Allison interviews Corinne Nero from OrCam about their Read 5, a handheld reader that seamlessly interacts with text anywhere.
With Read 5, you point and click to easily read printed and digital text and ask any question about the text. Read 5 seamlessly accesses the internet on the go by connecting to a user-friendly app on your mobile device. You can also use Read 5 as a smart magnifier for detailed viewing of all text and images.
Read 5 has a built-in AI assistant that enables you to ask questions related to the specific text and beyond in conversational language and get instant and clear answers. Read 5 supports engagement with text in five languages and responses in English.
Learn more at https://www.orcam.com/en-us/orcam-read-5
Using a Screen Reader? click here
Transcript of Interview:
Allison: Most people in the accessibility community have heard of OrCam, but if you haven’t, they make interesting products for the visually impaired. And I’m with Corinne Nero, and she’s got the Read 5 in her hand. We’re going to describe this in detail. I tell you what, pretend everybody listening is blind.
Corinne: Okay.
Allison: Because it’s video and it’s also an audio podcast.
Corinne: Okay.
Allison: So describe what you have in your hand.
Corinne: So the device is handheld. It’s about the size of maybe a box cutter or a large marker. I’ve got four buttons that I use to control it. So overall, it’s really simple.
Allison: And you can feel the buttons and tell what they are.
Corinne: Exactly. They’re tactual, so you can feel them if you can’t see them. They are yellow on a black device, so if you do have low vision, it does stand out as well. And I really need one button. I simply point and click at whatever I want to read. As soon as I point and click, it reads back instantly. But the unique part about the Read 5 is it’s got AI built into it. So I’ve got my smartphone nearby. As long as my app is connected to my phone, I don’t have to have my phone out. But it does give me access to the AI assistant. So when I capture a picture of something, it’s going to read it automatically. But I have the option now to ask follow-up questions about the content.
Allison: So what she has in front of us here is a menu that’s printed really small, even for me. It’s got three columns. There’s about 150 different items on here. And I’m going to make sure this is a true demo. I want you to ask it what kind of seafood it has on the menu. OK? And if you want to hold that so that you can hear it a little bit better.
Corinne: Oh, yeah.
Allison: I’m going to hold the speaker through the thing. So she’s holding it above the menu. Clicked a button. And now what’s happening right here?
Corinne: It’s going to read it in just a second. Just made a little sound.
OrCam Device: No text was found.
Corinne: Try one more time. I’ll try it one more time here.
Allison: We are in a challenging Wi-Fi environment here. That’s for sure. And cellular and all that. I think you turned off Wi-Fi on your phone, didn’t you?
Corinne: I did, yeah. The device is — I have a device connected to a hotspot. Let’s try it one more time.
Allison: One more time.
Corinne: It’s thinking.
OrCam Device: Appetizers. Onion, blossom, jumbo.
Corinne: Is there any seafood on the menu?
Allison: You can do it. You know there’s seafood. Maybe you just don’t like seafood…I don’t like seafood.
OrCam Device: No, there’s no seafood in the provided menu text.
Corinne: Yeah, it’s got a lot of Wi-Fi in here and the background noise.
Allison: Yeah.
Corinne: But typically it responds with the seafood options. I could then continue to ask follow-up questions. I could say, “Well, how is the halibut served? What comes on the side? How much is it?” And it should respond pretty quickly. But I think the background noise and the Wi-Fi.
Allison: Yeah, this is kind of a mess here. So, we did do an experiment earlier where she scanned her business card and asked it what was her phone number and it responded very quickly and correctly with the phone number. So, I believe it’s real. [laughing] But this is very challenging. So, if people wanna learn more about OrCam, where would they go?
Corinne: Orcam.com.
Allison: Very good. And this is the Reader 5.
Corinne: Yeah, the OrCam Read 5.
Allison: Read 5. Thank you very much.
Corinne: Thank you.