A company called LookTel has come up with an app that will help visually impaired folks with their everyday lives. Called Money Reader, this app makes use of the iPhone’s camera to recognize any US bill held in front of the screen and announces in a clear voice its value. It works pretty fast, taking less than a second to finish scanning a note, and it can even recognize both sides of the bills even if they are partially covered, or folded up. In low light conditions, it will even activate the flash (if it is available) to light up the bills before reading them. It can recognize $1, $2, $5, $10, $20, $50 and $100 bills but coins are out of the question due to the lack of perceivable contrast when looked at with the camera. But coins should be easy enough to tell apart from their weight and size alone. Money Reader is available from the Apple App Store for $1.99 now. Hit the break to watch a video of Money Reader in action:
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