Telephone for the deaf and method of using same

Abstract

An electronic communications system for the deaf includes a video apparatus for observing and digitizing the facial, body and hand and finger signing motions of a deaf person, an electronic translator for translating the digitized signing motions into words and phrases, and an electronic output for the words and phrases. The video apparatus desirably includes both a video camera and a video display which will display signing motions provided by translating spoken words of a hearing person into digitized images. The system may function as a translator by outputting the translated words and phrases as synthetic speech at the deaf person's location for another person at that location, and that person's speech may be picked up, translated, and displayed as signing motions on a display in the video apparatus.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION[0001]The present application is a continuation-in-part of our application Ser. No. 08 / 396,554 filed Mar. 1, 1995<?delete-start id="DEL-S-00001" date="20091124" ?>, now abandoned<?delete-end id="DEL-S-00001" ?> <?insert-start id="INS-S-00001" date="20091124" ?>now U.S. Pat. No. 5,592,801<?insert-end id="INS-S-00001" ?>.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0002]The present invention relates to electronic apparatus for communication by the deaf, and, more particularly, to such apparatus which enables the deaf person to communicate through use of sign language.[0003]Deaf people are employed in almost every occupational field. They drive cars, get married, buy homes, and have children, much like everyone else. Because of many inherent communication difficulties, most deaf people are more comfortable when associating with other deaf people. They tend to marry deaf people whom they have met at schools for the deaf or through deaf clu...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0017]It has now been found that the foregoing and related objects may be readily attained in an electronic communications system for the deaf comprising a video apparatus for observing and digitizing the signing motion

Problems solved by technology

However, deaf persons have substantial difficulties in communicating with persons at remote locations.

Obviously, this teletype based system is limited and requires the deaf person to be able to manipulate a teletype machine and to understand effectively the written information which he or she receives on the teletype machine.

Processing rapidly received written information is not always effective with those who have been profoundly deaf for extended periods of time.

Moreover, a system based upon such teletype transmissions is generally relatively slow.

When it comes to communication of profoundly deaf persons and normally hearing persons, the problem intensifies.

Beyond this tedious and taxing effort, there is virtually no form for such communication except exchanging some written notes or having an interpreter involved.

However, in spite of the apparent detail of such articles, they do not go beyond general suggestions, which fail when tested against the development of enabling technology.

Major problems have been impeding the success of such enabling technology.

Unfortunately, one cannot combine the technology of Rogers and Kurokawa to solve the problem because the technologies employed are mutually exclusive.

If one uses images as Rogers proposes, one cannot obtain from them the information provided by the sensors of the data gloves of Kurokawa; if one uses Kurokawa's gloves, one cannot utilize the camera images to provide any intelligence, knowledge or information beyond what the sensors in the DataGloves provide.

A simple database of all possible signed motions which is an intuitive approach is rather problematic.

Otherwise, the signing is jerky at best if not totally unintelligible.

Although there may have been suggestions for such a database of signing images, this is not a realistic resolution due to the fact that, for every signed image in the database, one will need to have an enormous amount of connecting movements to other potential gestures, increasing dramatically the size of the database.

To select a signing stream, inclusive of all the proper intermediary connecting gestures between previous and current images needed for lucid signing presentation, from such an enormous database puts search algorithms to an unrealistic challenge.

Even when images are transmitted as proposed by Abramatic et al, the edge detection performed fails to enunciate detail of overlapping hands, or to differentiate between finger spelling and signed motions.

All such attempts are restricted by available bandwidth which curtails wide use of such methods.

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