AN INTELLIGENT ELECTRONIC MAGNIFIER FOR LOW VISION PATIENTS

A PROTOTYPE OF A NEW MICROCOMPUTER-BASED "INTELLIGENT" MAGNIFIER, THE DIGITAL DOCUMENT MAGNIFIER (DDM), WILL BE CONSTRUCTED FOR USE AS A LOW VISION AID. THE DDM USES A HIGH RESOLUTION SCANNER TO PROVIDE CCTV-LIKE EASE OF DOCUMENT IMAGE ACQUISITION AND IMAGE QUALITY, TOGETHER WITH THE CONVENIENCE OF MAGNIFIED IMAGE MANIPULATION OF PREVIOUS COMPUTER-BASED MAGNIFIERS, AS WELL AS OFFERING LOW VISION "USER FRIENDLY" FEATURES NOT PROVIDED ON ANY PREVIOUS MAGNIFICATION SYSTEM. THE SYSTEM IS CONTROLLED ENTIRELY BY A TRACKBALL, MOUSE OR JOYSTICK, INCLUDING PARAMETER MODIFICATION BY THE USER VIA PULL DOWN MENU. IT IS ANTICIPATED THAT A DEDICATED STANDALONE PORTABLE VERSION OF THE DDM COULD BE DESIGNED, UNDER A PHASE II PROPOSAL, THAT COULD BE PRODUCED AT AN END USER COST OF LESSTHAN $2,500.