Turn your iPad into a magnifier with Optaro XL!

Vision Forward's Tech Connect

Welcome back Tech Connectors! Your favorite AT Specialists: Cory and Luke are back at it again bringing you the latest and greatest in Assistive Technology! Today we are showcasing an iPad centric magnifier called the Optaro XL, made by Eschenbach. This device uses a 11'' or 13'' iPad as a display screen, but its so much more than a simple stand.   The two built in cameras allow for up to x22 zoom for close up reading or swap for a wider field of view designed for OCR scanning. There are even options for switching together OCR scans to accommodate reading larger bodies of text by gently moving the device overtop of whatever you'd like to have read aloud.  As is now standard in modern magnifiers, you can easily adjust brightness, contrast and color modes using touchscreen buttons and the settings. But one of the things that sets the Optaro XL apart is its "Tell-Me" button which can instantaneously read a section aloud. Trust us, this feature is wicked fast!  If iPads are not your style, then check out a previous video we did with Eschenbach's original Optaro made for the iPhone: https://youtu.be/Fv-Byo_FGXM?si=apfoDqgGJ0aDJB3j We are happy to have you join us as we discuss this new and exciting portable electronic magnifier!  0:00 Start 0:20 Introduction and Physical Description 2:45 OCR Iconic Function 9:35 General Use: Magnification, Reading Lines, Colors and Contrast etc  13:55 Wrap Up Review of Optaro XL 14:50 LMS Courses for Free ACVREP Credits! 16:55 Goof  Call us: 414-615-0103 Email us: techconnect@vision-forward.org Visit us online: https://www.vision-forward.org Online Store: https://www.vision-forward.org/store

Transcript

00:00I'm Taro, iPad in disguise.

00:04I'll Taro when you need more for your eyes.

00:19Hey y'all, welcome back to ATTEC Connect.

00:22We are back looking at an XL version that's extra large

00:27in case you didn't know what XL stood for, Luke.

00:29I do, I sit next to you.

00:31Wow!

00:32We are looking at the XL version of the Optaro by Eschenbach.

00:38You can take a look at our past video on the original Optaro

00:42that worked primarily, well not primarily, only with your iPhone.

00:46But now they've released two versions that work with an iPad 11 and 13-inch.

00:52We're going to talk a little bit about the device itself

00:54but really going to focus on some of its cool features around OCR.

00:59So stick with us.

01:04Okay, so what is the Optaro?

01:06Well really it's a stand and an app.

01:08So the stand is the thing I have in my hand.

01:12I've got a stand in my hand.

01:13And this stand will open up.

01:15And I also have here an iPad.

01:17Now you do have to provide your own iPad for the Optaro XL.

01:21And this is a 13-inch iPad.

01:23They do it for the 11-inch as well.

01:25So if you have one of those, you can also get a stand for that.

01:27We download an app and we activate the app with a QR code on the product.

01:31And now we can place our iPad into the stand.

01:35Connect our iPad with a simple USB-C to USB-C cable.

01:40And now we have turned our iPad into an electronic magnifier.

01:45It's running the app and it's using a specific camera which is built into the stand.

01:50And so we have this high-quality camera.

01:52We have this touchscreen interface.

01:54And we can do all the things that you would want to do with your electronic magnifier.

01:59Yeah, so we're going to take a look at those in just a second.

02:02The only thing I would say off the bat, Corey, was a little bit of a criticism is this stand

02:06is heavy.

02:07Yeah, I mean, it's good build quality.

02:10Like, it feels quite sturdy.

02:12But with that, you're right.

02:14The weight does seem a little heavy, which you're not exactly going to be carrying this around.

02:18But I think where it starts to be a bit of an issue is that you do need to move

02:23the stand as you're reading, right?

02:26It's not covering a full 8.5x11 sheet.

02:28So like with any portable video magnifier, you have to move it.

02:31And that's where you start to see a little issue with the weight.

02:35Yes, indeed.

02:35And we will be seeing that in action.

02:38So Corey, less talking, more moving.

02:40Shall we take a look at what this puppy can do?

02:42Let's do it.

02:43All right.

02:47As we mentioned, this is a traditional portable electronic magnifier.

02:50And stick with us for the next section and we will cover those features.

02:55But we wanted to jump right into kind of what sets this device apart besides using your iPad, which I

03:02think is pretty cool.

03:03Yeah.

03:03But there is some interesting optical character recognition or OCR features with this one.

03:09So Luke, take it away, my friend.

03:12All right.

03:13Gladly.

03:13So we have a surprising number of OCR options with this device.

03:18I'm going to go ahead and put it on top of this magazine here.

03:20Now here, actually, just picking it up to put it on top of the magazine instantly.

03:24I'm feeling that weight of the stand.

03:25Did you need a hand?

03:26Is it too heavy for you?

03:27If you need something, just let me know.

03:29You grab one side.

03:30I'll grab the other side.

03:31I'll only count three.

03:33Okay.

03:33So it's on top of the document right now.

03:36And I'm in the regular magnification mode.

03:38I'm zoomed out as far as I can.

03:39But, you know, even so, I'm just seeing a portion of the page as you would expect.

03:44And what we're going to do, one of the OCR features we have is basically like a quick read button.

03:49It will read whatever is in the frame.

03:51Okay.

03:51We press the button.

03:53It reads whatever's in the frame.

03:54Now, in this case, that's not, you know, too much because we're just seeing a portion of the page.

03:58But if that's the bit that we want to read, then that'll be fine.

04:01So check this out, Corey.

04:02From pressing the button to the reading starting.

04:05Are you ready for this?

04:06I am ready.

04:07Pressing the button now.

04:09More than a month after they set off on a cruise through the South Atlantic that turned into a prolonged

04:13nightmare.

04:1418 Americans are back in the U.S. and under quarantine as authorities work to contain a virus that killed...

04:20Oh, it just turned up a bit there as well.

04:22Yeah.

04:22So what do you think about that speed?

04:23If the feature is called quick read, then that is actually really fast for OCR.

04:29Incredible.

04:29Not only...

04:30But it was actually quite accurate.

04:31It was, but yeah.

04:34I'll be honest, I'm shocked on how fast that was to process and start reading.

04:38That was really good.

04:39It's even faster than the OrCam maybe, which is pretty impressive.

04:42Most impressive.

04:43Yeah, fast, accurate.

04:44But that mode is just reading the specific part of the page, which it can see at the moment.

04:51How about if we want to read more than that?

04:53Well, luckily we can do that too.

04:54Well, wonderful.

04:55Because I am in the mood to read the entire article.

04:58Okay.

04:58All right.

04:59So let's check out the other OCR function.

05:01I'm going to press the other OCR button.

05:03So this one is a different color in a different place on the control panel.

05:06And it's taking me into this view.

05:10Now this view that it takes me into, number one, I have a wider field of view, a more zoomed

05:16out view.

05:16So it can see more instantly than I could do when I was using the other OCR.

05:22But it's still not a full page.

05:23I'm basically getting half a page, I would say at this point.

05:26Okay.

05:26So if this is all we want, then that's fine.

05:29There's a button that we can hit right now.

05:31And it will take a picture of the half a page that it can see.

05:35And what it does call, we've seen this before with other electronic magnifiers.

05:39It will present, it will see where different blocks of text are.

05:43And it will kind of put squares around each block of text.

05:47And then you can choose which block of text on a page you want to have read to you.

05:51So if you want to read this specific block, you can choose that.

05:53If you want to read this specific block, you can choose that.

05:55So it does all of that and that's great.

05:57But this is still only half of the page.

05:59So what if we want to do the full page work?

06:02This is where things get clever.

06:03It has a scan function.

06:05We're about to try this out.

06:06Where you can actually move the device over a page.

06:10And it's taking pictures every second.

06:13And then it will stitch those pictures together.

06:15And, you know, and then complete the page.

06:18And then be able to read the whole page.

06:21So let's try this with the magazine page right now.

06:23Now the width of the magazine page fits on the screen.

06:25But the depth of the page doesn't.

06:27So I'm going to hit the scan button.

06:29And then move the magnifier down the page.

06:31So we can take all these pictures and then stitch them together.

06:33Are you ready?

06:34Are you ready?

06:35So I'm going to hit the scan button.

06:37And we're going to say go.

06:38I'm going to now move the magnifier down the page here.

06:41Down the page.

06:42Pretty slowly.

06:43I want to make sure it gets good pictures.

06:45Down the page.

06:46Down the page.

06:47Down the page.

06:47Okay.

06:47That's the bottom of the page.

06:48I will hit a check to say I'm finished.

06:50Now it's stitching those pictures together.

06:53And look at that.

06:54It's presented this unified page.

06:57It's the full page.

06:58And it's again split the different blocks of text up.

07:01And we have squares by each block of text.

07:04So I can choose which block of text I want to start from.

07:07The way that we do that is double tapping on the block of text.

07:10So I'm going to start from block number 10 here.

07:12I will double tap.

07:13The block of text changes color from red to blue.

07:16That indicates that this one is selected.

07:18Now when I hit the play button it will start reading.

07:21Baby's actress Sienna Miller, 44.

07:23Revealed she welcomed her third child.

07:26And second with boyfriend Ollie Green.

07:28She did not share the.

07:29Again, great quality OCR.

07:32So no complaints there.

07:33And we got the entire page.

07:35And as it started to read it automatically zoomed in on that block of text.

07:39It highlighted as it read.

07:41And just generally did a great job.

07:43Now Corey.

07:44That was like an eight and a half by eleven right?

07:46Yeah.

07:46Other devices can do an eight and a half by eleven.

07:49But think about those pages which are like weird format sizes.

07:52Legal size or something.

07:54That's either.

07:54Yeah.

07:55Either the taller or wider.

07:57Exactly.

07:57Yeah.

07:58Yeah.

08:00I've tried this going both horizontally and vertically.

08:04So if you have a page which is wider than normal horizontally.

08:07It can do that.

08:08If you have a page which is wider than normal vertically.

08:11It can do that as well.

08:12Now there are limits.

08:13It will only kind of allow you to take these multiple pictures for a certain amount of time.

08:18So it can't you know endlessly go on and then stick it all together.

08:21You can't do page by page by page and take a whole book and stitch it into one.

08:25No.

08:25Sadly not.

08:26I think it said it does up to thirty photos which would basically allow you to move the

08:31device for thirty seconds because it's a photo per second.

08:34But anyway this is a really cool feature just because of the way that it can allow you to

08:39do OCR on those weird sized pages.

08:42Now I will say going back to the weight thing.

08:44Yeah.

08:45It is a little difficult to move the device smoothly over the page because of the weight

08:50of it.

08:51And so that would be the main criticism is just the challenge of moving it smoothly.

08:55Yeah.

08:55I think it would be important if you're doing it to have some kind of system that keeps your

08:59paper down a little bit too because depending on what your reading material is it can either

09:06crunch up or even just start to drag it down with you as you're trying to pull it down.

09:11Yes.

09:11Which actually happened to me.

09:13Yeah.

09:14So I think there are solutions around that but just being aware of that will help you

09:18get better results.

09:19So I mean I think that this is the coolest feature of the Alt Taro.

09:24You know it's very unique and really pretty powerful stuff.

09:28But Colby this thing does have some regular features as well.

09:31So why don't we take a look at those.

09:32Let's do it.

09:35As we mentioned this is a traditional portable video magnifier.

09:40So obviously let me throw some features that I would assume it would have.

09:45Can.

09:45You need to tell me.

09:46Yeah.

09:47Check.

09:47Okay.

09:47Or no.

09:49Yes.

09:49Okay.

09:50So here we go.

09:50Good system.

09:52Can I magnify?

09:53Can I make things bigger?

09:55No.

09:57I will.

09:58I'll ask you again.

09:59Can I make things bigger?

10:01And smaller?

10:02No.

10:04Let's try a third time.

10:05Can I make things bigger or smaller?

10:07Oh you said bigger or smaller?

10:08Yes.

10:08Oh yeah you can do that.

10:09Oh wonderful.

10:10I assume I can change color contrast.

10:12You can.

10:13If I prefer color mode versus white on black or reverse.

10:16Yep.

10:16We can do that.

10:17Yes.

10:18I'm going to throw one at you.

10:19Okay.

10:19What about reading lines?

10:21What else if I wanted some reading lines?

10:23Yeah.

10:24Oh my gosh.

10:25Why not?

10:26I guess I don't have to do anything now.

10:28What else?

10:31What am I missing?

10:32What else does it do?

10:33You pretty much covered it all.

10:34Hey look at that.

10:35I will say straight up here that the quality of the image is really pretty awesome.

10:40We're looking at a magazine here which can be tricky because of the glare.

10:43But you know there is the quality of the image here looks great.

10:47So camera quality.

10:49Yes.

10:49Excellent.

10:50And I think that's one thing to point out that again and I know we said at the beginning

10:53but I want to make sure that we're not using the iPad camera.

10:58That's right.

10:58There are magnifier apps that are reading apps that use the built-in iPad camera and those

11:03are fine.

11:04But I think we're getting such significant better quality because it is a built-in or it's

11:10a separate camera.

11:11Yeah the camera is built into the stand.

11:13Yeah.

11:13So it's all touch screen and that does mean that you need to be able to see the buttons

11:17in order to operate it.

11:19It's quite standard these days but it can be a pain.

11:22So yeah I mean obviously we can zoom in and you know that works great.

11:26It goes up to 15 times.

11:27That's the standard maximum magnification although you can change that in the settings.

11:32We do have a mode where we can press a button to quickly zoom back out to the minimum magnification

11:39which is 2.7x and then hit that same button to zoom back into our previous magnification

11:44level.

11:45So that's pretty nice.

11:46We do have those colors by default black on white, white on black and regular color.

11:51But you can go into the settings menu and you can customize that if you want.

11:55So if we go into the settings and we are going to find an option called false colors where

12:00there is a huge list of different colors and you can enable or disable any of those colors

12:04that you would like.

12:05All standard stuff you know nothing crazy.

12:07We also have a button to take pictures and you can save pictures as well.

12:11These are features that you would find on any electronic magnifier.

12:14So nothing too crazy here.

12:15But I will say all of them work well.

12:18They are all responsive.

12:19The quality of the image is good.

12:22And in the settings we do have a number of options that we can customize with.

12:27Including the ability to turn on and off the lights on the stand.

12:30Change the false colors as I had already mentioned.

12:32There's also some OCR options as well for customization.

12:36So all good stuff.

12:38And you know I think it does exactly what it says on the table.

12:41And I would assume like most portable video magnifiers in this shape.

12:45Because we've seen ones.

12:46I mean a lot of them are in this exact configuration.

12:50Yeah sure.

12:51Writing is always an issue with these.

12:53It's not anything unique to the Optaro.

12:56Trying to get your hand around the back of the writing is always an issue.

13:01Which we see with this one as well.

13:03Yeah same situation.

13:05I mean some people do manage to do it.

13:06But it's not necessarily the easiest.

13:08Yeah.

13:08I haven't seen a focus lock option as well.

13:10Although maybe there is one.

13:11But I mean maybe there isn't.

13:12Because it's not really designed for writing.

13:13Sure.

13:14I will say another downside to the stand.

13:15Other than the weight of it.

13:17Is the fact it doesn't appear to be adjustable in any way.

13:19So you can't adjust the angle of the screen.

13:21I will say the screen is a good angle.

13:23So it's not the end of the world.

13:24But depending on the height of your table.

13:26Or the height of your chair.

13:27Sometimes you do need to adjust the screen to get the best image.

13:30The only other downside I would note as well.

13:33Is you have to charge the iPad and the stand separately.

13:36So the stand has its own battery.

13:37The iPad obviously has its own battery.

13:39And they both need to be charged in order for this whole contractions work.

13:43Sure.

13:43Yeah.

13:44But other than that.

13:45Pretty neat product.

13:47So Cawley.

13:48Shall we wrap this up?

13:49Let's do it.

13:50Alright.

13:53If you were a fan of the original Optaro that works with the iPhone.

13:57This seems like a natural progression.

13:59To be able to use the iPad.

14:01Both the 11 and 13 inch bigger screen.

14:04Obviously just going to be easier for reading than on that small iPhone.

14:09So it makes sense that they went this route.

14:12It included everything you would expect.

14:14Plus a little extra for you.

14:16Yeah.

14:16I would say so.

14:16I mean the thing is with the iPhone version.

14:19The iPhone kind of ratio.

14:22The size of the screen.

14:23The shape of the screen.

14:24Sure.

14:24Not ideally suited for electronic magnification.

14:27Whereas the iPad is a much more suitable kind of size and shape I would say.

14:31So this is a more viable product I think for a lot of people.

14:34Especially if you are kind of doing some more serious reading.

14:37We have mentioned some you know some flaws with it.

14:40But nothing is perfect.

14:41So I'd say this really does have a lot of good features as well.

14:44And it's worth checking out if you're in the market for electronic magnifier.

14:47Especially if you already own an iPad.

14:49Yeah.

14:49I'd be curious if anybody's using it.

14:51Throw it down in the comments.

14:52You know how does it.

14:53Why did you choose the Optaro over a dedicated video magnifier.

14:57Like the Explore 12 or Compact 10.

15:01Form factor, size, even price to a certain extent.

15:05Or pretty close.

15:06So I'd be curious what made you decide to go with the Optaro.

15:10Or if you don't have one.

15:11And if you're deciding between the two.

15:12Throw it down in the comments.

15:13What might persuade you on your choice.

15:17Indeed.

15:18And talking about being persuaded.

15:20Why can we possibly persuade you to go to our LMS.

15:23We shouldn't have to.

15:25Just ask nicely.

15:26That's a good point.

15:27You can go there to get on-demand ACBRD credits.

15:30And indulge in a number of lovely videos about previous things.

15:34Including our screen reader training service.

15:36That takes you through screen reader essentials.

15:39Starting from the basics and moving forward.

15:40From there.

15:41You can visit our LMS at techconnect.vision-forward.org.

15:47And you will be able to find all of those videos.

15:49Did I mention they're free going?

15:50You did mention they're free.

15:52And that is amazing.

15:53Yes.

15:53Did I mention that you can also check out our live show.

15:56Every other Thursday.

15:5811 a.m.

15:59Central.

15:59We do our Tech Connect Live.

16:02We dive deep into some cool different topics.

16:05We've had some great guests on recently.

16:08Rachel Ramos from Humanware.

16:10We've had two guests from Echo Vision.

16:14From a Giga.

16:15From Echo Vision.

16:16The i7 from iDaptic.

16:20And our brain froze there.

16:21Yeah.

16:22Anyhow.

16:23We have had some really cool guests.

16:25So check us out every other Thursday.

16:2711 a.m.

16:28Central.

16:28Right here on our channel.

16:30And of course don't forget to subscribe.

16:31Hit the notifications bell.

16:33And leave comments.

16:34Because it all helps us in the algorithm.

16:36And if you do.

16:37We will love you forever.

16:38And with that being said Coy.

16:40Let's get out of here.

16:41Time to transform.

16:55I think we've got plenty to work out.

16:56Alright let's go.

16:57We pause these.

16:58Let's go.

16:59Let's go.

17:00Okay.

17:02I'm actively pushing the buttons.

17:05This is your one shot Coy.

17:06You're doing the intro.

17:07I am.

17:07Let's talk while chewing.

17:09This one's ready and rolling.

17:10First thing, we're going to talk about the device itself.

17:12Or do you want to jump right into this?

17:13Let's go.

17:14Less talking.

17:15More working.

17:15Let's go.

17:18He's going to use this for HR.

17:20Yeah.

17:21So I'm trying to.

17:23Okay.

17:24Alright.

17:24Hold on.

17:25I have to screen recordings.

17:27Less talking.

17:28Sorry.

17:28Let's go.

17:30Alright.

17:30Here we go.

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