What is LookTel?
LookTel combines the power of a Smartphone with advanced "artificial vision" software to create a helpful electronic assistant for anyone who is visually impaired or blind. You can use LookTel to automatically scan and recognize objects such as money, packaged goods, CDs, DVDs, and medication bottles, as well as landmarks. Point the device video camera at what you wish to "see" and it will pronounce the name very quickly in clear and easy to understand speech. LookTel can be taught to recognize all the objects and landmarks you wish to identify. With a small amount of help from a sighted assistant one can easily teach LookTel to be your helpful assistant for many tasks where vision makes a difference in your independence. LookTel also incorporates a text reader allowing users to get access to print media.
For more complicated visual tasks such as locating a specific street corner or bus stop, LookTel enables you to remotely connect to another person for assistance. Not only can you talk to them, but you can also transmit live video from the cell phone's camera so that they can see your surroundings and help you with orientation, recognizing objects and media, and more. Your position will also be shown to them on Google Maps using the GPS services available on smart phones. These services aim to help users to independently go about daily activities with the confidence that they will have the assistance they need anytime, anywhere.
LookTel also aims to make it possible to turn low-cost Smart phones supported by every major US operator into easy-to-use cell phones by providing an accessible touch screen interface, text-to-speech, and speech recognition capabilities.
LookTel Beta will be released in Summer 2010 allowing us to continue to use feedback from users as a valuable resource in perfecting our solutions and services. Our interaction with users over past years has taught us that individual experiences vary when using LookTel. This interaction provides fresh and innovative ideas, which then become valuable assets in our development efforts. Broadening this interaction through our Beta launch will be critical in making LookTel more useful to more members of the community. During this Beta period LookTel software will be offered at a 30% discount. (Discounts do not apply to hardware or cell phone plans.)
Learn more about LookTel features and
requirements.
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Partners
LookTel was developed under sponsorship from the National Institute of Health (NIH), National Eye Institute (NEI), and is the recipient of the following Grants: 1R43EY016953-01 & 2R44EY016953-0. Blindwisdom Inc. (www.blindwisdom.org) Many individual end users and researchers at the Atlanta Research Education Foundation(AREF) of the Veteran’s Administration have collaborated with us to evaluate LookTel in end user trials.
Awards
In early versions, LookTel was awarded third place in the CTIA E-Tech Awards 2008 (Consumer Mobile Application - Healthcare/Public Safety). LookTel was also a runner up in the AT&T devCentral Fast-Pitch Platinum Awards 2009. A final version of LookTel
was awarded first place at CTIA E-Tech Awards 2010 in the Mobile
Applications - Healthcare category. LookTel also integrates with IPPLEX’s mobile healthcare solution which was awarded first place in the CTIA E-Tech Awards 2009.
