For nine-year-old Bowral Public School pupil Harrison Hillman-Byrne, that is precisely the case.

Harrison was born 16 weeks premature resulting in Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP), causing a visual impairment.

The retina detached from his right eye and most of his left, leaving him with just 10 per cent vision from his left eye and he can’t see out of his right at all.

At school he is learning Braille as his primary literacy mode, but he also has a Liberty Scholar, which is a portable magnifier.

The magnifier camera is connected to a screen, which allows Harrison to see things on a television, computer screen, a newspaper practically anything that most people take for granted.

Interchange Wingecarribee - a not-for-profit charitable organisation that provides an integrated service to people with disabilities, the frail aged and their carers - was able to purchase a Liberty Scholar for Harrison to have at home.

The $4200 unit has opened up his world and that of his family’s.

Mum Sarah Byrne said because of Harrison’s low vision he usually had to hold things about two centimetres away from his eye.

“It [the Liberty Scholar] has allowed Harrison to work independently,” she said.

The units are designed to be totally portable.

The camera could be put up to the television so that he could watch it with the rest of the family, whereas, before, he was relying on his hearing skills to follow television programs.

Ms Byrne said they took the device to Bradman Oval recently for a school activity.

“It was a cricket match, children versus teachers,” she said.

“We set the table up and he could zoom in and spot a teacher.”

The things that Harrison now has the chance to see are numerous.

Ms Byrne said she is excited about all the possibilities.

“If I wanted to show him something in a book, a picture,” she said.

“If I see something in the garden, like the other day when we didn’t have [the Scholar], there was a kookaburra in the backyard.

“Now because it is so portable I will be able to set it up and show him the kookaburra.

“Normally he says ‘it is too far away I can’t see it’. Now we have the means to show him.”

With a great love of mathematics Harrison said the Liberty Scholar will help him with homework.

“It reveals things bigger,” he said.

Ms Byrne said he is also now able to see his own face.

“When he grows up he would be able to use it when he is shaving,” she said.

But the priority at the moment is a zoo visit.

Previously, going to the zoo has been a bit of a disaster for the family as the animals are too far away for Harrison to see.

Ms Byrne said Nowra Zoo was good because there were lots of animals he could hold.

“At other zoos I have had to pay full admission and then pay $10 for him to get close to a giraffe and then another $10 to feed a tiger - it was a huge expense,” she said.

“Now we could take it to a zoo and zoom in on the animals.

“Now we would be able to show him the animals.”