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Deaf Phone?
Pratt student Suhyun Kim is quite concerned about the deaf folks and wants them to enjoy technology as much as we do. Her Visual Sound is a mobile phone for the hearing impaired that converts voice input to text and text input to voice. The design features two handy pillars that scroll sideways to expose the roll-out display. To communicate, the impaired person feeds in the text onto the touchscreen display, which gets converted to voice simulation for the person on the other end of the phone and vice versa.
The only drawback that I foresee is the time taken to input the text and converting it to sound. It may deter long distance calls, but on the flipside any form of communication is better than being mum!
Image Credit: Su
Designer: Suhyun Kim
47 Comments »
Nickie says
eek. another problem i see would be the size, but it’s a creative solution none the less!
brack says
I think the idea of creating a new experience for the deaf is great, but this product is redundant if the deaf person can text. Also, think about the experience of the person who is being called. Would the message sound like the European lady on the Garmin GPS?
I love the look though. Kind of a throwback to the ancients.
smirker says
Is this specifically a device for dumb (as opposed to deaf) people to communicate with blind people?
Quite niche I fear.
Ahmed says
excuase me, u used to call deaf “dumb” guess what? i am deaf. i dont think we are dumb. i think you are dumb, either. ha
mif991 says
You heard of texting?
TakBlack says
Not everyone has texting duh.
Robert says
I want one of these for voice calls. Reminds me of the communication devices they used in Earth Final Conflict.
Devlyn16 says
Umm since most Deaf people use ASL (which being a visual language, has a grammer structure and concepts different from written and spoken english) wouldn’t a portable video phone and the use of a Video Relay Service work better?Also how does the text to speech/ speach to text take into account the tone of the speakers voice? Will it have emoticons like teh Internets does? ‘casue that works so well.
Channan Supports says
Why not just text? I can’t imagine talking to someone on this thing and having to wait a minute for them to type out their reply. Especially when they first get it. Look at that keyboard layout!
Reishka says
What stores, shops, tourist places, amusement parks, restaurants, [general establishment] have their own TTY devices enabling them to talk to a deaf person? Or a line that deaf people can text to?
For deaf people, this is an amazing thing – no longer having the middleman involved when trying to get in touch with hearing people. Using text isn’t always an option – when you’re conversing with a friend, sure, but when you need to contact a company, or a restaurant, you pretty much have to call into an exchange for a human relay operator, convey your information to them, have them talk to the hearing person, then transcribe what the hearing person wants into text and sends it to your local TTY machine.
Deaf-deaf communication is FAR simpler now with the advent of text messaging and VRS or video messaging systems and webcams, and deaf-hearing communication is great if you’re trying to communicate with friends or family, but it’s not great for everything. Something like this would go a LONG way, as long as the speech-to-text is really good.
Pantterio001 says
Actually the keyboard layout seems like a normal qwerty flipped, so your hands would fall exactly like they do on a normal keyboard, just in a different position.
Jpcarney says
Pretty good idea, my girlfriend is deaf, and we’ve been waiting on a phone that’d suit her needs for a while. For now, I just make sure we both have unlimited texting!
Vera | Audiologist says
As someone who has a lot of experience with the hearing impaired, I think this is a great development that could help so many. Size might be an issue, but the overall benefit/idea can help so many we could probably overlook the size of the device right?
mens fashion says
No doubt this is a very useful phone for people who are deaf and the design is simply creative…
BETHY says
I REALLY WANT ONE SO BAD AND I DONT KNOW WHERE TO FIND IT AND ASK SOMEONE ABOUT IT
sasi says
sas
I live india, i wish u idea this is a very useful phone sale for the deaf world.
sasi says
sas
I live india, i wish u idea this is a very useful phone sale for the deaf world.
Sara Allen says
I would LOVE a phone like this. I'm almost profoundly deaf but I'm oral and I read lips. I use Sprint Captel, which translates what the caller is saying to me but that means I can only make phone calls if I'm front of a computer that is online. If this phone could offer the option of just transcribing what the caller is saying and allow me to speak back, that would rock!!! Sign me up!
Thanks for being so creative and compassionate, Suhyun!
Sara Allen says
I would LOVE a phone like this. I'm almost profoundly deaf but I'm oral and I read lips. I use Sprint Captel, which translates what the caller is saying to me but that means I can only make phone calls if I'm front of a computer that is online. If this phone could offer the option of just transcribing what the caller is saying and allow me to speak back, that would rock!!! Sign me up!
Thanks for being so creative and compassionate, Suhyun!
Muro eye drops says
I think it kind of hard to type word like that. Why they make the design like that? Anyway really useful stuff.
Thanks for the info.
Muro eye drops says
I think it kind of hard to type word like that. Why they make the design like that? Anyway really useful stuff.
Thanks for the info.
Vijayasaharan says
Hi What would be the best place to buy this phone, and is there any one who had bought this phone, if so please share your reviews.
Vijayasaharan says
Hi What would be the best place to buy this phone, and is there any one who had bought this phone, if so please share your reviews.
nobodyspecial says
union square park ..lol
mens fashion says
Wow..Really,really,really awesome post!
motherhood maternity coupons online says
Valuable info. Lucky me I identified your web site by accident, and I’m shocked why this accident did not happened earlier! I bookmarked it.
Albart says
What about the old people who don’t know about the smart phones and texing. wake up woman you will be old sometime too. Things will be so advanced that you may not be able to figure it out. What should a person do, quit living because they can’t hear.
Albart says
I wish I could find out how to get phone that writes out the conversation. I have a friend that just paid a high price for hearing aids and still can’t hear on
the phone.
Daniel Laforce says
Hi my how are you to if said to life looken much too please now
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