THE GOODS : A Simpler Way to Hear the Words

Blind or visually impaired individuals--in the U.S. more than half a million people are blind, 2.9 million are visually impaired--will want to check out a new portable reading machine.

Xerox Imaging Systems introduced its original Reading Edge in 1992. About the size of a briefcase and weighing 23 pounds, it was the first reading machine to offer a book-edge scanner for easily scanning books and other bound materials; Braille editing capabilities; Optical Character Recognition software, which recognizes characters and “learns” as it processes text, and “synthetic speech.”

The Reading Edge can scan printed materials, recognize text and convert it into synthesized speech, then read the materials aloud. Users can adjust the speaking rate and choose from a number of reading voices. The Reading Edge is available in English, Spanish, German, French, Italian, Danish, Norwegian and Swedish.

The Reading Edge Express Edition is a simplified version of the Reading Edge designed for users who are less comfortable with technology products. The new edition has a simplified keypad with only nine buttons instead of 18. It can read a variety of printed materials, including books, magazines, photocopies and documents with multiple columns.

Omitted features include restricted use of memory storage, serial communications, choice of reading voices and access to certain types of disk drives.

Each version (priced at $5,495) offers documentation in three formats: print, Braille or cassette. For more information, call Xerox Imaging Systems, (800) 248-6550.

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No Dry Runs: Los Angeles actress and runner Julie Austin invented HydroSport, a unique wrist water bottle, for her personal use. But she is now marketing it for other runners and joggers.

Austin says the American College of Sports Medicine recommends drinking eight ounces of water during a workout, so that’s why she designed each wrist water bottle to hold four ounces of water, juice or sports drinks.

The blue plastic bottles are molded to fit the wrist and they attach with a terry cloth band that closes with Velcro. Each bottle weighs half a pound, so they also act like little weights to tone up the arms.

HydroSport is available at Big 5 stores and Chick’s Sporting Goods. Or you can order it by calling (800) HYDRO-95. A set costs $14.95.