Friday, December 28, 2007

Talking eBooks


Talking books are one thing but talking ebooks?


Iranian inventor Ramin Sedighi has demonstrated a prototype of his talking ebook , which is designed for education. The system translates and explains out loud texts and words the moment its electronic stylus touches its screen. It also "explains" pictures, although press reports doesn't "explain" whether it does image recognition or whether the books need to be specially formatted.


The device could provide a very effective method for teaching subjects such as foreign languages and will be available in early 2008. It contains a USB port, audio output, electronic pen, 512 megabyte memory for storing 15 books and a SD card which can store 60 books as its flash memory. It works with electricity or battery, is as big as a 13-inch laptop and is light enough to be portable.


The question is whether the western world is ready for a new technology from Iran?