A SIGN-LANGUAGE TELEPHONE FOR THE HEARING IMPAIRED

THE GOAL OF THIS PROJECT IS TO PRODUCE A SIGN-LANGUAGE TELEPHONE PROVIDING VISUAL COMMUNICATION TO THE HEARING IMPAIRED. CURRENTLY THEIR ONLY ACCESS TO TELEPHONE CONVERSATION IS WITH TYPED MESSAGES USING TELEPHONE FOR THE DEAF AND DISABLED. SIGN-LANGUAGE IS A MORE APPROPRIATE AND EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION MEDIUM THAN IS WRITTEN ENGLISH. PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF THE EXISTING TELEPHONE NETWORK PRECLUDE TRANSMISSION OF VIDEO IMAGES IN REAL-TIME. INTELLIGIBILITY STUDIES OF SIGN-LANGUAGE INDICATE THAT OUTLINE IMAGES OF THE FACE, ARMS, AND HANDS CONVEY AT LEAST 90% INTELLIGIBILITY, THE MINIMUM STANDARD FOR VOICE CONVERSATIONS OVER THE TELEPHONE. THE APPLIED SCIENCES AND ENGINEERING LABORATORIES (ASEL) HAS A TRANSPUTER-BASED PERSONAL COMPUTER SYSTEM THAT CONVERTS A VIDEO IMAGE IN REAL-TIME. PHASE I OF THIS PROJECT IS TO DEVELOP A SIGN-LANGUAGE TERMINAL BOARD (SLTB) THAT RAPLACES THE TRANSPUTER NETWORK, AND TO IMPLEMENT COMPRESSION/UNCOMPRESSION SOFTWARE THAT ACHIEVED A TRANSMISSION RATE OF 10 FRAMES/SECOND. THE SLTB IS TO BE BUILT USING A SET OF PROPRIETARY INTEGRATED CIRCUITS UNDER DEVELOPMENT AT THE UNIVERSITY OF DELAWARE FOR ASEL. PHASE II OF THIS PROJECT IS TO COMBINE THIS CHIPSET INTO ONE VLSI CHIP, ENHANCE THE SLTB TO CONTAIN THE COMPRESSION/UNCOMPRESSION, ANDDEVELOP THE SIGN-LANGUAGE TELEPHONE AS A PORTABLE STAND-ALONE UNIT.