mail was never something I did well, not even with 20 / 20 vision.

It’s one of those embarrassing things: the stigma of severe mail aversion. I know it’s dangerous to say I’m cured, but, for eight consecutive mail days, I’ve identified each piece and dealt with it.

Thanks to the Intel Reader! For me, a little like mail rehab, I photograph the envelope first, then the contents. Works very well on postcards, which I can’t usually even figure out where they’re from. No intense concentration necessary to read a page or two, I just listen to page after page and toss the majority of junk, eliminating the build up of mail.

It is the freedom of speech!

Coming next…the joy of cooking with Intel.

The Intel® Reader is Friendly

A great benefit of working at the Lighthouse is that I get to try out new items that fall into the category of “vision-friendly technology.” Recently, I had the luxury of borrowing one of the newly released Intel® Readers.

I am pleased to report that I find the Intel Reader is as user-friendly as it claims to be. This, I know, is no small feat, because just about every device I come in contact with makes this same assertion, and way more often than not, I don’t make it past “Step 2” or “3.”

The key to my success…the relative simplicity of good design, along with the quick-start guide built right into the Reader. The user manual is also built in, eliminating the anxiety I usually feel upon encountering an instruction book that I will never be able to read. The buttons are tactile, each unique in its shape and position.

I’m feeling pretty proficient and I know that if I can operate this little machine…anyone can. (In fact, it feels kind of like one of those things you’ve borrowed from a friend but really don’t want to give back.)
Its function and assistive nature have grown on me, and it will be interesting to see what happens when I have to return it. Until then, I am discovering new ways to use it every day, and I am going to share my experiences in coming posts to talk about how the Intel reader works for me. Stay tuned.

The Freedom of Speech

This week, Intel made a big, bold move, stepping squarely into my world with the launch of the Intel Reader. Frankly, I could not have dreamt up better company, and I applaud their interest in changing the world a little bit by creating a product that just might take the sting out of reading for millions who have difficulty with print due to dyslexia and declining vision.

The mastermind behind the Intel Reader is Ben Foss, a kid from New Hampshire (now 36), who managed his way ― all the way ― to, through and beyond Stanford Law School with severe dyslexia. While reading print, admittedly, was not one of his strengths, strategy clearly was! He knew early on that if he could get all those words past his dyslexia, the rest might be easy.

Last week, I had the great pleasure of participating in a number of press briefings on the Intel Reader, serving as an advocate for people with low vision, as well as sharing my perspective as a person in need of a “reading machine.”

The Intel Reader is coming home with me this weekend ― and we have big plans! First, I’m going to read my mail, which has been piling up. Then, I’ll break open a magazine or two, maybe Vogue first, then The New Yorker. And on Sunday, my plan is to take some of my favorite cookbooks off the shelf and try a new recipe. These things are suddenly possible again because the Intel Reader has a camera that photographs pages of text and converts it to speech. The technical aspects are of little interest to me; I just want to know if it will help me get back to things that I enjoy but have been unable to continue to do with less and less vision.

Everything happens for a reason. I’d like to think that Ben Foss was very successful at overcoming the challenges of dyslexia. And his endeavors may save millions of children and adults the embarrassment of having to say, “Sorry, I can’t read this.” Not to mention the unfortunate misperception that lack of intelligence or illiteracy is to blame.