Sign Language
Speech technology has been an integral part of the enterprise for years, but what about on a more personal level, assistive devices for those with disabilities?
The good news is that there are quite a few products on the market for the blind that incorporate text to speech technology. Talking calculators, alarm clocks, several computer apps, Siri, as well as Nuance’s cell phone, the TALKS Series 60, which converts the displayed text on the mobile handset into highly intelligible speech.
There’s also synthesized voice technology that’s being used by the film critic, Roger Ebert, who lost the ability to speak after his lower jaw was removed due to cancer. Ebert speaks with a voice that was custom built for him by the Scottish company Cereproc.
As for the hearing impaired consumer, I have a personal interest, since my sister is profoundly deaf. Deaf people are silent in more than one way. According to the Gallaudet University, the largest secondary school for the deaf in the U.S., deaf people have not been specifically counted in the U.S. Census since 1930. The last census of the U.S. deaf population was privately conducted in 1971. For figures since then, only estimates are available. Based on demographic surveys, the school’s Research Institute believes that there are a little over 38 million people categorized as having “hearing problems.”
Of course there’s Siri, but after scouring the Web, I could only find two products that specifically help the deaf in the speech arena, one that is prohibitively expensive, and another that is still a while away from being brought to market.
The iCommunicator by PPR Inc., based in Brooklyn, NY, is a product that uses patented technology to convert speech-to-text and speech to sign language. By using Nuance’s Dragon NaturallySpeaking speech/voice recognition technology, iCommunicator is able to understand and convert more than 250,000 words to text from a speaker speaking into a microphone or headset.
iCommunicator also has a database of sign language videos; by using its built-in thesaurus, iCommunicator is able to recognize 30,000 signed words with a database of over 9,000 individual video clips. The American Sign Language videos are displayed with seamless continuity letting the viewer comprehend the spoken word and its associated sign. Users can also search the Internet for information, and conversations can be stored for later review. Pretty cool, until you see the $6,499 price tag.
Texting Glove
The other product is Texting Glove, which is worn by a sign language user to create a text message. According to the site, CoolestGadget.com, the device was designed by Oleg Imanilov, Zvika Markfield, and Tomer Daniel, and was unveiled at Google’s Developers Day in Tel Aviv last week. The Texting Glove translates sign language into text on Android-powered devices, using a gyroscope, an ADK Board, Lilypad Arduino, finger sensors, and an accelerometer, reported Ubergizmo.com.
I couldn’t find any other products for the deaf using speech to text or speech to sign language technology, which is a shame. If not for altruistic purposes, businesses should look at developing this technology to grab a chunk of the, albeit, small market of the more than estimated 38 million potential consumers. If I’ve missed a product, please let me know. I’d be more than happy to hear from you.
