Kolibre enables anyone to build a talking book player

Press release, 11th March 2014

Kolibre enables anyone to build a talking book player
Kolibre shows how anyone can build an Internet-enabled talking book player that is customized for the visually impaired, through the help of open source code and inexpensive hardware.

The Finnish non-profit association Kolibre has developed an Internet-enabled talking book player called Kolibre Vadelma and a linked web service called Kolibre KADOS in a series of projects. The development results from these projects have been published openly on the Internet. This includes the source code and documentation for various software programs and instructions on how to build, use and further develop them for various needs.

Kolibre Vadelma is based on the popular and reasonably priced Raspberry Pi hardware platform, which can be easily converted into an Internet-enabled talking book player - thanks to Kolibre’s open source code. In this manner Kolibre wishes to demonstrate the possibilities for private individuals, organizations and companies to develop new assistive technologies at a low cost. When used together with Kolibre KADOS, a web service implementing the DAISY Online protocol, anyone can build a system for the distribution and playback of talking books.

An important aspect of Kolibre’s solutions is support for DAISY standards for the production, distribution and playback of talking books customized for print disabled individuals. DAISY books make it possible for people with a vision or other reading disability to read and navigate a book as easily and effectively as others use print. It is also easy to retrieve and listen to these digital talking books over the Internet. The DAISY standards are widely used by talking book libraries and international organizations for the visually impaired, and are supported by many suppliers of production solutions, distribution systems and talking book players.

More information about Kolibre’s solutions can be found online at www.kolibre.org, and Kolibre’s open source code can be found at github.com/kolibre. In a true open source manner, anyone can download Kolibre’s code to run, test, modify, adapt and make improvements for the benefit of everyone else.

Kolibre welcomes all who are interested to make use of these developments. More about Kolibre Vadelma can be seen in a series of video clips at youtube.com/user/kolibreorg/playlists.

For more information please contact:
Martin von Willebrand, Kolibre Chairman, tel. +358 40 770 1818
Daniel Ainasoja, CEO, tel. +358 50 527 4174