Israeli AI Device Helps People Read And Understand Any Text

Israeli company OrCam has released the newest version of its device that uses AI to read aloud any text at which it is pointed, helping people with vision loss and others who experience difficulty reading.  

The new OrCam Read 3, which is about the size of a highlighter pen, can read multiple forms of text in 17 different languages, including words printed in a newspaper to the ingredients listed on a food packet. 

The device does not need any internet connection to do so, but its AI can provide additional summaries of scanned text when it is online.

It can also magnify the words on any device’s screen and customize the text and images to further increase reading accessibility.

The Jerusalem-based company was established by Prof. Amnon Shashua and Ziv Aviram, the founders of Mobileye, a driver assistance system bought by Intel in 2017 for $15.3 billion.

“Our mission was clear with the development of the OrCam Read 3,” said the company’s CEO Elad Serfaty.

“We wanted to create a device that could not only act as a handheld reader but also as a magnifier and stationary reader,” he said.

“By combining all these features into a single device, users get enormous value that is absolutely unique in the market and unprecedented versatility in how and when they use the device.”