Tag: DEAF

Scientists at the University of Utah led by researcher Richard Rabbitt, have found a way to stimulate inner ear cells with infrared laser light. Using low-powered optical signals, the researchers triggered the inner ear hair cells of an oyster toadfish to send signals to its brain, raising the possibility of using the technology to restore hearing to the deaf. Rabbitt believes the cells ...

It'd be hard to find a chunk of society more profoundly influenced by mobile technology than the deaf and otherwise hearing impaired. Ever since the dawn of the smartphone era, deaf cell phone users have been able to communicate more easily with the rest of the world -- and, for the first time, have been able to do so on their terms. Day-to-day life at the Alabama School for the Deaf in ...

Engineers at the University of Washington are currently testing a new device that, if successful, could drastically alter the ways in which deaf and hearing-impaired people use cell phones to communicate. The tool, called MobileASL, uses compressed video signals and motion detection technology to discern American Sign Language, and then transmits images across cellular networks. So far, UW's team ...

As online video has exploded over the past decade, one group has been left behind: the hearing impaired. According to The New York Times, advocates like deaf actress Marlee Matlin are pushing to make closed-captioning mandatory for online video providers. In the 1990s, Congress mandated that all TV sets and TV shows have closed-captioning technology. But, legislation hasn't kept pace with ...

There's a load of great tech news happening out there every day, and, unfortunately, we just can't cover it all. Here are a few of the other noteworthy things we saw today on our never-ending journey through the wild, wild Web. We promise this is not a creepy sex toy. In fact, this moaning rubber mouth is an aid for the hearing impaired, specifically designed to help them improve their vocal ...

Remember that scene in 'Mr. Holland's Opus,' in which Richard Dreyfuss's deaf son turns up the sound on the stereo and sits on the speaker so he can "hear" the sound? Well, researchers at Ryerson University's Centre of Learning Technology and Toronto's Science of Music, Auditory Research and Technology Lab have taken that concept to its logical extreme and built the Emoti-Chair. The Emoti-Chair ...

We've seen texting used in an awful lot of ways, like summoning a security guard, sending unwanted advertising, and even searching for alien life. One thing we haven't seen is text messages admitted into a court of law, but that's exactly what happened yesterday at a court in Northampton County, New Jersey, when a deaf witness was forced to text his testimony for the jurors. The trial was for 36 ...