Overview
En-vision America is a family owned Bloomington-Normal business that creates and develops assistive technology for the blind and low vision community. Phillip C. and David B. Raistrick founded En-Vision America in 1996 , working out of the basement of Phillip Raistrick's home. It was their dream to provide blind and print impaired people with greater independence through technology. En-Vision America has a foothold in multiple countries including the United States as well as Australia, the United Kingdom, Norway , and Canada. In addition to distributing their products En-Vision America also has contracts through various pharmacies such as CVS, Care mark, Wal-mart, London Drugs, Sam's Club and Hy-Vee, the Veterans Administration, and in Bloomington normal they're products are available through Merle Pharmacy . En-Vision America is currently the only accessibility provider that meets all of the United States Access Board's Best Practices for Accessible Prescription Drug Labels for People who are Blind or Have Low Vision.
History
Phillip Raistrick , one of the founders and the president of En-Vision America inc., had two visually impaired brotherswho he wanted to play poker with. At first, they tried using cards with Braille printed on them, but the method they used was clumsy and it was too easy to cheat. Phillip and David Raistrick decided to develop a barcode scanner that would enable his blind brothers to play cards, and listen to the individually scanned barcodes adhered to the cards. In the process of trying to play a little poker, they revolutionized the entire assistive technology field.
Products
ScripAbility
The Scripability Prescription Accessibility System comes with three distinct accessibility options - the ScripTalk, the ScripView, and Braille
ScripTalk
The ScripTalk is an audible prescription reader that uses a special RFID (radio frequency identification) microchip which is embedded in the label . Using the ScripAbility software and a programming station, the pharmacist programs all the medication information into the chip so when the customer receives the unit, all of the information about their medication is available out loud with just the touch of a button. The ScripTalk reads the patient's name, prescription number, date, doctor name, dosage instructions, pharmacy information, warnings and contraindications, and other information.
Mobile applications
There is an application for android devices that are NFC (Near Field Communication) compatible available at no cost. The Android device would act as the ScripTalk reader using Near Field Communication to read the RFID microchip embedded in prescription label.
ScripView
The ScripView is an adjustable font size, non-glare, durable media in a booklet style format which is adhered to the medication bottle.
Mobile Application
On the last page of the ScripView booklet there is a QR (quick response or 2D) barcode which is scannable through the ScripView app, which is available on iOS devices as long as your accessibility features are activated on the iOS device . The ScripView app reads the medication information contained on the label and acts much like a ScripTalk Station would.
BRL
The BRL uses contracted , or Grade 2 Braille, on clear embossed overlay to display the name of the prescription, the patients name, and instruction information to print impaired users.
I.D. Mate Quest
The I.D. Mate Quest, the newest generation of En-Vision America's flagship product, is a lightweight, portable bar code scanner that can be used to quickly identify products using a built in database of over three million products. The database provides product details about everything from health and beauty products all the way up to CD's and DVD's. The I.D. Mate Quest uses wifi and blue tooth connectivity to keep the ever expanding database of products up to date, it also contains a built in camera to identify currency, and the capability of recording and storing memos, MP3 files can also be stored on the quest allowing for either music storage or to keep notes on file so as to never forget anything.
In addition to the features listed above the I.D. Mate Quest also has micro SD memory card with an expandable memory up to 8 Gigabytes. the lightweight and portable quest weighs only 7 ounces so it is never a hassle to carry it around. The high powered rechargeable lithium polymer battery allows for up to 8 hours of continuous use, and the earphone jack enables you to never have to worry about a lack of privacy or someone overhearing your personal information. The I.D. Mate Quest has multiple spoken languages available, including English, German, French, and Spanish. Most importantly you will never have to worry about not being able to identify a product as the Quest will instantly update it's database so long as an internet connection is available.
I.D. Mate summit
The I.D. Mate Summit is the precursor to the I.D. Mate Quest, similar to the quest it is a portable bar code scanner that aids visually or print impaired users to identify products through scanning a bar code. Unlike the I.D. Mate Quest, the Summit allows you to quickly add additional information to any product that you scan. Comparable in size and shape to the quest the main difference between the I.D. Mate Quest and the I.D. Mate summit is the storage capacity, the Summit contains an internal 2 gigabyte memory as opposed to the expandable 8 gigabytes available with the quest. Unlike the Quest the Summit does not have a currency Identifying camera not can it connect to Wi-Fi, meaning that all updates need to be done using a computer. The Summit is no longer being manufactured but refurbished models are still available.
I.D. Mate Omni
The I.D. mate omni is the original bar code scanner invented by en-vision America, the Omni unlike all of en-vision’s other products does not have an expandable memory, and instead of using micro SD cards it uses a 256 MB CompactFlash memory card. Like all of En-vision’s other bar code scanners it has a text to speech function that is used to describe the size, shape, contents, any warnings and the type of product for the bar code that is scanned. A nickel metal hydride battery that allows for up to 6 hours of continuous use powers it. The I.d. mate Omni is significantly heavier than either the I.D. Mate Quest or summit weighing in at over a pound compared to the six and seven ounces for the Quest and Summit rescpectively.
