Skip to main content

    Kindle hack adds children's e-reader controls; uglier yet more accessible

    Kindle hack adds children's e-reader controls; uglier yet more accessible

    /

    Glenn Johnson combined a Kindle and a VTech V.Reader to create a more accessible e-reader for his sister with cerebral palsy.

    Share this story

    Frankenkindle Johnson
    Frankenkindle Johnson

    The Kindle Keyboard is a pretty good e-reader for adults. The VTech V.Reader, not so much. By combining them together, though, Glenn Johnson built the best of both worlds for his sister with cerebral palsy. The Frankenreader, as he calls it, not only provides easier-to-press controls for Amazon's device, but also adds a number of macros (mapping whole sequences of instructions to a single key) by way of Arduino software and a Teensy++ USB development board. See the result for yourself in the video below. It's not pretty or portable, but it definitely looks functional, and if you'd like to build one of your own, Johnson has kindly provided full instructions and schematics at the source link below.