HumanWare Announces Prodigi - A Breakthrough for People Living With Vision Loss

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Jul 16, 2013, 11:07 ET

DRUMMONDVILLE, QC, July 16, 2013 /PRNewswire/ - HumanWare announces Prodigi^TM, the world's most advanced, all-digital personal vision assistant for people with low vision conditions such as macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, glaucoma and other eye diseases. HumanWare has designed Prodigi to be a more affordable and intuitive visual aid than the traditional CCTV-based electronic magnifier.

"HumanWare is proud to introduce the revolutionary Prodigi family that finally brings low vision technology into the 21^st century. Prodigi will make a big difference in the lives of an even greater number of people living with vision loss.," stated Gilles Pepin, CEO. "As we celebrate HumanWare's 25^th year of assisting the blind and visually impaired, Prodigi will spread our leadership in Blindness products to the Low Vision market with the same innovation and quality we are known for worldwide."

Prodigi allows low vision users to benefit from a big-screen desktop device and a go-anywhere tablet magnifier at a lower cost than any similar system available. The portable Tablet fits into a patented docking station in the base and becomes both the camera and processor of the desktop system. Unlike other magnifiers, Prodigi captures the image of an entire letter- or A4-sized page and allows the user to magnify and read documents with a comfortable touchpad instead of moving an XY table. Pages are displayed in HumanWare's innovative Diamond-Edge Text ^TM format, which can be magnified up to 80 times with perfect text quality. Text can be presented to the user in smooth-scrolling column or line modes, and can even read aloud, reducing fatigue caused by moving documents under a CCTV camera. Prodigi stores documents so the user can take them to read or reference later while away from his or her desk.

Training time is greatly reduced as well, because Prodigi has a built-in tutorial and set-up wizard, developed in collaboration with Essilor^TM, the world's leading ophthalmic optics company. The wizard guides the user through the basic functions and sets up the contrast, color scheme, reading speed and magnification levels according to his or her specific vision needs.

"Until recently, the technology behind Prodigi wasn't available" added Pierre Hamel, Vice-President of Research and Development. "But we saw it coming and have now successfully integrated the latest camera and image processing technologies into a portable platform, specifically for people living with a visual impairment."

Prodigi is available in three models: the Duo, a desktop unit with the detachable Tablet; the portable Tablet magnifier by itself, and a Desktop-only model. The product line is expected to be available from HumanWare and its network of Assistive Technology distribution partners starting in August, 2013.

About HumanWare

HumanWare® (www.humanware.com) is the global leader in assistive technologies for people who are blind or have low vision. HumanWare offers a wide range of innovative products, including the BrailleNote® Apex, the leading productivity device for the blind in education, business and for personal use; Victor Reader®, the world's leading family of digital audiobook players; the unique Prodigi™ family of desktop and portable vision and reading systems, and Trekker® Breeze, the all-in-one handheld talking GPS.

For more information:

www.humanware.com/prodigi

[email protected]

SOURCE HumanWare