Technology advances ever onward, and one of the latest devices to be born from the imagination of the engineers at HIMS is the E-bot.

The E-bot is a portable CCTV camera designed to be connected via HDMI to a television or monitor - so far so normal. What sets the E-bot apart is that it can also wirelessly connect to an iPad, using the iPad's screen as its monitor!

In another twist, the most advanced version of the E-bot, the E-bot Pro, is fully motorized and allows control of the camera through either swipe and touch gestures directly on the iPad screen, or with the included remote control. This is fantastic for making fine adjustments when magnified and makes it possible to use the camera from beyond arm's length as you don't need to touch the camera in order to move it. 

The E-bot comes in three models, with the E-bot Pro being the most fully featured. The E-bot Pro, in addition to the motorized movement, offers great OCR, distance viewing, near viewing and superb portability due to its fold-away design. 

Look out for a video on the E-bot very soon, and in the meantime read more about the device here http://hims-inc.com/products/e-bot-pro/

"Literature is my Utopia. Here I am not disenfranchised. No barrier of the senses shuts me out from the sweet, gracious discourses of my book friends. They talk to me without embarrassment or awkwardness.?" Helen Keller, The Story of My Life

One of the main areas in which people who are blind or have a visual impairment suffer, particularly if they have lost their vision at a later age, is the loss of their ability to read. Suddenly being unable to read mail, books, magazines, restaurant menus and product labels, to name just a few areas, means a loss of independence and a subsequent decline in quality of life. Often people will turn to their family and friends for help; however having to rely on others is unsatisfactory to many people and the psychological burden further leads to a decline in quality of life. If a student experiences vision loss, being unable to access textbooks or see the whiteboard can put them at a disadvantage to their peers and lead to a loss of motivation in school and poor grades. Being able therefore to propose viable techniques that can enhance the ability of a person who is blind or visually impaired to read is very important, and thankfully there are many devices that can be utilized. 

Electronic magnification is a huge area and consists of devices from handheld to desktop and every size in between. Using an electronic magnifier or CCTV a user can read anything from a menu or food label to a book much more easily than with a regular magnifying glass.

If magnification doesn't work for you then OCR may be the answer. OCR or read aloud devices can take a picture of a piece of text and read it aloud to a user. Great for reading mail or books these devices can do wonders for your independence. 

As well as these there are many services available providing audio books. The Library of Congress runs a program called BARD offering free audio books and a device to play them to people with a visual impairment. You can apply at nlsbard.loc.gov or visit your local library. In addition, services such as Bookshare.org and learning ally offer access to many books including textbooks for students. As well as these, through a tablet, e-reader or phone it is possible to download thousands of books from places such as Amazon or the Apple App Store. 

Reading as a person who is blind or visually impaired is a huge topic and can't be covered in a blog post. For more information you can contact us at 312-997-3649, email at luke.scriven@chicagolighthouse.org and visit our Youtube Channel at youtube.com/chilighthouse 

Low Vision International are no strangers to making great low vision devices. We were big fans of their portable camera system, the Magnilink S, a few months back and now have had the chance to review their portable desktop CCTV line, the Magnilink Zip. Suffice to say, once again we are impressed.

The Magnilnik Zip comes in many varieties with optional 13 or 17 inch screen sizes, an optional X-Y table, an optional HD or Full HD camera and an optional rechargeable battery. All models can fold flat for easy transportation and feature LVI's fantastic design aesthetic, looking sleek and modern to fit in with your other appliances.

The Magnilink Zip is a great CCTV for a student thanks to it's optional rechargeable battery allowing it to be used  away from an outlet, it's fold-away design allowing it to be easily transported between classes and it's camera which can be used for distance or near viewing. Great for zooming in on the whiteboard then looking at a handout!

You can read more about back to school technology on our sister blog at sandysview1.wordpress.com and see the Magnilink Zip at our online store here https://chicagolighthouse.3dcartstores.com/Magnilink-Zip-13-HD_p_1406.html   or even better, just watch our video review below!

Technology is a great asset to those who are blind or visually impaired, helping to give back independence where it may have seemed that there was no hope. The down side to this is that technology costs, and is unfortunately not covered by services such as Medicare and Medicaid. 

To help with this The Chicago Lighthouse offers used or ex-demo equipment at highly discounted prices. All the equipment is tested by our Assistive Technology team to ensure it is working correctly, and is available to be tried out at our downtown (1850 West Roosevelt Road, Chicago IL) and Glenview (222 Waukegan Road, Glenview IL) locations. 

Our used and ex-demo equipment can be found here http://chicagolighthouse.3dcartstores.com/TECH-SALE_c_124.html and here http://chicagolighthouse.3dcartstores.com/Used-CCTVs-and-Other-Adaptive-Technology_c_107.html. And of course if you have questions about anything, technology related or otherwise, then please call! You can reach us at 1-800-919-3375, or feel free to email luke.scriven@chicagolighthouse.org. 

Here at The Chicago Lighthouse we are big fans of Zoomax's products as they combine great features and great prices. We're glad to see the Butterfly, our latest acquisition from them, is no exception. This 3.5" portable electronic magnifier features 5 color modes, 1.5x to 15x magnification and a freeze frame mode. The thing that we really like though (and that gives it its name!) is the butterfly shaped stand on the rear of the unit. This stand puts the screen at an angle towards your eyes, making the device very ergonomically well designed and comfortable to use. 

Check out our video about the Butterfly then call us at 1-800-919-3375 for more information! 

The Lighthouse has just received a new desktop CCTV from Zoomax, the company who introduced the Butterfly, Snow and Snow 7 HD electronic handheld magnifiers, and we like. 

The CCTV is called the Panda and comes in a striking black and white color scheme (hence the name!). Containing all the features you would expect such as 17 different color modes, 2x-70x magnification and a 19" monitor, the Panda is an attractive CCTV with a good image and is really easy to use.

And now for the best part (drum roll please).....the Panda retails for just $1695! That's a great price for a quality CCTV like this and makes it one of our favorite choices for an entry level, good quality unit. 

Easier to look after than a pet Panda, the Panda CCTV might be just what you or a loved one is looking for!

The Connect 12 from Humanware is a fantastic new device combining the convenience of tablet technology with low vision features. Based on an Android tablet, the Connect 12 runs the Prodigi software meaning good quality near magnification, fast and accurate OCR and ease of use. An optional extra is a wireless distance camera which can be used to magnify the whiteboard, look out the window or whatever else you might want to see.

Once you have finished on the Prodigi side it is easy to exit to the Android side and use Android's built in accessibility to access the internet, send and receive emails, take pictures, read books and so much more. Fantastic for students or those wanting a really portable do-it-all device, check out the video below to see it in action!