A barcode-scanner aid for visually-impaired people

Visually-impaired people living independently face problems in determining the contents of packaged foods, both at home and when shopping in modern, 'self-service' stores. This work was aimed at assessing the feasibility of using product barcodes as an aid to the identification of package contents. Technical feasibility has been addressed by production of a prototype barcode scanner featuring synthetic speech output. Human factors assessment of the prototype is ongoing. Wider issues (e.g. economic and social) are also receiving attention.