Humanware 7B828EC8A91 Hark Reader User Manual
- June 5, 2024
- Humanware
Table of Contents
Humanware 7B828EC8A91 Hark Reader
Introduction
Hark is an electronic test-to-speech device for people who are blind and those with visual impairment. Enjoy reading any printed material such as letters, newspapers and books, and hear them read aloud in a natural-sounding voice.
What’s in The Box
- Hark device
- Power supply / charger
- Power cord
- Keypad (optional)
- Manual
Unpacking and Powering up Hark
Place Hark device on a flat surface. Open the neck by lifting it up.
Plug in power adapter to AC power and to Hark power plug located on the left
side of the base,
Press and hod power button located on the left side of the base for 3 seconds.
You will hear the beeps and soon after “Place your document” announcement.
How to Read with Hark
Reading with Hark is very easy. Place your document face up on the base and make sure it is not moving. Keep the document at the edges to make sure text is not blocked by your hands. Once you placed the document, you will hear shutter sound and in a few seconds Hark will be reading your document aloud.
Controlling Hark
There are 3 methods to control Hark:
- Base Buttons
- Hand Gesture Controls
- Keypad (if optional keypad is included)
Base Buttons Control
Hark has four control buttons on the base
- Pause/Resume button located on the right side of the front of the Hark base. Press this button any time Hark is reading to pause. Press it again to resume reading
- Back button located on the left side of the front of the Hark base. Press this button to repeat last sentence. Press it twice to read the sentence before last, three times to read sentence before, etc.
- Reading speed buttons. Two moon-shaped buttons located on the right side of the base. The Speed Down button is the button located closer to the front of the device. Press Speed Down button to read slower. The further button is Speed Up button. Press Speed Up button to increase reading speed.
- Volume control slider. Slide the slider to the left to decreaase the volume, and to the right to increase the volume.
Hand Gesture Controls
Hand gesture is the easiest and most simple way to control Hark. Hand Gesture controls are disabled by default. To enable, press Pause/Resume button for 3 seconds.
To pause or resume reading: move tour hand slowly just above the document from left to right To go back to previous sentence: move tour hand slowly just above the document from right to left. Repeat multiple times to reach desired sentence.
Please note that the above hand gestures work only when document is on the Hark base.
Keypad Controls
If optional keypad is included, Hark can be controlled by the keypad.
Help Button is a round button located in the middle of the keypad. Press Help button to hear the help. Press Help button together with any other button to hear description of the button and its function.
Pause/Resume Button is a round button located on the top of the keypad in the center of the arrow keys. This button will pause and resume reading.
Arrow Buttons are four moon-shaped buttons located around Pause/Resume button. Press Left Arrow button to hear previous word. Press Right Arrow button to hear next word. Press Up Arrow to hear previous sentence. Press Down Arrow button to hear next sentence.
Spell Button is located to the right of the Help button. Press Spell button to hear a spell of the current word.
Voice button is located to the left of the Help button. Press Voice button to change voice and/or language.
Save Button is a square button located on the lower left side of the keypad. Hold down the Save button and one of the Arrow buttons at the same time. You will hear, “Image saved.” Up to four pages can be saved; one page designated to each Arrow button.
Recall Button is a square button located on the lower right side of the keypad. Hold down the Recall button and press one of the Arrow buttons to read a previously saved page. You will hear “Reading image.”
See Summary of Commands table for all advanced functions
Summary of Commands
| Command | Keys on Device | Keys on Keypad |
|---|---|---|
| Pause or Resume Reading | Pause/Resume button | Pause/Resume button |
| Go back one sentence | Back button | Arrow Up button |
| Go forward one sentence | Arrow Down button | |
| Go forward one word | Arrow Right button | |
| Go backward one word | Arrow Left button | |
| Increase reading speed | Speed Up button | |
| Decrease reading speed | Speed Down button | |
| Reset Device | Back button long press | |
| Enable/Disable gestures | Pause/Resume button long press | |
| Switch voice from speaker to paired Bluetooth headset / hearing aid | Press | |
| Pause/Resume button and Speed Up button together for 3 seconds | Press and hold |
Voice and Arrow Up buttons for 3 seconds
Switch voice/language (alternate through all languages installed. The last
item is auto language detection) See Note1.| Press Pause/Resume button and
Speed Down button together for 3 seconds| Press Voice button
Hear general help| | Press and hold Help button
Hear help of any button on the keypad| | Press and hold Help button, then
press the button to hear help
Enable/disable read through columns
See Note 2.| Press Speed Up and Speed Down buttons together prior to placing a
document| Press Arrow Left and Arrow Right buttons together
Spell current word| | Press and hold spell button
Save current page into one of four memory slots| | Press Save button and one
of Arrow buttons.
Read page saved in one of four memory slots| | Press Recall button and one of
arrow buttons.
Note 1. When switching language you will hear the beep, then announcement
of a new language. If page OCR is not complete, language can not be switched
until OCR finished. In that case you will hear beep and not announcement.
Note 2. Reading through columns is enabled for the next scanned page
only.