[eglover]

Why choose this over audio-books and advanced TTS software? As qrazhan noted, it's very difficult (unnecessarily so) to use in the first place. (ie. electronics are already the way to go, why would you care about print versions vs. digital versions if you're blind? they all sound the same).

I wonder, is this something you yourself use? Are you blind? In which case, I'm sure you're aware that this is not how assistive software works. Sorry, I just don't get it.

[ndarilek]

Not everything is available digitally--mail, for instance. Sure, given the choice, I'd choose an existing digital book over one I scan myself, but I can't for instance choose a digital version of the medical bills the hospital mails me.

That said, this isn't an entirely unique concept, and you're right, positioning the camera is challenging. There are tools to help with this--arms and stands that position devices at the correct height to photograph a standard-sized sheet of paper. It may strike you as entirely impractical, but I remember the days when scanners were huge and bulky things, and even now when they aren't, I don't necessarily have the desk space to keep one out, or the desire to hook it up and store it when not in use. A reliable camera-based OCR solution for my Android phone and an arm/paper guide calibrated to the S III would rock, and assuming reasonable material prices and standard markup (I.e. not the absolutely huge markups of AT) it'd be competitive with dedicated OCR solutions and hardware.

Source: I'm blind.

[jonathanmarvens]

Hi, Nolan.

You're blind and a developer? As I noted in my comment ( https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8138937 ), I used to write software for awesome folks like you. I'd love to chat with you for a bit if you don't mind? What's your email?

Thanks!

- Jonathan

[eglover]

What kind of hospital (or anyone who sells mail for that matter) doesn't use email? It's recognized as both safer and cheaper. Snail mail through USPS is pretty archaic.

[martijndeh]

Can you give an example of the TTS software you consider advanced? The software I tried works, but too often sounds robotic and far from natural. Especially for the Dutch language.

[eglover]

ClaroRead and Jaws are popular. We're talking about high priced software actually built for people with disabilities. Not using Balabolka to speed things up because someone is too lazy to read. (I do it all the time.)

[hbien]

I don't think it's strictly for books.

[eglover]

Read carefully.