ELECTRO-MECHANICAL SYSTEMS FOR ENABLING THE HEARING IMPAIRED AND THE VISUALLY IMPAIRED
First Claim
1. A method of aiding hearing impaired persons in sound recognition comprising the steps of:
- defining a frequency domain comprising audible sound, including human speech;
segregating the defined frequency domain into a predetermined number of discrete frequency segments;
providing a plurality of servo actuators equal in number to the predetermined number of discrete frequency segments;
associating each of the servo actuators with one of the discrete frequency segments;
positioning each of the servo actuators for tactile stimulation of a predetermined region of the skin of a hearing impaired person;
receiving signals within the defined frequency domain;
determining the energy levels of the portions of the received signals comprising each of the discrete frequency segments thereof; and
causing each of the servo actuators to produce a tactile stimulation of the predetermined region of the skin of the hearing impaired person corresponding to the determined energy level of the discrete frequency segment associated therewith.
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Abstract
A system for enabling the hearing impaired comprises a plurality of servo actuators each associated with a particular segment of a predetermined frequency domain. The servo actuators drive tactile stimulators which engage the skin of the hearing impaired person in patterns that are unique to individual inputs thereby enabling the hearing impaired person to “hear” signals within the defined frequency domain. An electromechanical system for enabling the visually impaired comprises a two dimension array of servo actuators which respond to optical sensors and which actuate tactile stimulators thereby identifying objects in the path of the visually impaired person.
46 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method of aiding hearing impaired persons in sound recognition comprising the steps of:
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defining a frequency domain comprising audible sound, including human speech;
segregating the defined frequency domain into a predetermined number of discrete frequency segments;
providing a plurality of servo actuators equal in number to the predetermined number of discrete frequency segments;
associating each of the servo actuators with one of the discrete frequency segments;
positioning each of the servo actuators for tactile stimulation of a predetermined region of the skin of a hearing impaired person;
receiving signals within the defined frequency domain;
determining the energy levels of the portions of the received signals comprising each of the discrete frequency segments thereof; and
causing each of the servo actuators to produce a tactile stimulation of the predetermined region of the skin of the hearing impaired person corresponding to the determined energy level of the discrete frequency segment associated therewith. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 19, 20)
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11. The method of aiding visually impaired persons in recognizing objects in their path of travel comprising the steps of:
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providing a photosensor;
utilizing the photosensor to generate an image of the path of travel of a visually impaired person;
segregating the image of the path of travel of the visually impaired person into a predetermined number of discrete regions;
providing a plurality of servo actuators equal in number to the predetermined number of discrete regions;
associating each of the servo actuators with one of the discrete regions;
positioning each of the servo actuators for tactile stimulation of a predetermined region of the skin of the visually impaired person;
determining the intensity of the light comprising each segment of the image of the path of travel of the visually impaired person; and
causing each of the photo actuators to produce a tactile stimulation on the predetermined region of the skin of the visually impaired person corresponding to the intensity of the light comprising the segment of the image of the path of travel of the visually impaired person associated therewith. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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Specification