Personal interpreter

• US 5,974,116 A
• Filed: 07/02/1998
• Issued: 10/26/1999
• Est. Priority Date: 07/02/1998
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Ultratech Incorporated (Veeco Instruments Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Ultratech Incorporated (Veeco Instruments Incorporated)
• Inventors: Engelke, Robert M., Colwell, Kevin
• Primary Examiner(s): Chan, Wing F.
• Application Number:
  US09/108,790
• Time in Patent Office: 481 Days
• Field of Search: 379/52, 379/93.17-93.19, 379/93.25-93.28, 379/93.14, 379/93.15, 340/825.19, 455/556
• US Class Current: 379/52
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 11/066 Telephone sets adapted for data transmision
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/02 Terminal devices

Abstract

An electronic personal interpreter is provided so that deaf or hard of hearing persons can use on-the spot interpreting to converse with hearing persons who do not know sign language. The personal interpreter uses a telephone connection to a telephone relay system for the deaf to perform the actual interpretation. By using a wireless telephone connection, the device is made portable and by using improved communication protocols and a fast translation technique at the relay, conversation-like speeds of information interchange can occur. Thus for the first time, deaf people will be free to move in hearing society and engage in normal speed conversations with hearing people without special adaptations or training by the hearing people.

Claims

1. A digital electronic personal interpreter device adapted to use a telephone relay service, the digital electronic personal interpreter device comprising:

a microphone allowing the reception of a voice of a person speaking to a user of the digital electronic personal interpreter device;

microprocessor;

a modem;

a visual display readable by the user of the digital electronic personal interpreter device; and

a telephone connection which can connect to the relay;

the microphone connected so that the voice picked up is transmitted to the relay;

the modem connected to receive digital text communications representing a transcription of the voice from the relay over the telephone connection and to transmit that text to the microprocessor; and

the microprocessor connected to display the words of the text communications received through the modem on the display.

2. A digital electronic personal interpreter device as claimed in claim 1 wherein the telephone connection includes a wireless telephone.

3. A digital electronic personal interpreter device as claimed in claim 2 wherein the wireless telephone is a cellular telephone.

4. A digital electronic personal interpreter device as claimed in claim 1 wherein the digital electronic personal interpreter device also includes a speaker connected to the telephone connection to create audible voice in the presence of the person speaking to the user if voice signals are received over the telephone from the relay and a filter connected between the telephone connection and the speaker to prevent digital communication frequencies from being broadcast on the speaker.

5. A digital electronic personal interpreter device as claimed in claim 1 wherein the telephone connection is one telephone line and the voice and digital text share the one telephone line.

6. A digital electronic personal interpreter device as claimed in claim 5 wherein a bandwidth of the one telephone line is divided into frequency portions with the voice using the portion of lower frequency and the digital text using the portion of higher frequency.

7. A digital electronic personal interpreter device as claimed in claim 5 wherein the voice and digital text are sampled and digitized and the digitized samples combined for transmission on the one telephone line.

8. A digital electronic personal interpreter device as claimed in claim 1 wherein the telephone connection is two telephone lines, one for the voice and one for the digital text.

9. A digital electronic personal interpreter device adapted to interpret between a deaf or hard of hearing person and a hearing person using the services of a telephone relay, the digital electronic personal interpreter device comprising:

a microphone;

a telephone;

a microprocessor controlling the operation of the components of the digital electronic personal interpreter device;

a modem connected between the microprocessor and the telephone;

a visually perceptible display connected to be under the control of the microprocessor; and

a user operable initiation switch, the operation of the user operable initiation switch causing the microprocessor to control the telephone to initiate a telephone connection to the relay and to send command codes to the relay to cause the relay to receive voice over the telephone and transmit digital text translated from that voice communication back to the digital electronic personal interpreter device over the same telephone connection so that the microprocessor can display the digital text interpretation of the voice communication on the display.

10. A digital electronic personal interpreter device as claimed in claim 9 wherein the telephone is a cellular telephone.

11. A digital electronic personal interpreter device as claimed in claim 9 wherein the interpreter also includes a speaker connected to the telephone to create audible voice in the presence of the interpreter if voice signals are received over the telephone from the relay and a filter connected between the telephone and the speaker to prevent digital communication frequencies from being broadcast on the speaker.

12. A digital electronic personal interpreter device adapted to interpret communications between a hearing person and a deaf or hard of hearing person using the services of a telephone relay, the digital electronic personal interpreter device comprising:

a microphone;

a speaker;

a telephone connected to the microphone and to the speaker so as to be capable of transmitting voice received by the microphone to the relay and of transmitting voice received from the relay to the speaker;

a modem connected to the telephone to decipher the text from any digital communication signals received by the telephone;

a microprocessor connected to the modem to receive and store any text deciphered by the modem;

a visually readable display connected to be controlled by the microprocessor and used by the microprocessor to display the words of the text received by the microprocessor; and

a filter connected in between the speaker and the telephone so that digital communication signals used by the modem are filtered from the signal transmitted to the speaker so that person listening to voice transmitted by the speaker do not hear the digital communication signals.

13. A digital electronic personal interpreter device as claimed in claim 12 wherein the digital communication frequencies used are substantially at and above 2800 Hertz and the filter is a low pass filter.

14. A digital electronic personal interpreter device as claimed in claim 12 wherein the digital communication frequencies used are 1400 and 1800 Hertz and the filter includes notch filters for the digital communication frequencies.

15. A digital electronic personal interpreter device as claimed in claim 12 further including a initiation key the actuation of which by the user causes the microprocessor to use the mode to dial the relay and to transmit command codes to the relay instructing the relay to send the translated text from the voice signal back to the digital electronic personal interpreter device over the wireless telephone.

16. A hand held digital electronic personal interpreter device to caption communications between a hearing person and a deaf or hard of hearing person using the services of a telephone relay, the digital electronic personal interpreter device comprising:

a microphone;

a wireless telephone connected to the microphone so as to be capable of transmitting voice received by the microphone to the relay;

a modem connected to the telephone to decipher the text from any digital communication signals received from the relay through the telephone;

a microprocessor connected to the modem to receive and store any text deciphered by the modem;

a visually readable display connected to be controlled by the microprocessor and used by the microprocessor to display the words of the text received by the microprocessor; and

a filter connected between the microphone and the telephone so that frequency components of voice picked up by the microphone are filtered out of the voice signal transmitted over the telephone.

17. A digital electronic personal interpreter device as claimed in claim 16 further comprising a speaker connected through a filter to the telephone, the speaker serving to broadcast voice received by the telephone, the filter designed to filter out digital communication frequencies from the filter.

18. A method of providing portable near-to-real-time voice to text captioning for a deaf or hard of hearing user, the method comprising:

providing the user with a hand held digital electronic personal interpreter device including a microphone, a display, a modem, and a telephone,

initiating operation of the hand held digital electronic personal interpreter device in the presence of a speaking person;

transmitting voice of the speaking person spoken in the presence of the hand held digital electronic personal interpreter device from the microphone over the telephone to the relay, and at the relay, translating the received voice to a digital text message and transmitting the message back over the same connection to the telephone; and

at the hand held digital electronic personal interpreter device, the modem deciphering the text message which is received by the microprocessor and displayed on the display so that the user receives a near-to-real time text version of the words spoken by the hearing person.