Google Glass can Help Those With Hearing Issues Take Part in Conversations

Google Glass has been increasingly becoming an important part of next generation of medical treatments and now researchers at Georgia Tech’s College of Computing have now come up with way to use the device in helping deaf and hard of hearing people to seamlessly take part in a conversation. The researchers revealed that the person with whom the Glass wearer is talking with will have to speak into a smartphone. The phone will be loaded with an app that makes use of voice recognition algorithms to convert the words into captions, which is then displayed automatically within the Glass.

If the deaf or hard of hearing person is not able to lip read the words spoken, he can easily look at the caption and continue the conversation seamlessly. In situations where there is some ambiguity in the words spoken, the app will display various choices and the Glass wearer will have to select the correct word to be used in that context.

“This system allows wearers like me to focus on the speaker’s lips and facial gestures. If hard-of-hearing people understand the speech, the conversation can continue immediately without waiting for the caption. However, if I miss a word, I can glance at the transcription, get the word or two I need and get back into the conversation”, School of Interactive Computing Professor Jim Foley said.



Source-Medindia