Relay for personal interpreter

• US 6,934,366 B2
• Filed: 12/10/2002
• Issued: 08/23/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 09/08/1997
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Ultratech Incorporated (Veeco Instruments Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Ultratech Incorporated (Veeco Instruments Incorporated)
• Inventors: Vitek, Troy D., Gritner, Kurt M., Engelke, Robert M., Colwell, Kevin
• Primary Examiner(s): Eng, George
• Application Number:
  US10/316,215
• Publication Number:
  US 20030198320A1
• Time in Patent Office: 987 Days
• Field of Search: 379/55, 379/88.01, 379/88.14, 379/93.05, 379/93.09, 379/93.14, 379/93.15, 379/52, 340/825.19, 704/235, 704/246, 704/270, 704/271
• US Class Current: 379/52
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 15/22 Procedures used during a speech recognition process, e.g. man-machine dialogue
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 15/26 Speech to text systems G10L15/08 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/2475 for a hearing impaired user
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/271 controlled by voice recognition
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/724 User interfaces specially adapted for cordless or mobile telephones
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 11/066 Telephone sets adapted for data transmision
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 11/10 with dictation recording and playback systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2201/40 using speech recognition speech recognition per se G10L15/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2201/60 Medium conversion
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42391 where the subscribers are hearing-impaired persons, e.g. telephone devices for the deaf

Abstract

A relay is described to facilitate communication through the telephone system between hearing users and users who need or desire assistance in understanding voice communications. To overcome the speed limitations inherent in typing, the call assistant at the relay does not type most words but, instead, re-voices the words spoken by the hearing user into a computer operating a voice recognition software package trained to the voice of that call assistant. The text stream created by the computer and the voice of the hearing user are both sent to the assisted user so that the assisted user can be supplied with a visual text stream to supplement the voice communications. A time delay in the transmission of the voice of the hearing user through the relay is of assistance in the assisted user comprehending the communications session.

Claims

1. A method of operating a relay system using voice recognition software to facilitate communication between a hearing user speaking words and an assisted user by telephone comprising steps of

transmitting the words spoken by the hearing user when speaking to the voice recognition software at the relay;

the digital computer using the voice recognition software to translate the words spoken by the hearing user into a digital text message stream;

transmitting both the digital text message stream and the voice of the hearing user by telephone connection to the assisted user;

displaying the digital text message stream to a captioned telephone display device within sight of the assisted user; and

broadcasting the voice of the hearing user to the assisted user;

wherein the transmission of the voice of the hearing user through the relay is delayed by a time period which has the effect of making the text and the voice received by the assisted user closer to the synchrony than would be the case without the delay.