Sms' for the visually impaired

Researchers atBTexact, the branch of British Telecominvolved in technologies of the future, has created a system which sends text messages to a pocket-sized computer that then 'speaks' them. The new technology was set up to allow the visually impaired to receive text messages without assistance from other people. The system seems to work even if the messages are written in the jargon of numbers and abbreviations typical of sms': if it doesn't recognize a word, the computer says it phonetically.

BT has not yet found a partner for the commercial development of the product. This new system seems to be the first step towards talking mobile phones and British Telecom has worked on it in close contact with the National Institute for the Blind, but it will be some time before it eventually reaches our stores.

(Fonte: Corriere della Sera)