Global telecommunication specialist Geemarc has announced details of a new piece of equipment for those with hearing loss.
A cutting-edge connector that will fit any corded domestic or office telephone, TextHear Personal allows the deaf and hard of hearing, to have text displayed on their smart phones/tablets, in parallel to the telephone conversation.
Although speech-to-text technology has been available for well over a decade, early products had many limitations, particularly regarding accuracy of speech recognition and the requirement for training. Geemarc Telecom SA together with Texthear Ltd have spent years researching and developing technology behind speech recognition and translation, with the result being their most accurate and versatile product yet - TextHear Personal.
In conjunction with the connector, the TextHear Personal app can be downloaded to any Android phone or tablet. There is no set up required and what’s more, users are able to speak to the product using normal conversational tone and speed. This is something that Geemarc consider to be incredibly important as it alleviates the current frustrations experienced with existing products and significantly increases accuracy (to around 90% of words being recognised first time, according to tests carried out by UK charity Action on Hearing Loss).
Advanced functionality within TextHear Personal now means the app is able to use the device's inbuilt microphones to translate verbal messages and present them as text; furthermore, it will then add in punctuation and spacing, to aid comprehension. The only requirement for the app is that the device needs to be connected to the Internet, as it uses remotely hosted speech-to-text engines for translation.
The development of TextHear Personal has already caught the attention of hearing loss charities Ruth Myers MBE, comments: “The application has great potential to enhance the lives of deaf people and will help to open up access to areas which have historically only been accessible with communication support.”.
Product technologist for Action on Hearing Loss, Kevin Taylor, states: “This could be the breakthrough that people with hearing loss and deafness have been waiting for and we look forward to seeing further enhancements to the app over the coming months.”
Geemarc Telecom SA are keen to make users aware that they are constantly making improvements to the TextHear Personal, as more research is made into pushing the boundaries of this technology. Texthear Ltd id also making aesthetic modifications for the app, including users being able to change font size, style and background colours to assist visually impaired users also.
