Hi David and Others, Interesting information. Just for clarification, there are two apps with similar names in the App Store. You want to type in "VisionAssist" with no space between "Vision" and "Assist". The "Vision Assist" app with the space between the two words is $0.99, for iPhone only, and is supposed to be an ambient night vision aid. The app that David mentioned is universal binary, works for people who have low-light difficulties, such as age-related macular degeneracy, glaucoma, cataracts, and diabetic retinopathy. It also advertises support for VoiceOver and can be used to improve contrast as well as magnification. This does quite a bit more than most magnification apps, and may be of considerable interest to low-vision users on the list. (It may go beyond what Mike's doctor was asking for, however.)
This app will work on every Apple device that has a camera, and also has the ability to be used wirelessly with an Apple TV to magnify an image and display it on a large-screen TV or monitor. It sounds like a great addition for a low-vision user who has an iPad with a camera. However, the current price is $5.99. It's been bouncing around from an initial price of $6.99, then reduced for a period to $3.99, then raised again to $6.99, and most recently dropped to $5.99. I've quoted the current price (as of this moment) in the description below, Here's the App Store link: • VisionAssist ($5.99) by Slinkyware: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/visionassist/id502356279?mt=8 I had to do a Google search to learn about the Ruby Handheld Video Magnifier from Freedom Scientific. Even at $5.99 the price of this app is much less than the $545 price of the dedicated magnifier. Here's the link to the Ruby product page for those who are unfamiliar with this device, as I was: http://www.freedomscientific.com/products/lv/ruby-product-page.asp Thanks for the heads up, David. Cheers, Esther On Mar 18, 2012, at 3:48 PM, David Tanner wrote: > One of the low vision folks in our tech department told me about Vision > Assist. It is $3.99 and thus far everyone I have shown it to thinks it is > nearly as good as Ruby, which is very popular with low vision folks. > > > David Tanner - Host > MainMenu > Technology from a blindness perspective! > www.mainmenu.acbradio.org > www.twitter.com/mainmenu > > ----- Original Message ----- From: "Esther" <mori...@mac.com> > To: <macvisionaries@googlegroups.com> > Sent: Sunday, March 18, 2012 6:46 PM > Subject: Re: Can the iPhone be used as a Magnifier? > > > Hi Mike, > > Yes, there are a number of apps that will let you use the iPhone camera as a > magnifier. Some of these were mentioned in discussions by low-vision users. > Here's one that has gotten a lot of recent publicity (but I don't know > whether it works with VoiceOver -- some of them do): > > • Lumin Turns Your iPhone into an Illuminated Magnifier by Adam C. Engst, 4 > January 2012, TidBITS article: > http://tidbits.com/static/html/TidBITS-1108.html#0 > > Here's the App Store link: > • Lumin ($1.99) by Mahboud Zabetian > http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/lumin/id480343142?mt=8 > > Some other apps that should work with VoiceOver: > • Spectacles ($0.99) by Mach One Mobile > http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/spectacles/id380054681?mt=8 > Bryan Jones can tell you more about this one, since he posted questions about > this some time ago. See "Re: Using the iPhone 4 as a video magnifier with > illumination": > http://www.mail-archive.com/macvisionaries%40googlegroups.com/msg28434.html > • Over 40 Magnifier and Flashlight ($0.99) by TLA Investments, LLC > http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/over-40-magnifier-flashlight/id381663967?mt=8 > > There's an ad-free version of the "Over 40 Magnifier and Flashlight" app for > $2.99 that may have other features. The $0.99 version was a free download at > one time. > > Most of what I know about zoom and low-vision magnification comes from > supporting Mac setups for older relatives who want some magnification of > their screens, but are not really low-vision users. Still, magnification > apps like the ones I've listed are helpful for them. > > The Lumin app lets you increase the magnification of the image you've taken > beyond the maximum set by the camera, by using the pinch-to-zoom gesture to > enlarge the image. All of these apps can turn on the LED flash of the iPhone > 4 and 4S cameras. > > HTH. Maybe Bryan can suggest other apps that he finds useful. > > Best, > > Esther > > > On Mar 18, 2012, at 1:04 PM, Mike Busboom wrote: > >> Hi. >> >> I am totally blind, so this wouldn't help me. I was asked by a physician >> whether or not there was an App for the iPhone that turned it into a >> magnifier. The idea is that you point the rear camera at some print that is >> then magnified and displayed on the front screen of the unit for viewing. >> Does such an App exist? >> >> My best to all, >> >> Mike >> > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "MacVisionaries" group. To post to this group, send email to macvisionaries@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.
