MyVisionTest News Archive
May 27, 2008
The Magnifying Glass Gets an Electronic Twist
PEOPLE who lose part of their sight to macular degeneration, diabetes or other diseases may now benefit from some new technology. Several portable video devices that enlarge print may help them make the most of their remaining vision.
Swipe one of the devices over an airline ticket, or point it at a medicine bottle on a shelf, and all of the fine print is blown up and displayed in crisp letters on a screen.
Sturdy desktop video-based systems that magnify print have long been available, but lightweight, portable devices have become popular only in the past decade, as the size of consumer electronics products in general has shrunk. The new hand-held models typically weigh 9 ounces or less and can enlarge the print on closeby or more distant objects: users can pass the magnifier over a menu in a dimly lit restaurant, for example, or aim it at a grocery display on a store aisle.
Dr. Bruce P. Rosenthal, chief of low-vision programs at Lighthouse International in Manhattan, which offers services for people with vision loss, said the portable magnifiers, with their built-in illumination and powerful electronics, have many advantages over traditional optical devices like magnifying glasses. “Optical devices can’t increase the contrast like these devices,” he said. “Loss in contrast causes as many problems as loss of visual acuity.”
Electronics in the new devices can make black print darker, or switch black lettering on white to white lettering on black — which some people with macular degeneration prefer.
The devices have a substantial drawback, however, when compared with a $40 magnifying glass: They typically cost $700 to $1,300, and Medicare and most private insurance plans usually do not pay for them, said Robert McGillivray, low-vision specialist at the Carroll Center for the Blind in Newton, Mass.
“But if the devices get you back to work, or help you with your education, or increase your pleasure in reading,” he said, “it’s well worth considering them.”
Video magnification devices are valuable products in a world of often-frivolous consumer electronics, said Dr. Rosenthal of Lighthouse International.
“One of the objectives of this new technology is to improve the quality of life for people with low vision,” he said. “That’s exactly what these products are starting to do.”
Read more...
New York Times
Tags: low vision
PEOPLE who lose part of their sight to macular degeneration, diabetes or other diseases may now benefit from some new technology. Several portable video devices that enlarge print may help them make the most of their remaining vision.Swipe one of the devices over an airline ticket, or point it at a medicine bottle on a shelf, and all of the fine print is blown up and displayed in crisp letters on a screen.
Dr. Bruce P. Rosenthal, chief of low-vision programs at Lighthouse International in Manhattan, which offers services for people with vision loss, said the portable magnifiers, with their built-in illumination and powerful electronics, have many advantages over traditional optical devices like magnifying glasses. “Optical devices can’t increase the contrast like these devices,” he said. “Loss in contrast causes as many problems as loss of visual acuity.”
Electronics in the new devices can make black print darker, or switch black lettering on white to white lettering on black — which some people with macular degeneration prefer.
The devices have a substantial drawback, however, when compared with a $40 magnifying glass: They typically cost $700 to $1,300, and Medicare and most private insurance plans usually do not pay for them, said Robert McGillivray, low-vision specialist at the Carroll Center for the Blind in Newton, Mass.
“But if the devices get you back to work, or help you with your education, or increase your pleasure in reading,” he said, “it’s well worth considering them.”
Video magnification devices are valuable products in a world of often-frivolous consumer electronics, said Dr. Rosenthal of Lighthouse International.
“One of the objectives of this new technology is to improve the quality of life for people with low vision,” he said. “That’s exactly what these products are starting to do.”
Read more...
New York Times
