While the eReader race is on, Intel has identified a niche market of users who, until now, were unable to benefit from the written word– be it print or digital.

The Intel Reader is a healthcare device that was designed with vision impaired, dyslexic, and illiterate people in mind. With an industrial design and basic user interface the Reader combines a text-scanning camera with a text-to-speech engine to convert the written word to the spoken word, albeit with a monotonous robotic voice.

The device’s potential applications are numerous and varied. It could benefit millions of people all over the world who have never been able to walk into a restaurant and read a menu, follow written direction or simply read a document. The Reader is powered by Intel’s Atom processor and features a 4.3" LCD display, a 5 megapixel camera and 4 GB of storage.

It is only available in the US at present, but an international launch in planned for the near future. With a near extortionate recommended retail price of $1499 how many people can afford to let it do the reading for them though?