Hi all, I would imagine most people on this group come from a Nokia background as until recently that was pretty much the only option for accessible mobile technologies. If you did you may be aware of a few apps that are capable of taking a photo of a sheet of paper and running it through OCR processes then reading the resulting text. I have always wanted to buy one of these applications as I am obviously unable to read my own mail. it would also be useful for menus and cooking instructions. anything really where reading text on a physical format is required. I didn't buy either of the applications on 2 grounds, firstly on principle. I refuse to be ripped off at the incredible prices these developers were attempting to extort from me. one of the apps was £800 and the other was £900 this was made even worse when I saw one of the applications advertised in a very slightly modified format so as to make it none accessible by Talks. The price they were advertising the app for was £4. I immediately called the UK vendor for the app and complained and they had no excuse for this price difference after we discussed the accessible portion of the software being actively removed rather than a new app being developed for mainstream sale. The app was advertised on OVI store as KNFB archiver if my memory serves correctly. basically a sighted user could photograph there mail and keep it digitally rather than filing it away. It was the exact same software but with artificial blocks introduced to make Talks unable to read it. I was, as you can imagine very annoyed. Anyway. My reason for writing this post is to ask if anyone knows an iPhone developer who could write an application similar to the ones available on Nokia. This has not been a realistic proposition on the 3gS as the camera resolution is far too low. Well not anymore. The rumours circulating about the new iphone is that it will have a 5mp camera with an LED flash. This will at last be capable of capturing an A4 sheet of paper with sufficient clarity to run an OCR over the image and get good results. If anyone could write this app I'm certain they will make a huge amount of money if they charge a reasonable amount for the app. Just imagine having an app which can read all your mail. I'd buy that in a heartbeat if it cost anything under £100. If it was priced around £20 or £30 I'm sure it would sell to every single blind / V.I. iphone user instantly and as the news spreads about how good the iPhone is for accessibility and new users move over from Nokia just think how many copies of this app could be sold at a reasonable price.
What does everyone think? Does anyone know someone capable of writing this app??? Obviously OCR Tool is available now but it isn't perfect. Its almost there but not quite. for example it doesn't give assistance lining the camera up and it won't flip the image if it detects it is upside down. Maybe the OCR team could adapt the software and charge £9.99 instead of £2.99. I would personally pay more than that but I'm sure the lower they make the cost the more people will buy it. Isn't the Iphone/iPad/MBP changing everything for us. Its so exciting. Apple are not ripping us off and charging many many times more than they should, just because we need to buy something accessible. Its a wonderful time. Next week I am taking an hour off work to queue and buy the iPad and if I choose I can take my MBP with me, plug it in, in the store and have voiceover working before I leave. just imagine if half the large companies/manufacturers put this investment into accessibility. What is more is that I can walk outside and buy the latest best selling book for the same price as everyone else. on the same day and in the same format. I think an app that can read text from a sheet of paper would be THE killer app and its so easily implemented. Whichever developer jumps on this first is bound to make some serious money. Lets get someone interested. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "MacVisionaries" group. To post to this group, send email to macvisionar...@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to macvisionaries+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/macvisionaries?hl=en.
