KNFB Reader App: Amazingly Fast and Accurate

The KNFB Reader is a text recognition app that is shockingly fast. Take a picture of a newspaper article or practically any printed text and within a couple of seconds the app will be reading the text back to you. A "couple of seconds" is no exaggeration, the KNFB Reader app is that fast. For people who are visually impaired or have difficulty reading, the KNFB Reader is perfect for accessing printed text.

Once a document is properly framed, only one more step is necessary to start reading the document. Simply press the take picture button and within seconds the app will recognize the text within the document using optical character recognition (OCR) and begin reading it with text-to-speech. No need to crop or adjust the image, once the picture is taken the app does all the work. All recognition is done locally on the device so personal data is never transmitted over the internet.

The KNFB Reader app has a number of features that help users capture images of text. For users who are blind and visually impaired the app offers a "field of view report" which offers spoken feedback to help frame the document in the view finder. This feature will let a users know how many corners of the document are within the field of view and if the document is tilted. In addition, the app offers automatic picture taking mode which will automatically snap a picture of a document when it is properly framed.  The app also includes the ability to capture multi-page documents with batch mode. The field of view feature worked well with loose paper documents, but I did not have success using the automatic capture feature with books.

In addition to using the device's built in camera to capture images, users can also import image based PDF documents and JPG files to be recognized with the app. For example, using the "open in" feature of Google Drive will allow a user to import an image to be recognized and read with KNFB Reader.

Text is can be highlighted word-by-word or line-by-line as it is being read aloud by the text-to-speech voice. Users can adjust the layout and appearance of the text and change the speaking rate of the text-to-speech voice. Only the default iOS text-to-speech voice is available, so users hoping to use another voice will have to export the text to another app. The built-in text reader also lacks the ability to highlight or annotate the document, so once again users looking for this functionality will need to export the text to a different app.

While the KNFB Reader app is faster and more accurate than competing products such as Prizmo, Prizmo does include some useful features that KNFB Reader does not. Prizmo, which is significantly less expensive, includes the ability to export PDF documents. This means a user can take a picture of a document, have the text recognized and any images on the page retained by Prizmo, so that it looks identical to the printed page. KNFB reader, by contrast strips away images, and only retains the printed text. If PDF export is an important feature to you, Prizmo may be a better option. Click here to learn more about Prizmo. 

If you are looking for a text recognition app with great speed and accuracy, I think you will be quite pleased. If The KNFB reader fits your budget, you won't be disappointed. KNFB Reader costs $100, to download the app from the App Store click here. It is compatible with the iPhone 4S and newer and the iPod touch fifth generation. Click read more below to view screen shots of the app.

HoverCam: Portable Scanner and Document Viewer In One

The HoverCam is a collapsible document camera and scanner all in one portable package. The HoverCam first slides out of the base and then swings out from the arm. The HoverCam T5 has a five megapixel camera which allows the HoverCam to capture crisp scans of documents up to 11" X 14". The HoverCam plugs into a Mac or PC using USB and does not require any external power. To begin using the HoverCam, launch the HoverCam Flex software which is included with the HoverCam T5. The HoverCam Flex software gives you the option to start scanning, capture a video, or show and annotate a document on a projector. Click read more below to learn more.

Scanning:

In order to scan to a PDF, JPEG, or other file type, place the document under the camera and position it properly then snap the picture. If you have more than one page you can use an included alignment bumper to line up each page more quickly. The HoverCam takes pictures very quickly with almost no time lag. Scanning documents with the HoverCam seems to be more difficult than scanning documents with a flatbed scanner. A scanner requires less aliment and adjustments but at the HoverCam is much more portable than a flatbed scanner. A scanner with a multi-page feeder would also be much faster than the HoverCam at scanning multi-page documents. The document quality is similar to the quality of a scanner which is impressive for a device of this size. From my experience the HoverCam has similar quality and speed compared to a portable scanner. I would not recommend students rely on the HoverCam to scan documents during class unless it is at a work-station during study hall . Using any scanner during class while the teacher is lecturing or other students are working with the print material can be distracting and time consuming. Scanning of books is one of the strong suits of the HoverCam. You can just put the book under the HoverCam, align in correctly, and then scan the first two pages then just flip the page to scan the next two pages. With a flatbed scanner it is much more difficult because you must lift the book after each page. The HoverCam includes built in LED lights for use in dimly lit rooms. The HoverCam also includes a mat with tactile alignment ridges for the blind and visually impaired.

Video:

Video recording is not the HoverCam's strong suit. The video seemed very choppy and the audio from the built in microphone was muffled. When moving a hand across the screen the hand would have a ghost effect.  

Document Camera:

The HoverCam also has document camera functionality. It allows teachers or presenters to display documents to a group. The built in LED lights provide good image quality even in dimly light rooms. When showing a document you can add annotations including text and underlines. The HoverCam also includes a Kensington-compatible security slot so you can lock it up when you're not using it.

Kurzweil Compatibility:

Kurzweil 3000 users can use the HoverCam as a scanner to directly scan documents into Kurzweil. Watch the above video to learn more about HoverCam compatibility with Kurzweil. 

Pricing/Availability:

The HoverCam T3 costs $219 and the HoverCam T5 costs $279 from thehovercam.com. The HoverCam T3 includes a 3 megapixel camera while the T5 includes a 5 megapixel camera. The T5 includes some other features that are not available on the less expensive T3. Visit thehovercam.com to learn more. 

Who Can Benefit?

The HoverCam could be a good tool for students who use Kurzweil and does not already have a scanner. With the HoverCam you can portably scan documents which is impossible with a flatbed scanner. The HoverCam is similar to a portable scanner in terms of speed and quality. For teachers, the HoverCam is a good document camera with annotation options.

Sample Document Scans:

Using HoverCam:

Using Scanner Pro for iPhone:

This product was provide to reviewer for purpose of review and was returned