Frame and App for Smartphone for Audio Reading Coded Text

摘要

A small fold-down optical frame holds a smart phone that is provided with reading software that enables those with vision impairment to be able to hear the written word as audible speech. The frame has a tray and a base and legs connecting them. The tray holds the smart phone and positions it so that its camera is placed directly over a coded symbol containing the content of the printed page. One corner of the base is shaped such that a vision-impaired person can place the frame, by feel or touch, at the proper location for the smart phone to pick up the coded symbol.

主权项

1. A system for optically reading coded symbols printed at a predetermined position on a printed page, comprising:
a smartphone including a case, a camera, a processing capability, and a capability of producing audible output; a frame for holding the smartphone, which includes a tray into which the smartphone fits, the tray having a camera window corresponding to the position of the camera of the smartphone; a flat base for resting on the printed page, the base having an aperture therein to place on a coded symbol on the printed page; and retractable legs for allowing the base to collapse against the tray and allowing the base to extend so that the base spaces the tray a predetermined distance above the printed page, the base having a geometrically shaped means for assisting the user to locate the base on said printed page by touch to align the tray and said camera with the coded symbol; and a software application program loaded onto the smartphone configured to permit the smartphone to decode the symbol and convert information decoded from the symbol to audible speech.