Hey guys, this week I am going to be chatting about the OrCam MyReader 2 and my
initial impression. Well, I was at an accessibility event not so long ago and I was
fortunate enough to have the opportunity to demo this device. After my demo I had a
chance to chat with their sales consultant and also spend some time digesting the
available literature/media resources on this very cool product. Well, the OrCam
MyReader 2 is designed for individuals with low vision, blindness and I would say those
with a range of visual challenges/disorders. The device is mounted on the wearer’s
glasses and provides the wearer with a whole range of supports that would typically be
available with much larger devices.
To be honest, what I feel is immediately apparent is the foci of the device (providing access to the environment via OCR with text to speech output) is quite different from the other low vision/blindness devices as it doesn’t attempt to be a video magnifier — it’s not trying to rival the other manufacturers that produce the other low vision smart wearables. Instead, OrCam has focused on creating a compact, lightweight device that sits on the user’s glasses and allows them to easily access text in their environment not just text immediately in front of them either like book.
The OrCam is stacked with features but everyone is insanely valuable such as almost instant OCR to clear speech output, lightweight design, easy to use with simple hand gestures performed in front of your face and the most useful feature it works without a wifi connection!! During my brief demo, it worked beautifully to read out aloud the sign I was standing next and other demonstration materials I was offered. I wanted to see how it would work with my reading cellphone — it worked flawlessly as I composed an email, re-read a text message and skimmed a PDF on my cellphone. Overall, I am extremely impressed with this device and I would definitely recommend this bit of kit!
Thank you for reading,
Andrew
