Tag Archives: deaf

Hawkeye Sign Language T-Shirt: Louder than Words

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We Love Fine and writer Matt Fraction’s H Signs t-shirt is based on Hawkeye #19. That issue of Fraction’s and David Aja’s comic book series has been lauded for its portrayal of daily life for deaf people. In the comic, Clint Barton aka Hawkeye suffers severe ear damage and resorts to sign language. The comic itself is difficult to read, driving home deaf people’s daily struggles.

hawkeye sign language t shirt h signs by we love fine 620x620magnify

Available in purple, gray and black, the t-shirt spells out Hawkeye in sign language.

hawkeye sign language t shirt h signs by we love fine 2 620x620magnify

You can order the t-shirt from We Love Fine for $25 (USD). Matt Fraction is donating his commission from the sale of the shirts to the Signing Time Foundation, which teaches sign language to children.

[via Comic Book Resources]

Using Google Glass to Help the Deaf: Signglasses

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We’ve seen Google Glass used to help blind people. Researchers at Brigham Young University (BYU) on the other hand are using Glass as well as other head-mounted displays to help deaf students learn. They call their project Signglasses.

signglasses project by brigham young university 620x350magnify

BYU professor Mike Jones and his team were motivated to set up Signglasses because the school’s deaf students found it hard to appreciate their visits to the planetarium. The students had to look back and forth at the display and the sign language interpreter, who was also hard to see because the room was dark. Thus the initial goal of the project was to send video of an interpreter to a head-mounted display, enabling deaf students to see both the planetarium presentation and the interpreter at the same time.

But the project is now looking at other ways that head-mounted displays can help deaf people. For example, they’re thinking of making an app for Glass that will automatically look up the definition of a word when you point to it. The video below was uploaded by Austin Balaich, one of the students working on Signglasses (captions are available).

Prof. Jones will publish their findings this month at the 2014 Interaction Design and Children. Head to BYU to learn more about Signglasses.

[via That's Like Whoa]

Feel the Click

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The Feeling Mouse, designed specifically for the hearing impaired, appeals to the user’s tactile senses to emphasize the all-important “click” that’s crucial in operating the device. When the user presses down on the mouse, raised bumps slightly protrude through designated holes where the user’s fingers rest to signal the “click.” It’s a simple solution, but incredibly useful for those missing out on this subtle queue.

Designer: Si Hun Lee

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(Feel the Click was originally posted on Yanko Design)

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Microsoft Research turns Kinect into canny sign language reader (video)

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Microsoft Research turns Kinect into canny sign language reader

Though early Kinect patents showed its potential for sign language translation, Microsoft quashed any notion early on that this would become a proper feature. However, that hasn't stopped Redmond from continuing development of the idea. Microsoft Research Asia recently showed off software that allows the Kinect to read almost every American Sign Language gesture via hand tracking, even at conversational speeds. In addition to converting signs to text or speech, the software can also let a hearing person input text and "sign" it using an on-screen avatar. All of this is still confined to a lab so far, but the researchers hope that one day it'll open up new lines of communication between the hearing and deaf -- a patent development we could actually get behind. See its alacrity in the video after the break.

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Via: Gizmodo

Source: Microsoft Research

Moneual Smart Care System Helps Deaf Identify Sounds

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While there’s plenty of hype going on about smartwatches these days, most of the watches out there solve fairly superfluous problems – like seeing that you have a phone call because you’re too lazy to get the phone out of your pocket. On the other hand, this smartwatch could really help deaf and hard-of-hearing people.

moneaul smart care system smartwatch for deaf

The Android 4-powered Moneaual Smart Care System (SCS1000) can be used to alert people with hearing difficulties to emergency situations by relaying information to the LCD screen of the watch, as well as an accompanying vibration alert.

The device can detect specific sounds and alert users to them on the watch display. In indoor mode, the watch is smart enough to identify everything from the sound of a doorbell ringing, to a smoke alarm beeping, to a crying baby to a phone ringing or boiling water. In outdoor mode, it can detect car horns and other loud noises to protect wearers from dangerous situations. The watch also offers an emergency mode which can call 911 and request help on your behalf.

There’s no word yet on pricing or a release date for the Moneaual Smart Care System, but it could definitely be a great gadget for those with partial or total hearing loss when it’s ultimately released.

EnableTalk Gloves Translate Sign Language to Spoken Language: Sound of Silence

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A few months ago we saw a concept for a camera-based device that is meant to recognize sign language and translate it into spoken words. A Ukrainian-based team has something better: a working prototype of a smart glove with the exact same capability.

enabletalk gloves by quadsquad

The quadSquad team won the 2012 Imagine Cup – Microsoft’s technology competition for students – for their invention, which they call EnableTalk. The glove has 15 flex sensors, an accelerometer, a gyroscope and a compass, all manned by an onboard microcontroller. The glove sends input via Bluetooth to a custom app made for Windows smartphones, which will then interpret the data and output spoken language.

enabletalk gloves by quadsquad 2

The brief demo below show the tester spelling “hello” letter by letter, which the app is able to translate after just a brief delay:

Head to EnableTalk’s official website for more information on the product. I tip my hat off to quadSquad; I hope the team succeeds in releasing a commercial version of their device.

[via CNET via Reddit]


Flutter is a Dress that Doubles as a Hearing Aid

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Not that hearing aids are unsightly, but some people who use them actually find how they look pretty annoying. But it’s better to have them than not be able to hear what people are saying around you, right?

FlutterBut if you’re looking for a sleeker, sexier alternative, then Flutter might just be the thing for you. It’s a fusion of fashion and robotics, as the garment was designed to allow those who have trouble hearing to “feel” the sounds around them.

There’s actually a complicated framework of wires and microphones under the dress that detect where the emitted sounds are coming from.

Flutter1

The ‘leaflets’, which are the leafy things on the dress, then flutter to give the wearer a sense of where the sound is coming from. So while it might not be a substitute for hearing aids, it’s a pretty enough start.

It’s only for the ladies, though, but maybe designer Halley Profita might have to come up with something for the gents the next time around.

[via Yanko Design]


Way Sexier than a Hearing Aid

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In an extraordinary fusing of textiles and robotics, the Flutter functional garment was design to aid individuals with hearing impairments “feel” the sounds of the world around them. Within the cotton and polyester dress lies an inner framework of microphones and vibrating leaflets that detect the direction of sound. Leaflets nearest the sound are triggered to flutter in that direction, giving the wearer an alternative sensory awareness of their surroundings.

Designer: Halley Profita

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Yanko Design
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(Way Sexier than a Hearing Aid was originally posted on Yanko Design)

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Sony Subtitle Glasses Add Captions for the Deaf

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If you’re have difficulty hearing or are deaf, going to the movies can be a challenge unless you manage to find a showing or a theater with special projected captions. Thanks to a new Sony technology, you can now view captions on any showing of a digitally-projected film, without requiring that everyone watch the captions.

sony entertainment access glasses

Sony’s Entertainment Access Glasses contain a pair of tiny projectors which can superimpose captioning in front of just your eyes. The glasses offer a variety of adjustments for the size, color, position and language of the captions, providing flexibility for a variety of eyes and viewing conditions. In addition, the glasses can support 3D without another pair of lenses. While you might imagine these glasses are just a concept, they’re not. They’re already in production, and you can find them at some Regal Cinema locations already.

The glasses are currently compatible with Sony’s 4K Digital Cinemas, though it’s unlikely that they’ll ever work with other projection systems.


Concept Device Translates Sign Language into Voice and Vice Versa: Talking Aid

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A group of students from the engineering technology and industrial design programs of the University of Houston have come up with a concept for a device that can read sign language and translate it into audible words, as well as translate spoken word into sign language. It’s called MyVoice and is meant to be a handheld device with a built-in camera, speaker, soundboard, microphone and monitor.

myvoice sign language translator by university of houston

Yeah, I’m not sure where the monitor is in that mock-up either, but that’s all we have to work with. We’ve seen a hack based on motion sensing designed to teach sign language, but it seems like the students took a different approach with MyVoice – the device relies on a database of images to recognize signs. The students did say that they were able to build a prototype of MyVoice that was able to translate the phrase “A good job, Cougars.” The students hope that they can find partners to turn their concept into a real product.

[via University of Houston via ScienceDaily]