There are countless challenges that a blind or person with vision loss face on daily basis. Some are easy to face and some are not. One of the biggest among them is identifying currencies, in particular banknotes. Because coins are easy to distinguish by their size and embossed pattern. Although digital wallets are rapidly replacing the traditional cash money, still they have a long road ahead. And the influence of currency is so much in our lives that it’s not something which can simply be ignored. From having coffee to calling a cab to buying grocery, to doing business. Money is involved everywhere. But what if you can’t differentiate the notes?

Introduction:

Cash Reader is a smartphone application that identifies banknotes of a wide range of countries and speaks the value out loud via computerized voice of a text-to-speech engine. From Europe to Asia, it can identify the largest range of currencies from all around the world. The app is available for both Android and iOS.

Prominent Features:

Following are the features that make the app stand out from the crowd:

• Vibration feedback - good for privacy, especially in crowded places
• Large contrasting characters
• Works without Internet connection
• Identifies banknotes under any condition, angle, light or even when the banknote is old or folded: full utilization of the camera and flash

Usage Instructions:

The app is fairly straight forward to use. All you need to do is open the app, put a bank note in front of your rear camera and… Boom! You will immediately know what banknote you are holding. But wait! How the app will know what currency you want to identify and what mode do you want to use? This is where the first time setup comes in. When you open the app for the first time, you have to set it up via following screens:-

1. Grant Camera permission  - Without camera the app will remain blind itself.
2. Choose your Currency - Here you can either choose to recognize all currencies or only one currency. In case you pick only one currency the accuracy of identification will be high and the option of vibration feedback will be enabled, unlike when you decide to identify all currencies at once. This restriction is logically acceptable.
3. Pick Full or Free version - You can decide whether you want to purchase the Full version or to continue with Free version. If you cannot decide, you can try 14-day free trial. In the free version, only the lowest two banknotes will be identified. After the trial, the app will downgrade to the free version, no money will be charged.
4. Read and Accept the Terms and Conditions.

Advanced Features:

1. Vibration Feedback: By turning this option on from Settings, the app will identify the value of banknotes via vibration patterns. For example, in Pakistan we have 10, 20, 50, 100, 500, 1000 and 5000 PKR banknotes, so the vibration will go like this: one vibration for 10 PKR, two vibrations for 20 PKR, three vibrations for 50 PKR, and so on.
2. Reporting issues: Whenever the app fails to recognize a banknote, you can report the issue by sending the picture to the creators right from the app. This way, the creators will be able to figure out why the identification failed and to fix the problem.

Collaboration with BHP:

We are thrilled to announce the collaboration of BHP with Cash Reader. The work that Cash Reader is doing is truly astonishing and shaking hands with them is a proud moment for us. The first news after this alliance for our members is that their official support is now available on our Facebook Group. If you have any question, confusion, suggestion or idea regarding the app then you can directly ask in the group.

Final Remarks:

There are numerous apps on the market that can do the same job but none of them is as efficient as Cash Reader. The accuracy is near to an accuracy of human and in some cases even more. From whichever angle from whichever side and in whichever surrounding we show it a banknote, it simply tells us its value instantly. The option of vibration feedback is simply amazing and makes this app the best one among its competitors. Moreover, the excellent email support and continuous addition of more and more currencies and languages is a big plus.