Xerox Kurzweil 7315-60 The Reading Edge OCR Text-to-Speech Reader Scanner

Xerox Kurzweil 7315-60 The Reading Edge OCR Text-to-Speech Reader Scanner

The Xerox Kurzweil 7315-60 — sold under the name The Reading Edge — is a standalone optical character recognition (OCR) and speech synthesis machine designed to read printed text aloud. It works similarly to a flatbed photocopier: place a printed page on the glass platen, and the machine scans and reads the text aloud through its built-in speech synthesizer. Introduced in 1992 by Xerox Imaging Systems in collaboration with Kurzweil Applied Intelligence, The Reading Edge was the first self-contained, nearly portable reading machine of its kind.

Specifications & What's Included

• Model: 7315-60 (The Reading Edge, A Kurzweil Reader)
• Manufacturer: Xerox Imaging Systems, Inc., Peabody, MA
• Country of Manufacture: Mexico
• Input: Integrated flatbed optical character recognition (OCR) scanner
• Output: Built-in text-to-speech (TTS) speech synthesizer
• Reading speed: Adjustable from 40 to 550 words per minute
• Memory: Stores 50 to 100 pages of scanned text internally
• Navigation: Can read by letter, word, line, sentence, paragraph, page, or entire document
• Front panel: Dot-matrix alphanumeric display with Kurzweil branding
• Controls: Wired external keypad with labeled function keys (Select Keypad, Spell, Punct On/Off, Columns, Mark Text, Erase Text, Select Input, Start/Stop Scanning, Stop/Continue Reading and Shift, Help/Status)
• Side controls: Volume knob (yellow) and speaking speed dial
• Rear interface: DB25 serial port
• Power: 120V–240V AC, 2.0A, 50/60 Hz (IEC C14 inlet — universal voltage)
• Certifications: UL Listed, GS, SP certified; FCC Class B, Part 15 (FCC ID: KFU731560)
• Includes: Wired external function keypad

Applications

The Reading Edge was developed as assistive technology for people who are blind, visually impaired, or have reading disabilities such as dyslexia. It was designed for individual use in homes, libraries, schools, and rehabilitation centers — environments where users needed an independent, easy-to-operate reading aid without requiring a computer. Ray Kurzweil's earlier Kurzweil Reading Machine (introduced in 1976) was a pioneering but large, expensive laboratory instrument; The Reading Edge represented a major step toward making OCR-based reading technology practical and affordable for everyday individual use. The machine's straightforward keypad interface, with clearly labeled large yellow action keys, was designed to be used without sighted assistance. Units like this remain sought after by assistive technology historians, accessibility researchers, museums, and collectors of landmark computing and disability-tech artifacts from the early 1990s. The serial port also allowed connection to an external computer for additional functionality.