A Vermont-based software innovator, YiZRi LLC, recently introduced VoiceSee, the world's first hands-free, eyes-free Web navigation platform.

"The possibilities are infinite," said Daniel Ben-Ezri, YiZRi’s founder and CEO, and a former IBM (News - Alert) software engineer who has spent the last several years developing and refining VoiceSee. "[The program] will revolutionize the role that smartphones play in our daily lives."

VoiceSee uses mobile apps to read aloud recipes, digital newspapers and Wikipedia entries for smartphone users.

To raise the necessary funds to bring VoiceSee to market by the end of the year, and to create a much more extensive range of apps, Ben-Ezri has announced a $100,000 fundraising campaign on Kickstarter.com.

Culinary Pal, VoiceSee's flagship beta application, is a cooking Web navigation mobile app for the Android (News - Alert) smartphone. It will follow voice commands to search for and select desired recipes. Sadie, the voice of VoiceSee, will then read aloud the ingredients list, followed by preparation and cooking or baking instructions.

Users may also pause the voice to finish each task before listening to the next one.

"Culinary Pal's groundbreaking eyes-free, hands-free technology makes cooking by recipes much easier,” added Ben-Ezri. "But more importantly, it reduces the risk of damage to tablets or laptops in the kitchen and the transmission of germs through dirty fingers."

In addition to Culinary Pal, the funds from the Kickstarter campaign will be used to expand the scope of News Pal and Wiki Pal, two other VoiceSee apps and to develop a host of new applications that "will transform the way people and technologies collaborate," he added.

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