Deaf Technologies: Apps and New Technologies

New technologies are being developed all the time. Linda Gottermeier <lggnca@ntid.rit.edu> and Bonnie Bastian <blbnca@ntid.rit.edu> have done research on apps for the DHH community, such as sign language, speech, text to voice, and other apps. Contact them for more information.

Sign Language to Text and Speech app (from the Netherlands). Google DeepMind AI and Lipreading TV Shows and Generating Captions.

Make your exhibits accessible via the Museum Accessibility App. 

The image at left shows the app on a phone and different colors for the speakers. It is from the &Ava website. There is a speech to text and text to speech app called &Ava that is free for RIT users. A deaf person can invite others to download the free app. Each person brings his phone to the meeting after downloading the free app. The app connects to other devices and leverages their microphones to listen to and interpret the conversation. Each person’s conversation is color-coded - I find it best to use with 1 or 2 people but you can use it for up to 5 people.

Once you install the app, you need to trust Transcense Inc., so for the iOS device go to Settings>General>Profiles>Transcense, Inc. When you click on the app, you need to click “host this conversation” and add your &name. There is another option that says “join this conversation” and you add &name of the person hosting the conversion.

Another app is Microsoft Translator.which can translate from English to English as well as other languages. A similar app for the Android phone only is Live Transcribe. 

InnoCaption- this is a real-time captioning app for mobile phones available only to Deaf people for free. They can register for the service. 

The image at left is from the Sorenson website. The Sorenson ntouch Videophone Mobile App allows barrier-free phone communication on mobile phones using relay services. Voice callers may call the Deaf person and use the relay services as well. The Deaf person sees the interpreter/operator signing what the voice user is saying, and the voice caller hears what the Deaf person is signing. A nice feature is "videomail"-Deaf consumers can get messages on "videomail" if they miss a call.

The image at left is from Glide. The Glide Video Messenger allows a person to send signing video messages and record live on their mobile phones.

The Convo Light App can change the light color or make the lights flash in response to a mobile phone call. The app uses Philips Hue.
 

The image at left is from AARP. The iPhone TapTap app alerts the phone's owner to sounds around them. For example, if you are traveling to a hotel without a light flasher, you can use this to be alerted to a door knock, alarm, or other noise.