A smart handheld magnifier for reflowing printed text notices in public spaces

Individuals with reduced vision may rely on handheld magnifiers for near reading of texts on household items such as food packaging and far reading of information notices and signposts. Smartphones have become favoured magnification devices due to their pervasiveness. Users typically take a photo of the text, view the image with magnification and explore details by panning in two-dimensions. However, two-dimensional panning is cumbersome, confusing and slow.

To improve the magnification experience, we implemented a proof-of-concept magnifier that reflows text to fit the device's viewport width. The user navigates through the text by scrolling up/down. Our implementation relies on a novel pixel-based text reflow image analysis algorithm.

The prototype can successfully reflow text printed on sheets of paper such as notices. Initial tests showed that users preferred the smart digital magnifier over ordinary magnification.

More work is needed to successfully handle other important use cases such as electronic information boards and household product packaging. We discuss open challenges and future directions for smart magnifiers.