i-Math: Automatic math reader for Thai blind and visually impaired students

We propose an automatic math expressions reading system, called KANID. KANID is an educational tool, for blind and visually impaired (VI) students, to facilitate access to math materials. Although blind and VI students can access math documents/materials via many channels, e.g., human reader, math Braille codes, and audio (talking) books, these channels have limited availability. KANID was designed to be an automatic reading aided tool and also a math learning and teaching tool for both students and teachers. Students can enjoy their newfound ability to read and practice math anytime and anywhere with KANID while teachers can prepare their classroom handouts, assignments and exercises in audio version conveniently. The evaluation of KANID was conducted with 78 blind and VI students and six teachers. The evaluation results indicate that math materials can be easily accessible to blind and VI students through KANID and then, they can independently and comfortably study and practice their mathematics.