Way Beyond Glasses
High-tech tools can mean independence
Harriett Beltrandi was horrified to realize in late 2005 that she couldn't make out the words engraved on the Christmas cards she was signing. Today, the 72-year-old grandmother from Canton, Mich., who suffers from age-related macular degeneration, reads even the fine print on her credit-card bill with ease. What explains the breakthrough? A $1,300 video magnifier.
An array of high technology, from software that enlarges website type to street signs that talk, is helping people with vision loss to again enjoy the latest thriller, recognize faces in photos, surf the Internet, and find their way around town. Beltrandi's video magnifier projects type onto a monitor at many times its size-large enough to compensate for the dark spots in her field of vision. "It made a huge improvement in my life," she says. "It has definitely made me more self-sufficient." Demand is growing along with the aging population: According to the National Eye Institute, more than 3 million Americans now live with the Big Four sight-robbing diseases-macular degeneration, glaucoma, cataracts, and diabetic retinopathy-and that number is expected to double over the next 30 years.
Bigger and bolder. Video magnifiers come in a variety of sizes, including desktop versions like the one Beltrandi bought secondhand ($1,600 to $5,000) and hand-held devices ($800 to $1,700) for business meetings and dinners out. Both enhance contrast as they enlarge type: With one touch of a button, for example, the desktop magnifiers switch to white print on a black background, so the words pop off the page. "This makes a world of difference to people with macular degeneration, since they often lose contrast very early," says Lylas Mogk, director of the visual rehabilitation and research center at the Henry Ford Health System in Detroit and chair of the vision rehabilitation committee of the American Academy of Ophthalmology. Point the hand-held device at wording that's out of reach-a price displayed up high on a supermarket shelf, say-and it will take a digital photo and enlarge the type.
Word processing and Web surfing are also less of a struggle using software programs such as ZoomText ($595) and MAGic ($545) that magnify the print and can read it to you, too. Screen reading programs JAWS and Window-Eyes (both $895), though pricier, are more appropriate for people with severe vision loss, says Glenda Such, manager of client technology services at Lighthouse International, a nonprofit organization based in New York serving the visually impaired. They read out not only the text but also any labeled icons and a list of Web links. To listen to a book, place it facedown on Freedom Scientific's Scanning and Reading Appliance ($2,795) and press the button. Or use OpenBook software ($995) and your own computer equipment to scan the text and have it read aloud.
Technology is making it easier to navigate the real world as well as the virtual. Many cities now boast Walk signs that at the push of a button announce to pedestrians when it's safe to cross an intersection, for example. San Francisco's model talking transportation system lets you point a hand-held device at an approaching train or bus and hear which one it is-or you can direct the device around the station to find the fare machines, restrooms, exits, and boarding areas. To get around town, strap on a talking global positioning system device such as Humanware's Trekker ($1,695). The Trekker can pinpoint the address where you're standing in any U.S. city or town, report the number of blocks to your destination, and direct you there; it even speaks up when you take a wrong turn. A new cane, the Ultracane ($995), transmits sound waves forward to detect approaching objects; the closer they get, the more vigorously buttons in the handle vibrate.
Be prepared to tap your bank account: Medicare and most insurance companies don't cover the cost of these high-tech tools. An ophthalmologist or optometrist can help you figure out what you need and invest wisely, says Judith Goldstein, director of the low-vision service at the Johns Hopkins Wilmer Eye Institute in Baltimore. An evaluation is routinely covered by insurance and often includes training on how to use the product. It's a good idea to take advantage. "We see an amazing number of people who tell us they own magnifiers but that the machine isn't helpful," says Mogk. "It turns out they haven't learned how to use it."
This story appears in the March 5, 2007 print edition of U.S. News & World Report.
advertisement
