Smart Bombs to Reading Machines for the Blind
740 views · Published 16 November 2007 · 58:43 · Indexed 20 September 2026
Channel: CITRIS and the Banatao Institute · 2007 · Education
May 18, 2007 What do smart bombs and reading machines for the blind have in common? They both use the same underlying technology to do their jobs. Jim Fruchterman, engineer, high tech entrepreneur and now social entrepreneur, traces his journey from learning about pattern recognition for military uses, to building the leading Silicon Valley company making optical character recognition for reading documents, to starting a deliberately nonprofit tech company to make reading machines for the blind. Benetech is now using academic, military and commercial technology to help human rights groups, environmental groups and people with disabilities get the technology tools they desperately need. Jim is a strong advocate for encouraging the technology and business communities to realize the socially beneficial applications of their innovations, not just those that make the most money!
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