Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Startup Helps Blind With iPhone App

Not satisfied with creating just another mobile application for the iPhone platform, Santa Monica-based startup, IPPLEX, this week introduced an application to help the visually impaired or blind. According to IPPLEx, it has released a new application called the LookTel Money Reader, a new iPhone application which visually recognizes US currency and will speak the denomination of that bill. The app--which was developed with the support of the National Institutes of Health, National Eye Institute and the National Institute on Aging--is aimed helping the visually impaired recognize different US currency, a big issue since paper money in the US is all one size. In many other nations, different denominations of paper money are different sizes, which helps blind users to tell the difference between amounts. The new app sells for $1.99 in the Apple iTunes App store. IPPLEX also develops mobile video conferencing and other applications.

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