Exclusively for iPad
i-Lexis HD
When you start up i-Lexis HD you hear a soft voice say, "Touch an icon." You also hear nice, soothing music (violin and xylophone). Let's say you touch the playground icon. Then you're taken to another screen that allows you to zero in on exactly which outdoor environment you want to explore. I like the carousel myself. But regardless of which environment you select, all of them are beautifully drawn.
It's really nice to see that i-Lexis has the instructions built-in and at your fingertips! Built-in instructions just seem to make any anxiety disappear like vapors.
Scattered throughout the scene are little semi-transparent hand print icons that obviously indicate you can (and should) touch there. If you touch the car on the carousel, the background gets dark and the car enlarges. You hear, "Toy car" and those words are printed in the upper right of the screen plain to see. Touch the 'read' button to hear it again. Or you can touch the 'read slowly' button to hear it... um, spoken slowly. A touch on the 'back' icon invokes a cool animation that scatters and fades this screen away, replacing it with the carousel screen you were previously on.
There are so many environments to explore. I found myself checking out all of them!
The developer of this app is based in Italy. That may explain why it uses different words than we may be accustomed to in America. For example, the app calls the horse on the carousel a "Gee gee." And it calls the candy stand a "Kiosk." It calls the ball a "Balloon." What we would call a shopping cart is identified as a "Shopping trolley." I find this to be mildly distracting, but it's also understandable given the cultural differences of Italy and America.
One note for improvement; I see no need for the 'read' button. Touching the object should make the app say what it is. I think the developer should only have a 'read slowly' button.
Naturally, you can use your own images and voice within i-Lexis. Just touch the camera icon! During testing I used an image of Benicia Marina to create a custom environment. The process is simple, fast, and easy to learn. You can create several environments if you like. However, after creating an environment you cannot edit it at all. There's also no way to edit the default scenes. We need to be able to edit!
With limitations like that, I cannot give i-Lexis too many stars. But when those limitations are lifted this app will soar like an eagle!
