AccessWorld Reviewed OPTRON Assistive Technologies i-Stick

The i-Stick is a portable auto-focus CCTV designed with a rotating auto-focus camera to facilitate near-, distance-, and self- viewing. It can be connected to a laptop or desktop computer, stand-alone VGA monitor, or television set. Lee Huffman from AFB AccessWorld reviewed the OPTRON Assistive Technologies i-Stick.

Up to 55 times magnification is possible with i-Stick on a 15-inch monitor, and offers choices of natural color, black-and-white, and reverse-polarity display modes. With it a user can capture images, save them to a computer, and organize them into categories that can be accessed on the computer’s desktop. It also enables video stream capturing and saving them to the computer. With unique features like the extendable camera arm, the surround view, and the TwistCam feature, i-Stick is ideal for classroom settings.

For large amounts of extended sessions of text reading, a traditional desktop CCTV with x-y tables would serve better than a laptop-compatible CCTV. Being more ergonomically designed, the traditional CCTVs have video displays positioned much closer to eye level. The x-y table of traditional CCTVs allows users to glide text back and forth more easily than a laptop-compatible CCTV.

OPTRON Technologies offer the i-Stick at around USD $3,200. With this price plus the price of a new laptop, the package seems quite costlier, and hence laptop is recommended only for those who are considering portability and versatility.

Source: AccessWorld