Tag Archives: hearing impaired

Netflix to bring closed captioning to all video content by 2014

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Netflix to bring closed captioning to all video content by 2014

The road to become the best it can be will surely be a long one, but Netflix is certainly doing all it can to be covered on all grounds. Most recently, the streaming giant announced that it has reached a settlement with the National Association for the Deaf which ensures that the company will offer captioning services on its entire video library by 2014. Currently Netflix has caption options on nearly 85 percent of its hefty entertainment repertoire, with the outfit expected to make it 90 percent by next year and, shortly thereafter, have its full set CC-ready. Needless to say, this is a win-win for all parties involved.

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Netflix to bring closed captioning to all video content by 2014 originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 11 Oct 2012 11:52:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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

Related posts:

  1. Hearing Spaces
  2. Written Sound for the Hearing Impaired
  3. Multi Functional Hearing System by Triagonale Studio


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.


Regal Entertainment Group teams up with Sony to bring subtitle glasses to US theaters

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We've been hearing about glasses that only display subtitles to those who need them for years (most recently with a trial run in the UK), but it looks like they're now finally about to enter the US market in a fairly big way. Regal Entertainment Group announced today that it's partnered with Sony Entertainment to bring the company's Access Glasses to "practically all" of its digital theaters in the US (that includes the vast majority of its 500+ theaters and more than 4,700 screens in all). Those glasses work with both 2D and 3D movies (the latter courtesy of a clip-on filter), and can provide closed-captioned text in up to six different languages for the hearing impaired, as well as descriptive audio for the visually impaired when they're paired with headphones. According to Regal, the glasses are already rolling out to some theaters this month, and it says they should be everywhere by the first quarter of 2013.

Regal Entertainment Group teams up with Sony to bring subtitle glasses to US theaters originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 20 Apr 2012 04:34:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceBox Office Magazine  | Email this | Comments