Tiny fingertip camera helps blind people read without braille

A new device lets blind people read by popping a miniature camera on their fingertip. To read printed material, many visually impaired people rely on mobile apps like KNFB Reader that translate text to speech. Snap a picture and the app reads the page aloud. But users sometimes find it difficult to ensure that their photo captures all of the text, and these apps can have trouble parsing a complex layout, such as a newspaper or restaurant menu. "We want to empower end users to accomplish these activities of daily living through technology," says Jon Froehlich at the University of Maryland.