Consider the following scenario:
You are in a checkout line for coffee or a few items at your favorite grocery store. The bill comes to $8.74. You quickly fish out a $20 bill from your wallet, hand it over, and accept your change. Focused on not holding up the line and inconveniencing other customers (not to mention the familiar desire of not wanting to attract unnecessary attention to yourself as the person with the white cane), you stuff the change in your pocket to sort out later.
Later comes, and you need your leftover change, which you of course never sorted, to pay a $5 taxi fare. You remember using the $20 bill, but what was your change? Two fives, a one, and change? A ten, a one, and some change? A five and six ones' Of course, with a little deductive reasoning, you can count your folded currency and make a guess, but then you need to go through the same process with trusting the taxi driver.
Identifying currency has been a long-time problem in the United States for people with a visual impairment, so much so that the American Council of the Blind filed and won a lawsuit against the US Department of the Treasury for not making currency accessible to those unable to see the denominations printed on it.
The American Council of the Blind won that suit, but the wheels of government are slow, indeed. The making of paper currency that can be identified by touch will not happen until the next generation of bills is developed. Meanwhile, blind people are still earning and spending cash, and needing ways to distinguish one bill from another.
In 2009, Orbit Research released a groundbreaking tool, the iBill, designed specifically to identify US currency. The original, reviewed in the May 2010 issue of AccessWorld, is small, accurate, and affordable.
Second-Generation
The first iBill was popular, but Orbit Research, a small company located in Delaware, listened to feedback from customers and became determined to make a good thing even better.
The new iBill is exactly the same size as the original model (3 by 1.6 by 0.7 inches, or slightly larger than a package of chewing gum) and is made of the same rugged plastic, but its look has been slightly redesigned in direct response to customer feedback.
The original model had a slot closed on all sides after the fashion of a compact disc player's slot. This slot was designed to match the exact size of the short end of a piece of American currency. Some customers felt that inserting bills exactly right in this kind of slot was difficult, so Orbit Research came up with a new plan.
The second-generation iBill offers a more open design for inserting currency that should be welcomed by those with eye-hand perceptual or dexterity difficulties. The new version's guide is an overlay with one piece of plastic on top of the large surface of the unit. Imagine placing one book on top of another, then sliding the top book slightly to the left and down a bit rather than lining all parallel edges up perfectly. That is how the new iBill's guide for inserting currency is positioned. With one large surface facing you, the iBill's guide is a piece of the same rugged plastic affixed to the body of the unit. This piece does not extend all the way to the right edge or top edge of the iBill, thus forming an open platform for sliding in the narrow end of a bill.
It takes about one second to align a bill properly and another second for the iBill to identify the bill.
Like the original product, the second-generation iBill has a button on each end, either of which can be pressed to activate identification. These buttons are textured for quick tactile location and are, now, also slightly recessed to prevent accidental activation while being carried in a purse or pocket.
The company has also added a tiny key ring for attaching the iBill to your keys or other lanyard. Best of all, the new version features a headphone jack, enabling the user to listen privately or simply to hear announcements more clearly in noisy environments. It warrants noting that this headphone jack is for a 2.5 mm plug and, due to its small size and somewhat unusual location, is extremely difficult to locate both visually and tactually. It is, in fact, almost at a corner of the unit (nearest the key ring); once discovered, it's easier to detect again.
How Does It Work?
To identify a bill, you simply slide one of the narrow ends under the guide and press one of the buttons on either end. The iBill will announce the single number of the bill's value in a clear female voice. The iBill will speak the single word "one", "two", "five", "ten", "twenty", "fifty", or "hundred." It takes about one second for the value to be spoken, and the unit's accuracy is promised to be 99.9 percent. If the bill has been inserted incorrectly or is so badly damaged that it cannot be identified, the iBill will say, "Error."
The iBill can announce its results through speech, tones, or vibrations. It offers three volume levels for the speech mode. To cycle through its options (tones, vibrations, and volume levels 1, 2, and 3), you simply hold in one of the unit's two buttons while quickly tapping on the other. Again, either of the iBill's two buttons can be pressed first to begin this rotation.
Results
I tested several bills of all denominations and read each of them with all three identification modes (speech, vibration, and tone). Many bills were crumpled and wrinkled (even beyond the point of feeling like currency), and the iBill had no difficulty identifying them. Inserting bills (always narrow end first) from every direction, I found the iBill to be consistently quick and accurate. If the "error" message is heard, usually simply pressing the narrow end flat and trying again will net positive results.
Conclusions
The new iBill is indeed a good thing made even better. While many customers found the original design more than acceptable, this new configuration will make insertion of bills easy for everyone. The vibration mode makes the unit accessible for deaf-blind customers as well as those who are blind or who have low vision. With the addition of the tiny metal ring at one end, many will find it convenient to attach the unit to keys or lanyards, and the addition of the earphone jack will be welcomed by those with hearing impairments or those who frequently need to identify currency privately or in noisy environments.
The unit ships with instructions both in print and on an audio CD. The required AAA battery is already installed and lasts about a year before it needs to be replaced. The unit is upgradable when new currency is developed.
One small criticism would be that, because the 2.5 mm headphone jack is less ubiquitous than its more common 3.5 mm cousin, including a compatible set of headphones with every purchase would be a good addition.
The second-generation iBill is easy to use, portable, affordable, and takes the mystery out of recognizing the cash in your pocket. It sells for $119 (a leather case accessory is available for an additional $20) and can be purchased from a variety of dealers or from Orbit Research directly. To order or for more information, visit the Orbit Research website or call (888) 606-7248.
