« August 2010 | Main | October 2010 »
September 1, 2010
Deaf, HoH Students Perform First Test of Sign Language by Cell Phone
University of Washington engineers are developing the first device able to transmit American Sign Language over U.S. cellular networks. The tool is just completing its initial field test by participants in a UW summer program for deaf and hard-of-hearing students.
"This is the first study of how deaf people in the United States use mobile video phones," said project leader Eve Riskin, a UW professor of electrical engineering.
The MobileASL team has been working to optimize compressed video signals for sign language. By increasing image quality around the face and hands, researchers have brought the data rate down to 30 kilobytes per second while still delivering intelligible sign language. MobileASL also uses motion detection to identify whether a person is signing or not, in order to extend the phones' battery life during video use.
Posted @ 12:16 AM
New Norwegian Earplug Solution to a Deafening Problem
Some 600 cases of noise-induced hearing impairment are reported by the Norwegian petroleum industry every year. A new, intelligent earplug is now set to alleviate the problem.
Norway's largest company, Statoil ASA, is taking the problems associated with noise exposure seriously. Over the course of four years the international energy company has led efforts to further develop an existing combined hearing protection and communication product for use on offshore platforms.
Posted @ 12:13 AM
Dog credited with saving deaf man from burning home
A dog is credited with alerting a man to escape from his burning home in Gaston County early Tuesday morning.
The fire occurred around 12:30 a.m. along the 100 block of Spratt Drive.
In the 911 call to Gaston County EMS, Gordon Darel Arnold says, "My dog woke me up, she must've smelled it or something, I don't know."
"God, the blazes is shootin' everywhere!" he told the 911 operator.
Arnold said he had a working smoke detector, but wouldn't have heard it going off early Tuesday morning because he had taken his hearing aids out before going to bed.
Posted @ 12:04 AM
Police look to begin text-messaging service
The ASU Police Department is looking to change the way students contact authorities for help.
Instead of calling police or reporting crimes in person, students may soon have the option of texting emergencies.
ASU Police spokesman Cmdr. Jim Hardina said the department notices how students use technology and is always looking at ways to leverage technology to their advantage.
“Eventually the police department is going to have to use text messaging,” Hardina said. “It’s just our culture.”
Posted @ 12:01 AM