SnapVision and Document Cameras

Document Cameras are a really interesting new type of image capturing device. They use the same high speed video interface that webcams use to transfer images to a PC instead of a much slower scanner interface. Document Cameras are completely self contained, but are more portable and use less desk space than a scanner. They simply plug into your PC's USB port and draw their power from there as well. Many Document Cameras are also equipped with user controllable LED illumination. The focus and other settings of a Document Camera are completely automatic. Because of these features, Document Cameras are the best type of camera to use for document image capture for Accessible OCR applications. Document Cameras will also generally give the best results. This is because parameters such as the camera lens and the height and angle of the camera are fixed and not variable, and so will give much better OCR results than an image from a more arbitrary source.

5.0 MP Document Camera

Document Camera prices are falling dramatically, at the end of 2011 the top price you should pay for a 5.0 MP Document Camera is about $149 with lower resolution models costing substantially less. A few examples of low cost Document Cameras are given below:

1. Recordex Simplicity 5i HD Doc Cam for $149
2. IPEVO Ziggy for $89
3. Buy direct from manufacturers

Here's how to use SnapVision with a Document Camera:

1. Turn on your PC - wait for the "SnapVision Ready" audio message.
2. Press the Esc key - an image is taken from your Document Camera, processed by SnapVision and you'll hear the text audio output in your headset.
3. Use the F1 key to pause/resume Text To Speech audio output.
4. Use the F7 key to close SnapVision, and optionally turn off your PC.

DIY Document Cameras

If you have a good quality 2.0 MP resolution or better autofocus webcam you can improvise your own Document Camera for little or no cost. For more information click here, or click on the Google search box below and see what others have done using a little creative ingenuity!

The best design we've seen so far is this one. You can assemble this in under 5 minutes without any tools. When this is combined with the Logitech C910 HD 5.0 MP Webcam you will end up with a sub-$100 Document Camera.

Combining SnapVision with a low cost Document Camera will let you create your own Reading Machine that is about 10% of the price of existing Assistive Reading Products!