En-Vision America: ScripTalk and I.D. Mate

Author: Thomas C. Weiss
Published: 2011/11/15 - Updated: 2021/11/28
Topic: Disability Visual Aids - Publications List

Page Content: Synopsis - Introduction - Main

Synopsis: En-Vision America is a company providing technology products focused on solving issues for people with visual impairments. I.D. Mate is a device for use in homes, place of employment, or grocery stores in order to identify products such as boxes, jars, bottles, food, cans, albums, cassette tapes, compact discs, important documents, pictures and thousands of additional items.

Introduction

En-Vision America, Inc. is located in Normal, Illinois and has succeeded in introducing products that are voice-enabled to include, 'ScripTalk,' a talking pharmaceutical reader and, 'I.D. Mate,' a talking bar code reader. En-Vision America was originally founded by David B. and Philip C. Raistrick in the year 1996 with a single, base premise. Their premise was to provide their customers with greater levels of independence through technology.

Focus

The En-Vision America company is now dedicated to the creation of unequaled value in the lives of its customers. The company works to achieve this through the creation and application of technologies for everyday problems encountered by people with visual impairments. The company's vision is to make their customers more independent through the products they create.

Visual impairment means vision loss to such a degree as to qualify as an additional support need through a significant limitation of visual capability resulting from either disease, trauma, or congenital or degenerative conditions that cannot be corrected by conventional means, such as refractive correction, medication, or surgery.

The ScripTalk Device

Image of the ScripTalk device.

ScripTalk is a small and user-friendly device approximately the size of a video tape that is designed with three buttons. The buttons turn it on, off, and adjust the setting. A person has the ability to hang it on their wall, or near their medicine cabinet. When they hold ScripTalk near a prescription bottle, the device scans the encoded label on the prescription and uses speech synthesis technology to tell the person precisely what is inside. Important information such as:

• Warnings
• The dosage
• General instructions
• The name of the drug
• The name of the patient
• The prescription number
• The doctor's name and telephone number

Are converted into speech for the person to hear and use. For people with vision impairment, the ability to use prescription information in an auditory format can keep them from making health-affecting mistakes. ScripTalk can help people to ensure their prescriptions are current, as well as meant for them and not another person.

The I.D. Mate Device

The I.D. Mate device is one that people can use in their homes, at their place of employment, or in grocery stores in order to identify products such as boxes, jars, bottles, food, cans, albums, cassette tapes, compact discs, important documents, pictures and thousands of additional items. While shopping, a person simply holds the I.D. Mate close to an item. The device scans the bar code on the product and verbally describes the contents. People can use a headset with the I.D. Mate to be more discreet.

The I.D. Mate has recorded product information for greater than 700,000 items found in any grocery store. It also comes with a bar code label maker, allowing people to create their own labels identifying things like shoes, clothes, or other items that are not in the device's database. Using the I.D. Mate, a person can independently choose for example, brown socks to go along with their brown pants, or sourdough bread instead of plain white.

The I.D. Mate Summit

Image of the I.D. Mate Summit.

The I.D. Mate Summit is an, 'all-in-one,' portable talking bar code scanner designed to assist people with print or visual impairments. The product identifies items through their bar codes or UPC symbol. Through the device's text-to-speech and digital voice recording abilities, people can access a database of product descriptions as well as a set of recorded voice messages.

The I.D. Mate Summit give people the ability to rapidly add more voice recorded information to products that already exist in the database, as well as items that are not in the database. There are more bar code labels available, so people have the ability to label any item or product that doesn't have a bar code. Tag, clothing, and adhesive labels can be put on almost anything. All a person has to do is scan the bar code and add a voice recording for it. Places and ways the I.D. Mate Summit can be applied include:

• At Work
• At Home
• At School
• File Folders
• For Hobbies
• Credit Cards
• Prescriptions
• Playing Cards
• CDs and DVDs
• Computer Disks
• Recorded Memos
• Food Identification
• Shoes & Accessories
• Clothing Identification
• Storage and Organization

The I.D. Mate Summit has the largest database available, with millions of items in it. The product has a vast number of products from grocery, health & beauty, wine & spirits, and over-the-counter medications, to cleaning supplies, hobby items, pet supplies, DVD's and CD's, hardware items, bulk supplies and far more. The I.D. Mate Summit also offers extended information for a variety of items.

People using the device have the ability to listen for nutritional information, cooking instructions and ingredients, allergen warnings, package sizes and directions, detailed descriptions for products, song tracks and a great deal more. The En-Vision America company constantly works to update the database and increase the number of items and product information available to their customers. People can expect the database to be updated twice a year.

Author Credentials: Thomas C. Weiss is a researcher and editor for Disabled World. Thomas attended college and university courses earning a Masters, Bachelors and two Associate degrees, as well as pursing Disability Studies. As a CNA Thomas has providing care for people with all forms of disabilities. Explore Thomas' complete biography for comprehensive insights into his background, expertise, and accomplishments.