PORTABLE ADAPTIVE READING MACHINE (PARM)

THE PORTABLE ADAPTIVE READING MACHINE (PARM) SYSTEM WILL ENABLE A VISUALLY IMPAIRED PERSON TO READ PRINTED TEXT AT ANY LOCATION. THE PRINTED TEXT MAY BE SPOKEN OR READ IN BRAILLE. THE SYSTEM IS BASED UPON A LAPTOP COMPUTER AND A HAND-HELD OPTICAL SCANNER. THE LAPTOP COMPUTER IS EQUIPPED WITH A SPEECH SYNTHESIZER OR REFRESHABLE BRAILLE DISPLAY. THE VISUALLY IMPAIRED PERSON PULLS THE HAND-HELD SCANNER DOWN THE PRINTED PAGE AND THE DATA IS STORED ON DISK. THE STOREDDATA IS THEN CONVERTED TO TEXT CHARACTERS VIA OPTICAL CHARACTER RECOGNITION SOFTWARE. THE COMPUTERIZED DATA IS THEN SENT TO THE SPEECH SYNTHESIZER OR BRAILLE DISPLAY. THE PARM SYSTEM WILL ENABLE VISUALLY IMPAIRED STUDENTS TO READ PRINTED TEXT AT ANY LOCATION. IT WILL ENABLE VISUALLY IMPAIRED BUSINESS PROFESSIONALS TO READ TEXT AT CONFERENCES OR WHILE TRAVELING. IT WILL CREATE A GREAT DEAL OF FLEXIBILITY AND OPPORTUNITY FOR VISUALLY IMPAIRED PEOPLE. ONCE THE APPROACH FOR DEVELOPING THE PARM SYSTEM HAS BEEN PROVEN EFFECTIVE, THE UTILITY COULD BE DEVELOPED AND FIELD TESTED DURING PHASE II. WITH :P WITH PARM, VISUALLY IMPAIRED PEOPLE WILL HAVE ACCESS TO PRINTED MATERIAL AT ANY LOCATION. AS COMPUTER TECHNOLOGY PROGRESSES THE SIZE AND WEIGHT OF THE PARM SYSTEM WILL CONTINUE TO DECREASE. THE CURRENT WEIGHT OF 12 POUNDS MAY BE DECREASED BY 50% IN TWO YEARS. THE ABILITY TO READ PRINTED MATERIAL AT ANY LOCATION WILL CREATE MANY JOB OPPORTUNITIES FOR VISUALLY IMPAIRED PEOPLE. IT WILL PROVIDEACCESS TO THE PRINTED PAGE, AT ANY LOCATION, BY VISUALLY IMPAIRED PEOPLE WHICH CURRENTLY DOES NOT EXIST. WITHOUT PARM, VISUALLY IMPAIRED PEOPLE WILL BE ONLY ABLE TO READ PRINTED MATERIAL WHERE THERE IS A DESK TOP READING MACHINE. THESE READING MACHINES ARE VERY BENEFICIAL, BUT PARM WILL ADD THE EXTRA DIMENSION OF PORTABILITY.