This IP-KVM turns BIOS screens into SSH text — and may aid blind users too
is a hardware device that intercepts a server's raw HDMI output and converts the BIOS screen into a clean text stream you can view over a normal SSH session. It also emits a JSON data stream carrying the on-screen text and colors for every character. The feature was originally built so AI agents (via MCP) could "read" the screen and run hardware checks automatically.
The developer later realized that same JSON/SSH stream could be fed into a screen reader, letting blind users hear BIOS menu items announced in . The idea came from an email by a completely blind software engineer, who explained that pre-OS ("Layer 0") has been an unsolved problem for roughly 15 years, ever since dedicated hardware like the PC Weasel went obsolete — screen readers simply don't function before the loads. The device wasn't designed with in mind; it exists because the creator wanted a reliable text interface for script , and the use case turned out to be a .
The developer is now asking the community how useful this would actually be in practice and how much it could help blind users.
Key points
- is a hardware IP-KVM that intercepts HDMI output and converts BIOS screens into text viewable over SSH.
- It also streams JSON data with per-character text and color, originally built for AI agents (MCP) to "read" and check screen state.
- The same data stream could feed a screen reader, letting blind users hear BIOS menu items announced live.
- The idea traces to a blind software engineer's report that pre-OS screen reading (Layer 0) has been broken for ~15 years since dedicated hardware like the PC Weasel disappeared.
- The developer didn't build it for and is now soliciting community feedback on how useful it would actually be.