DEVELOPMENT OF PORTABLE, COMPUTERIZED, REAL-TIME CAPTIONING UNIT FOR DEAF INDIVIDUALS IN COURTROOM ENVIRONMENTS

THIS PROJECT IS FOCUSED ON THE CREATION OF A DATA RECEPTION, STORAGE, AND DISPLAY DEVICE WHICH WOULD BE LINKEDWITH A COURT REPORTER'S STENOGRAPH (VIA A TRANSLATION SOFTWARE PACKAGE, COUPLED TO A DATA PACKETIZATION AND TRANSMISSION DEVICE) TO ALLOW THE HEARING IMPAIRED TO CLOSELY FOLLOW AND UNDERSTAND COURTROOM AURAL PROCEEDINGS. ADVANCED CONCEPTS IN DIGITAL COMMUNICATIONS AND INNOVATIVE SOFTWARE ALGORITHMS WILL BE INVESTIGATED IN ORDER TO ADEQUATELY AND DISCRETELY ENHANCE HEARING IMPAIRED JURORS' OR LAWYERS' COMPREHENSION OF COURTROOM ACTIVITIES. FOR THIS PROJECT, IT WILL BE NECESSARY TO INVESTIGATE THE OPERATION, STANDARDS, AND PROTOCOLS OF THE VARIOUS STENOGRAPHIC DEVICES IN USE AND TO PREPARE A COST-EFFECTIVE PRODUCT APPROACH TO PROVIDE THE SIMPLEST, EASIEST, AND MOST UNIVERSAL INTERFACES WITH EXISTING COURTROOM HARDWARE. TECHNIQUES EXAMINED FOR DISTRIBUTING THE PROCESSED STENOGRAPHIC DATA WILL INCLUDE, BUT NOT BE LIMITED TO, LOW-POWER RADIO FREQUENCY SPREAD SPECTRUM TECHNIQUES, INFRARED TECHNIQUES, AND TEXT DISPLAY/STORAGE TECHNIQUES AND DEVICES. RESEARCH INTO HUMAN ERGONOMIC FACTORS WILL ALSO BE CONDUCTED TO ENSURE THAT THE MOST UNOBTRUSIVE SOLUTION WILL BE PROPOSED FOR PHASE II DEVELOPMENT. THIS WILL GUARANTEE THAT THE USER WILL BE ABLE TO FOCUS ENTIRELY ON THE TESTIMONY AND NOT ON THE "HEARING AID" ITSELF.