A calculator that speaks to the blind

Press, 20 July 1977, Page 19

A calculator that speaks to the blind

The last word in electronic calculators is one that actually speaks. Called the Speech Plus, it is designed for use by the blind, but it is also being used overseas to help sighted slow learners.

Each key responds by voice when it is pressed, speaking in a tone strongly reminiscent of the Daleks of 8.8. C. television science fiction. It has a 24, word vocabulary which is produced using all solid state electronics. There are no tapes or discs to break or wear out.

If the user turns out to be a calculating wizard, the Speech Plus automatically abbreviates words to keep up with the speed of the operator.

The keyboard is a simple one, based on the same format as that of the pushbutton telephone, which blind people have found easy to use. The keys are dished and widely spaced.

The calculator has a built-in, rechargeable battery which gives six to eight hours of use betw-een charges. When the battery gets low, the calculator says the word “low” before giving its answer to a calculation.

An earplug is provided so that the Speech Plus can be used without distracting other people — in a classroom or an office, for example. Specially designed for the blind, rather than being an adaptation of existing calculators, the Speech Plus incorporates programmed short-cut steps to reduce the number of key strokes needed to solve a problem. It has a memory key, a memory swap key to allow the contents of the memory to be checked without destroying the calculation being done, and percentage, square root, and “speak” keys. The Speech Plus, which

was developed in the United States bv Telesensory Systems lite. — a company founded bv Stanford University start — is reasonably cheap. It costs $440 in New Zealand, which puts it within reach of individuals as well as colleges and institutions for the blind.

It has been on the market in the United States for only a year. But al-

ready, many American housewives are using it, as well as blind people in schools, universities, the professions, and industry. Speech Plus calculators are distributed in New Zealand and Australia by Wormaid International Sensory Aids Ltd. of Christchurch — the people who make the Sonicguide sensing des ice for the blind.