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Intel boss: I'll wash Branson's planes if he doesn't like our Reader
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Posted on 17 Nov 2009 at 11:34
Intel today demonstrated its new Intel Reader, a device that will allow dyslexia sufferers and those with poor vision to instantly photograph books and newspapers and convert them into text.
And Intel is so confident of success that it’s issued the following challenge to well-known dyslexia sufferer Richard Branson: if you don’t love the Intel Reader, the CEO of Intel – Paul Otellini – will clean one of your planes.
Announcing the Intel Reader, Ben Foss, director of Access Technologies, Intel Digital Health Group, said: “This handheld device can take a photograph of any printed material and read it aloud. In many ways we like to think of this tech as a ramp for a book. We have a ramp for buildings so people can get into buildings, and this is a ramp for books so people can easily get into books.”
We have a ramp for buildings so people can get into buildings, and this is a ramp for books so people can easily get into books
The Reader is about the size of a hardback book and powered by an Intel Atom processor. With 2GB of storage, Foss claims there’s room for 600 pages – enough to scan War & Peace, as one photo will cover two pages.
Scanning newspapers
To demonstrate its capabilities, Foss photographed the front page of today’s Independent, the lead story of which offers a tough challenge as it’s white text printed on a black background. It took around three seconds for the Reader to process the page, after which it read the story without a single mistake.
“We can go about 50cm away from an object and read a 10 point font, so for a newspaper you can capture an entire page [of a tabloid or Berliner paper],” said Foss.
As someone who suffers from severe dyslexia, Foss was clearly passionate about the device and explained how he had found a use for it. “I don’t want an abridged version of the book, I want the book.” Describing when he bought a book recommended by friends that wasn’t available in audio form, he said: “I put it on the [optional portable capture] station and I scanned it, 262 pages. That book I could then make an MP3 of. I attached it to my Mac and then I put it on my iPhone.”
The Intel Reader is available to buy today, from Amazon, HumanWare and Inclusive Technology, but note its cost: £999 inc VAT.
Commenting on the price, Judi Stewart, chief executive of the British Dyslexia Association, said, “I think it’s a fine price for an organisation, but for an individual user it’s going to be out of their scope. So I think that’s a bit of a barrier, and I really hope that Intel sells a lot so the price can go down.”
Foss finished the presentation with his challenge to Richard Branson. “If he doesn’t love [the Reader] Intel will wash one of his planes. And we got a personal guarantee from Paul Otellini, the CEO of Intel, that he would wash the plane. That’s good until 1 January 2010.”
We still await a comment from Virgin Atlantic or Richard Branson as to whether he will accept the challenge.
Author: Tim Danton
Nice idea - I'm sure many will appreciate it - along with Richard Branson - so the intel boss knows it will work - but what about copyright?
By nicomo on 17 Nov 2009 
Copyright indeed
I'm a Dyslexia specialist in a University and although there is software that does exactly this (but using a scanner/computer combo) we have to remind the students of the copyright laws which basically hamstrings the whole idea. The US laws speak of the Reading Impaired so they're ok, but the UK Govt is still stuck in the 80s and only thinks disability means blind, deaf or wheelchairs. Dyslexia does not explicitly get around copyright law.
By hjl4354 on 17 Nov 2009
Also... £999.00!!!!
This is just a cynical publicity stunt. Dolphin are a company that have been doing this for ages; charging fantastic amounts of money for products that are essentially built from commonly available technologies that can be found in freeware or ready built into OSs. They rely on a lack of knowledge on the part of the users and claim the price is high due recouping development costs. It's like marking up the price of a wheel chair and claim that they had to re-invent the wheel.
Buy a netbook with a decent external web cam and i'll show how to do the same for less than half the price. Hell, it can be done with a smartphone.
This makes me really f'in angry.
By hjl4354 on 17 Nov 2009
The copyright issue
Thanks for your comments about copyright. I'll chase Intel on this issue. In the briefing, the reply to a copyright question was "we ask our customers to follow the law" and "the main issue here is for personal use", but I'll see if I can get a better answer.
By TimDanton on 17 Nov 2009
Sorry for the multiple posts. I think it happens when i refresh to see if there are more posts.
By hjl4354 on 17 Nov 2009
Multiple posts
I've got rid of the multiple posts; it's a cacheing issue that our tech team is looking into.
By TimDanton on 17 Nov 2009
Instrustions!
Is the instruction manual on a CD in MP3, or do you have to photograph it to read it?
By synaptic_fire on 17 Nov 2009
More Copyright
To be more precise and less rant-some, the law is an oddity.The Copyright (Visually Impaired Persons) Act 2002 allows people with a VI to get round copyright for personal use. People with Dyslexia are covered under the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (D.D.A.) so are protected against discrimination, but were oddly left out of the Copyright legislation ( i guess if you can see the text it doesn't matter if you have a cognitive deficiency that makes you less or un-able to read it).
I was under the impression that they were to change the wording from VISUALLY IMPAIRED to VISUALLY IMPAIRED AND DISABLED PERSONS but i have found no sources for this. I may be wrong on this but this is my understanding as it stands.
Even changing the wording would no explicitly allow people with a diagnosed Specific Learning Difficulty (Dyslexia is a hollow term that excludes many similar impairments).
By hjl4354 on 17 Nov 2009
silly challenge. all branson has to say is no and he gets pictures of a guy cleaning his plane.. more free publicity for the beardy
By equityguru on 18 Nov 2009
Intel should look at this
http://www.capturatalk.com/
It can go on a Windows Mobile smartphone and actually costs less.
By hjl4354 on 18 Nov 2009
Nice idea, now how about one that recognise facial expressions?
Nice idea from Intel apart from quite pricey, would have been better to develop a cheaper device that can be plugged into a laptop. Now how about a machine that recognises things like facial expressions and body language, as a ramp for those of us, like me, who have Asperger's Syndrome, or something to keep us with ADHD concentrated on one thing for more than 5 seconds!
By TheKLF99 on 19 Nov 2009
Plustek do a scanner that reads any text and highlights the words while it does so,it also follows the punctuation and sounds very good too.
A far cheaper option
By UK_Snapper on 19 Nov 2009
Yes please.
I'd like to take hjl4354 up on the offer to show how to do it for half the price. It's the lack of accuracy that has always been the killer with other solutions.
By potamus1 on 20 Nov 2009
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