The Excalibur represents the culmination of two decades of experience in designing and manufacturing assistive devices, widely used and known by our blind and vision-impaired customers all over the world.

This remarkable reading machine combines all the attributes one should look for in a reading machine: speed, reading accuracy, simplicity of use, low weight and small size. We included all this, and yet, incredibly, we managed to keep the glass size at 14.5 x 8.5 inches (370 x 216 mm), the largest scan area available in any reading machine of its size and price, making it possible to scan two pages of a standard-size book at the same time. The machine weighs only 8.5 lb (3.7 kg), making it possible to be carried around with ease. With internal storage of 10,000 pages and external USB storage, multi-lingual capabilities and logical and intuitive user interface, this is a reading machine suited for a demanding vision-impaired user.

Are adapted general-purpose devices more suitable for blind and vision-impaired people than those that are purposely built? The jury is still out on a verdict for this debate which has been raging for decades.

We at the Robotron Group believe that both approaches have their merits and their applications need to take into account the actual circumstances of the consumer.

Many people find that it makes sense to compensate for blindness with a specially designed task-oriented device rather than make do with existing mainstream equipment, and sacrifice productivity. A good example of such a specially built device is a reading machine.

The single-task approach has some direct parallels in the "sighted world": for example the photocopier and the fax machine. Even though copying or faxing a document can be done with a PC with the suitable peripherals connected, most sighted people would find it bothersome to have to turn on a PC and wait for it to boot, in order to be able to copy a single-page document. The single-task device does it much more conveniently and faster. That's why any busy office without a photo-copier is unthinkable.

Now imagine if you needed to turn on a PC and wait for the operating system to load each time you wanted to read something!

For busy blind people who wish to live productively and realize their full human potential with maximum efficiency; as well as for elderly people, or people with dexterity problems, who may not be skilled computer users; a stand-alone reading machine may be the only practical and efficient way of getting access to printed material.

With over twenty years serving blind and vision-impaired people in many countries, we have been fortunate to meet some remarkable individuals. The famous singer and jazz legend Ray Charles was one of them. A long-term user of our products, he often visited us to find out what new developments we are working on, and offer his opinion and advice.

The last time we saw him was in 2002 when he dropped in our office while he happened to be in town, during one of his last tours. Little did we know that his health was already deterioriating at that time, and that in two short years, Ray Charles would be no more...

   Ray Charles at his last visit to Robotron Group

Despite his fame, Ray was a remarkably modest and friendly person. We feel truly privileged having known him. He is sadly missed by all of us at the Robotron Group.