What denomination of bills do I have in my hand? If you have eyesight, it's easy to tell however, if you're blind then you are taught to fold you bills a certain way for each of the denominations that are available for the $1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50 & 100 dollar bills and then you have to remember the folds when you go to spend them. Also, how do you know if the bill given back to you as change for your purchase is the accurate?
Well now you can with a program called "LookTel Money Reader". Here is what the icon looks like.
I tested it out on $1, 5, 10, & a $20 that I had with me at the time, and with todays economy I haven't seen a $50 or $100 bill for a very long time however, I'm thinking of going to the bank to get a $2, $50 & $100 bill just to see if it works as shown in the demo. Check out the link.
http://www.looktel.com/products#products-money-reader
I couldn't believe it worked as shown in the demo.
Currently Version 1.0 - Supports all US currency in all denominations from $1, $2, $5, $10, $20, $50, $100, with a Disclaimer: This app should not be used to detect counterfeit currency or be solely relied upon for money identification.
Now since I'm not blind yet (although my kids sometimes think I am), I use this app to show what is possible today and I only hope that someone figures out a way to determine if they are counterfeit so I can stop using the counterfeit markers.
I found this app to be very useful for the blind and also entertaining for my seeing friends who have a hard time believing what is possible today, especially with the iPhone.
Right now this app costs $1.99 and to me it's worth it, so check it out and leave your feedback about this app on the blog and enjoy.
CYL...Patrick
Look Tel Money Reader
Chances are a blind or partially blind person will not be using an iPhone. I have a friend how is partially blind and he can not use any smartphone because he cannot see the screen.
For the Blind? Really?
I can't imagine any blind person forking over hundreds of dollars to buy an iPhone just so he or she can use it to read money. If you are blind, how do you use any app?
I would love to hear from a blind person who has an iPhone and is using this app. I have a blind neighbor who laughed at the idea.
He folds his bills vertically and horizontally and has no problems. He doesn't use $50s or $100s. (How many of us carry those bills around?) One's he leaves unfolded, $5s are folded in half horizontally, $10s in half vertically, and $20 fold in half both ways. Try it; you'll see it's easy and there is no confusion when you remove the bills from your wallet.
An app for the blind? LOL! That's like braille dots on the number keys at the **drive-up*** ATM! :-D
I agree
Having sold a lot of electronics (including cellular phones) to blind and visually impaired individuals I can tell you that they absolutely dislike touchscreen phones or even flat-keypad devices. Across the board they want keys that can be touched and which will allow them to know which buttons are pressed and at what time.
The best phones for these individuals tend to be phones with large, defined buttons which come out of the box with complete voice controls or which will speak the letters/numbers as they are typed.