How can a visually impaired patient make sure he's taking his prescription correctly when he can't read the label on the bottle? Currently, he has to rely on someone else who can read it to him, but soon a better solution will be available.

En-Vision America has developed ScripTalk, a device that converts the printed label into speech. A Smart-Label, printed at the pharmacy by customer request, is placed under the standard prescription label on the bottle. When this Smart-Label is brought to within an inch of the ScripTalk device, it'll tell the patient the name of the drug, the dosage, general instructions, warnings and more.

Smart-Labels work by connecting a tiny microchip to small, paper-thin antennae that communicate with the reader technology. They're currently used in such applications as airline baggage handling. The ScripTalk system is being tested in the U.S. Veterans Administration; it and the Smart-Label printers will be available in early 2001.