Technology and the Deaf

1
Technology and the Deaf

• Presented by
• Madan M. Vasishta

2
Deafness Hinders Communication

• Imagine watching a TV with sound turned off
• Imagine not be able to hear the car radio
• Watching a movie without sound
• Using a phone which does not transmit sound
• Listing to an iPod that is broken
• Learning a language you have never heard
• Being totally depended on visual cues for
  communication

3
Communication

• Is the key to be a part of the world around you.
• Helen Keller said Blindness cuts you off from
  things. Deafness cuts you off from people.

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Technology for Bridging the Communication Gap

• We need technology that helps improve
  communication
• We need technology that helps reduce dependence
  on others
• We need technology that translates spoken words
  into visual cues

5
What Technology is Available

• Cochlear Implants
• Digital hearing aids
• Closed captioning
• CART
• Speech to print software
• Print to speech software

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Available Technology (cont.)

• Video chat
• Text chat
• Digital Video Technology
• Emailing
• Written
• Video

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Cochlear Implants

• Electrodes used to stimulate hair in cochlea
• Implanted in six months old babies up
• Benefits young children, late deafened
• Does not work for all
• Invasive with serious side effects
• Technology making rapid progress

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Digital Hearing Aids

• Technical advances helping more deaf people
• Can help hear in higher frequencies
• Helps in lipreading

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Closed Captioning

• Started in 1978 in the US
• 80 of television programs are closed captioned
• Push for 100 captioning
• Benefits
• Equal access to news, cultural and entertainment
  programs
• Improves reading skills
• Speakers of other languages learn English

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CART

• Captioning in Real Time
• Uses court steno software
• Captions delivered with a few seconds lag time
• 95-98 accuracy
• Used in
• Conferences
• Meetings
• Classrooms

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Speech to Print Software

• DragonDictate and other

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PRINT TO SPEECH SOFTWARE

• IBM Voice Diction System

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VIDEO CHAT

• All of you use it
• For the deaf, it has special benefit
• THEY CAN SIGN TO EACH OTHER
• It has taken over the TTY very quickly

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Video Relay

• An extension of Video chat
• Uses operators as go between signing and speaking
  
• Gaining in popularity
• Extremely expensive
• 6 per minute paid by government
• (that is about 15,000 rupees for one hour)
• A lot cheaper in India, of course

15
Text Chat

• Compuer based--AIM, Yahoo, MSN
• Mobile phone based
• In India deaf people with limited literacy using
  it very effectively
• Keeps them in touch with deaf and hearing friends
• Making appointments

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Digital Video Technology

• Powerful medium for visually oriented people
• Perfect for teaching Indian Sign Language
• Recording signed meetings and conferences

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What we need to do

• Demand for subsidized implanting QUALFIED deaf
  people
• Demand for making digital hearing aids available
  at subsidized rate
• Demand for captioning most news and entertainment
  programs in regional and national languages
• Demand for CART use in classrooms
• Demand for ISL DVDs for instruction
• Demand for subsidized mobile texting using
  smart phones

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Technology is NOT expensive

• Ignoring it IS expensive
• Every rupee spent on technology to help deaf
  people will result in savings of 100 plus rupees
• That is 10000 return on investment.

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Can we afford to ignore technology?

• Thank you
• Questions and comments