Wing Lai Yuen uses MPR to create first talking menu
2014-07-01
From Wen Wei Po,Hong Kong
It is very difficult for the visually impaired to order dishes on their own. To meet their needs, Hong Kong based Wing Lai Yuen will unveil the first talking menu in Hong Kong. As soon as a customer taps a particular place on the menu with a reading pen, the dish name will be read out loud by the pen. YangwangXiaoling, Chairman of Wing Lai Yuen hopes that the talking menu can protect the self-esteem of the visually impaired and others in the field will make more efforts to respect their right to choose.
She said, visually impaired people are neglected by the society. “when they go out for meal, they usually pick fixed dishes. They need help from others to order and seldom have opportunities to do it by themselves.” Therefore, the restaurant cooperated with MPR to create first talking menu.
When they tap the place next to the braille letters printed on the menu, they will the name and ingredients even a story of a dish. The technology helps non-congenital blind people who don’t know braille.
Wang Fengqian who was blind when she was a child usually orders a changeless list of dishes such as fried rice when she was out for meals. “This technology enables me to order other dishes without assistance from others”, she said.
Li Lian, director general of Hong Kong Federation of the Blind, said, “The menu is available in speaking Chinese, Cantonese, Japanese and English. It helps the blind as well as visitors from foreign countries who don’t know Chinese.”
