ENVIRONMENT SENSING SYSTEM FOR THE HEARING-IMPAIRED
First Claim
1. A personal unit for notifying a deaf/hearing-impaired user of a sound event in its surrounding environment and for communicating an immediate assistance request to a central station, said personal unit comprising:
- a transceiver for receiving a sound event message representative of said sound event detected in said environment,an output module for notifying said user of said sound event message, andan input module for inputting said immediate assistance request, said request to be communicated to said central station using said transceiver;
said transceiver being further for receiving an inquiry message initiated by said central station in response to said request,said output module being further for displaying said inquiry message, andsaid input module being further for inputting an answer to said inquiry message, said answer to be communicated to said central station using said transceiver.
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Accused Products
Abstract
There is provided an environment sensing system for the deaf/hearing-impaired. A user wears a personal unit for notifying him/her of a sound event in its surrounding environment. The personal unit is also in communication with a central station, for the user to request immediate assistance. When receiving a sound event message from a sound detection unit in the environment, the personal unit vibrates and displays a notification on a screen. At any time, the user may request immediate assistance to the central station using push buttons located on the personal unit. The central station may contact the user by displaying inquiries or messages on the screen. The user may then confirm that immediate assistance is actually required or communicate more information to the central station using the push buttons.
31 Citations
24 Claims
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1. A personal unit for notifying a deaf/hearing-impaired user of a sound event in its surrounding environment and for communicating an immediate assistance request to a central station, said personal unit comprising:
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a transceiver for receiving a sound event message representative of said sound event detected in said environment, an output module for notifying said user of said sound event message, and an input module for inputting said immediate assistance request, said request to be communicated to said central station using said transceiver; said transceiver being further for receiving an inquiry message initiated by said central station in response to said request, said output module being further for displaying said inquiry message, and said input module being further for inputting an answer to said inquiry message, said answer to be communicated to said central station using said transceiver. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A method for communicating an immediate assistance request to a central station using a portable personal unit for notifying a deaf/hearing-impaired user of a sound event in its surrounding environment, the method comprising:
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receiving, on the portable personal unit, a sound event message representative of said sound event detected in said environment; providing a notification of said sound event message on the portable personal unit; inputting an immediate assistance request on the portable personal unit; communicating said request to said central station; receiving an inquiry message initiated by said central station in response to said request, on the portable personal unit; displaying said inquiry message on the portable personal unit; manually inputting an answer to said inquiry message on said portable personal unit; and transmitting said answer to said central station. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A portable personal unit for notifying a deaf/hearing-impaired user of a sound event in its surrounding environment and in communication with a detection unit having a unique identification code, said personal unit comprising:
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a register for listing registered identification codes, a transceiver for receiving a sound event message representative of a sound event detected in said environment, said sound event message comprising said unique identification code and said transceiver considering said sound event message only if said unique identification code is listed in said register, an output module for providing a notification of the considered sound event message, and an input module for adding and removing registered identification codes from said register. - View Dependent Claims (20)
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21. A method for using a portable personal unit with at least a first and a second sound event detection systems, the personal unit for notifying a deaf/hearing-impaired user of sound events in its surrounding environment, the method comprising:
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programming the portable personal unit to communicate with units of the first sound event detection system; moving the portable personal unit in a surrounding environment of the second sound event detection system, the first and the second sound event detection systems having non-overlapping surrounding environments; programming the portable personal unit to communicate with existing units of the second sound event detection system such that the portable personal unit is remained allowed to communicate with units of the first sound event detection system; and moving the portable personal unit between the surrounding environments of the first and the second sound event detection systems for interchangeably using the portable personal unit with the first and the second sound event detection systems. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24)
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Specification