Automated Interpreter Service for Independent Phone Calls
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Solution Overview
Problem
Users with hearing and/or speech impairments face challenges in making phone calls independently due to the reliance on costly and time-consuming human interpreter services, which compromise privacy and are not suitable for sensitive transactions, and require dedicated hardware.
Innovation Solution
An automated interpreter service that uses a smartphone or tablet application to initiate calls, with a server-based service translating text to speech and vice versa, offering features like gender recognition, voice selection, and emotion recognition, allowing users to communicate without human assistance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If human interpreter services are used, then users with hearing and/or speech impairments can make phone calls, but the service becomes costly and requires scheduling time in advance
Solution Approach 1:
The system enables users with hearing and/or speech impairments to independently initiate and conduct phone calls using their own mobile device without requiring human interpreter assistance. The automated service allows users to type messages that are converted to speech and receive spoken responses that are converted to text, eliminating the need to schedule time with interpreters and enabling on-demand communication.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the mechanical system of human interpreters with an automated electronic system consisting of a mobile application that integrates text-to-speech and speech-to-text conversion capabilities. This substitution eliminates the need for human intermediaries while maintaining the core function of enabling communication between users with impairments and standard telephone users.
2Ease of operation
If human interpreter services are used, then users can communicate, but privacy is compromised and dedicated hardware is required
Solution Approach 1:
The system enables users to independently conduct private communications without human interpreter involvement. Users can securely transmit sensitive information through the automated service that processes their messages privately on their own device, eliminating privacy concerns associated with human interpreters potentially accessing or misusing sensitive information.
Solution Approach 2:
The mobile application integrates multiple communication functions including text-to-speech conversion, speech-to-text conversion, and standard phone calling capabilities into a single universal platform. This eliminates the need for dedicated specialized hardware while maintaining communication effectiveness, allowing the same device to serve both users with impairments and standard telephone users.
3Extent of automation
If automated text-to-speech service is used, then users can communicate independently, but the system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The mobile application leverages existing multi-functional capabilities of modern smartphones to provide automated interpretation services. By utilizing the device's built-in microphone, speaker, display, and processing power, the system avoids requiring additional specialized hardware components, thereby managing complexity while achieving high automation for independent communication.
Solution Approach 2:
The mobile application serves as an intermediary layer between the user and the telephone network, translating user input into speech for outgoing calls and converting incoming speech into text for user display. This intermediary approach manages system complexity by handling translation functions through software rather than requiring complex hardware integration.
Data Source
AI summary
Aspects of the present disclosure relate to systems and methods that aid users with hearing and/or speech impediments to have a conversation with a remote phone number without human assistance. In one aspect, an application residing on a user's device, such as a smartphone, tablet computer, laptop, etc., may be used to initiate a phone call to a recipient. Upon initiating the phone call locally, a service residing on the server may receive a request to initiate a connection to the recipient. Once the recipient answers, the user may converse with the recipient by providing text input to their local app. The text input may be transmitted to the service. The service may use a text to speech converter to translate the received text to speech that can be delivered to the recipient.