Modern technology helps people with visual impairments

A unique device that enables the blind and persons with visual impairments and dyslexia to read was for the first time presented in Serbia, to Commissioner for Protection of Equality Brankica Jankovic. It is a small, light bluetooth device attached to glasses that scans writings and transforms them to speech, i.e. reads the text to its user, recognizes colours, banknotes and even faces.

User of this device has to finger-point to a document or an object which they want to read and there is also a possibility to adjust the reading speed and pause it. Device can identify a person standing in front of it and when that person says its name, device will remember it and pronounce it every time afterwards. It can be easily mounted on any type of glasses; it recognizes text from any kind of surface or screen and the privacy of users is fully protected because device doesn’t storage scanned data.

Commissioner Jankovic said that inovative technical solutions may significantly improve the quality of life of persons with visual impairments and that young people have the greatest benefit from such devices, because they can independantly learn and perform various activities without their personal assistant.

„OrCam My Eye” was invented by an Israeli start-up ORCAM, whose representatives, lead by Ambassador of Israel in Serbia Alona Fisher-Kamm, visited Commissioner for Protection of Equality. At this meeting, which was also attended by director and a pupil of the school for pupils with visual impairments „Veljko Ramadanovic“, it was decided to give away one device to this school. 15-year old pupil of this school Ivana Djordjevic has tried on this device and concluded with a broad smile that it will be of great help to her schoolmates. Device is currently operating in 25 languages, and according to ORCAM representative, Serbian language will be available since this autumn.

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