OrCam Technologies, a leader in personal, AI-driven innovations, today announced that it has been named a CES® 2021 Innovation Awards Best of Innovation Honoree, in the Accessibility category, for the AI-driven, handheld OrCam Read digital reader. The announcement was made ahead of the first-ever, all-digital CES 2021, the world’s most influential technology event, taking place January 11-14, 2021.
The CES Innovation Awards program, owned and produced by the Consumer Technology Association (CTA)®, is an annual competition honoring outstanding design and engineering in consumer technology products across 28 product categories. An elite panel of industry expert judges, including members of the media, designers, engineers and more, reviewed submissions based on innovation, engineering and functionality, aesthetic and design.
One of only 19 products selected as a Best of Innovation Award honoree in the CES 2021 “first reveal” (the second and final “embargo reveal” award announcement takes place on January 11), OrCam Read represents a new class of assistive reading technology to support people with reading challenges, such as dyslexia and reading fatigue, as well as for those who read large volumes of text.
The first-of-its-kind handheld device reads full pages or screens of text aloud from any printed or digital surface, including newspapers, books, product labels as well as computers and smartphones – entirely offline, without requiring an internet connection, resulting in instant audio communication while ensuring data privacy. OrCam Read’s proprietary AI algorithms enable intuitive point-and-click operation, activating two precision laser guidance options, to read the entire highlighted text or target where to begin reading.
OrCam Read’s patented text-to-speech reading engine also incorporates the new interactive “Smart Reading” feature, combining OrCam’s advanced computer vision and natural language understanding (NLU) technologies to operate as a “voice-activated assistant” that makes any text even more accessible to the reader. Activated by the user’s voice, the algorithms driving the Smart Reading feature listen to – and comprehend – the user’s requests, retrieving the relevant information, and reading the requested text to the user within a few seconds.
“OrCam has invested over a decade of R&D efforts in pioneering the most advanced and versatile text-to-speech engine for an assistive technology platform. This breakthrough innovation leverages our AI computer vision and machine learning technology, which initially debuted in the globally award-winning, wearable OrCam MyEye device for people who are blind or visually impaired,” explained Professor Amnon Shashua, Co-founder and Co-CEO of OrCam. “As we develop our portfolio of personal AI solutions, OrCam Read – including our new, interactive Smart Reading feature – represents the continuation of our mission to enable greater independence in daily life for those with a variety of access challenges caused by language processing disorders, visual impairment and hearing loss. We believe in ‘AI as a companion’ that empowers our users to more effectively access the world around them and improve their quality of life.”
OrCam was also recognized at CES 2020, for the soon-to-be launched OrCam Hear wearable device for hearing loss, which also captured a Best of Innovation Award. Furthermore, the company’s flagship OrCam MyEye wearable device for people who are blind or visually impaired won the prestigious Last Gadget Standing competition top prize at CES 2018.
The CES 2021 Innovation Awards Honorees, including product descriptions and photos, can be found at CES.tech/innovation.
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