People with hearing impairment often have trouble communicating with loved ones who do not understand sign language. A majority of them are indeed lip readers but only 30 to 40 percent of English can be understood by reading lips. Also, several sounds look identical, thus adding to the complexity of the entire lip reading process.
To curtain this issue and tor make communication between hearing and hard of hearing people more fluid and free flowing, Daniil, a 17 year old high school student from New York, has invented an accessory (and system) that attached to regular glasses (or an empty frame for people who don’t wear glasses), converts speech to text, and displays them on a tiny screen.
The solution consists of three parts – the first part is the accessory with a little display that attaches to glasses. The second part is a little microphone that the user will wear on their lapel. Finally, there is a pocket sized computer (powered by Raspberry Pi) that converts speech grabbed by the microphone instantly into text and displays it in the eye-piece. The conversion is so fast and real time that it allows the user to keep up with the conversation without any delays.
Watch the video below to see “Live Time Closed Captioning System” (LTCCS) in action.
This concept is still in development and Daniil plans to have a working prototype by summer 2016. It will retail for around $750.
Hit the source link to see Daniil demo LTCCS to Jimmy Fallon!
Source: Smithsonian.com