Category: Daily Living
Hey all,
Shoot, I'm sure I've read about such a thing, I just can't remember where or what it's called. I think blind people who run vending stands in the U.S. were first to use them, but I'm sure they are also handy at home and maybe even when shopping. But I seem to remember them being expensive.
There is something called the ID Mate. I haven't actually seen it, but I've read reviews of it and heard a podcast of it being demonstrated somewhere. You point the scanner at an object, and it reads the product name, as well as any other information (cooking directions, contents of the package, ingredient list, what have you) that's been entered into the database. Of course, the price tag is hefty, around $1500 or so (I might be a couple hundred dollars over what the price actually is, I can't remember. It's been a while since I researched the thing). Hope that helps.
The ID Mate is a very nice bar code scanner. Once the scanner comes across a bar code, the ID Mate searches for a match in its database. If a match is found, it reades the information for that item. Such information includes the name, package size, nutritional information, etc. I found that it is a bit inconcistant in tha it may have nutritional information for one item but not for another. If the barcode you scanned is not in its database, you can record your own voice saying what the item is. The next time you scan that item, the ID Mate will play back your recording it has associated with that barcode. If anyone has any questions, let me know.
I agree, the ID mate is good.
Wish it had a different voice than double talk but oh well.
It's also useful if you want to make audio memo's and such.
If anyone needs me too I can dig up the site.
an alternative that would be cheaper is to buy a standard barcode reader for your computer, then get the codes from whatever you want to scan, then look up the codes on the web. I don't know any addresses off the top of my head, but I have heard that there are databases on the web you can use to find the information if you have the info from the barcode.
I know one of the nicks on here has coded something like that. I can see what I can do for you, maybe hook you two up and maybe he could give you the code or tell you where to download it. You need a scanner though.
Does the ID mate read pills bottles? So it looks like if the product isn't in the ID mate's data base. somebody sighted has to tell you what you are looking at, right?
have heard i phone has an app for it. havne't checked it out yet. but if you ahve one. may want to try that.
There's also software you can buy to make your Pac Mate read labels. It's expensive though.
If you have an iOS device - iPhone or iPod Touch, you can get oMoby for free, but you can also get Red Laser. Haven't tried Red Laser yet but did download it.
Otherwise you can buy DigitEyes for $20 or something. I haven't tried that either.
Anyway oMoby has saved my ass in a pinch.
I bought Digit-eyes and wasn't overly impressed. Unless you know exactly where the lable is on the item, it takes forever and a day plus a whole lot of turning, flipping, waiting, and praying that the moon is in the 7th house of Jupitor before it'll find it and recognize it. It could be that I wasn't doing something right but I spent about an hour trying to figure out different ways to hold the phone nearer or farther away from the item etc with no luck.
As for the ID Mate, now there's a super cool product. The one I have is one of the first generation and was given to me by a very generous friend. It says database version 2.4 if that's helpful. This particular unit is a hand scanner connected to a box which has the buttons and speaker. The battery doesn't work so it isn't portuble but it has definitely been hugely helpful to me as both my husband and I are blind.
The new version looks even better. The whole unit is about the size of the hand scanner and it's all in one peace. I saw it at an ACB conference but didn't look too closely since I knew I couldn't afford it. My friend who gave me the one I have bought the new one and says it's amazing! I can see being able to take it to the store with me and if something isn't in the database, recording it right there on the spot. I can also see using it to look for items independently. For example, if we're in the soup isle, while my assistant is looking for one thing, I can scan various things to see what they are as well. The new ID Mate sells for $1295 but blindmicemart.com sells refurbished ones for $669. I'm not sure if that's the new or old version though.
One of the cool things in addition to the preprogrammed database is that you can make your own labels. They even have labels you can iron on to clothing, thus eliminating those itchy braille tags. They also sell adhesive labels as well as labels that can be affixed to items with rubberbands.
Hope all that is helpful.
Have you read the help page on the digit-eyes website? It has exercises to help you learn how to scan codes quickly. It also contains information on where to look for codes on different kinds of containers. After having read this, I'm able to scan most products. Only thing I find difficult to scan is bags. If all goes well it takes me ten to 15 secs to scan an item, if I don't find the code instantly it might take half a minute.
I did when I first bought it. I haven't messed with it much since then but perhaps I'll try again.
My fiancee got herself an ID-Mate Summit last year and it's really come in handy. Not absolutely all bar codes are in its database, but most of them are. Prepare to pay a lot for this thing, though, as I think it's over a thousand bucks. It's worth it, though, if you can get it.