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Devices allow mobility for deaf phone users - USATODAY.com
Two new products will allow people who are hard of hearing or deaf to have the same mobile options as their hearing counterparts.
At a news conference Monday conducted in American Sign Language at Rochester Institute of Technology's National Technical Institute for the Deaf, technology company Sorenson Communications announced ntouch PC and ntouch Mobile. They turn laptops and cellphones into videophones with the same Video Relay Service technology now used by deaf individuals to place calls.
"We're not kicking and screaming here," said Ron Burdett, Sorenson's vice president of community relations. "What we want is what hearing people have. My dream has come true."
Burdett said Sorenson is the largest provider of Video Relay Service, which allows the deaf to place calls using a videophone device called the VP-200. The VP-200 sat on top of a television set, and an interpreter would come on the TV screen to speak English to the hearing party, then relay their answers through sign language to the deaf individual.
"We can't very well strap our videophone and TV to our hip. That's not very user-friendly," said Burdett, who is deaf.
With ntouch PC, a computer or laptop can be turned into a videophone. The software is free and works with any Internet or wi-fi connection.
Ntouch Mobile is compatible with the HTC EVO phone on the Sprint network. It turns the cellphone into a videophone with features such as SignMail and e911. It even lets users set special vibration and flash patterns for different callers with the myRumble feature, essentially the equivalent of the ringtones hearing people use to identify callers.
Because the EVO is a 4G phone on the Android platform, Sorenson President and Chief Executive Pat Nola said it had the high bandwidth and self-facing phone needed to work with video relay service technology. Other mobile providers will be added soon.
Many of the students in the audience were excited by the convenience the
ntouch products present.
Steven Merrill, 21, said being tethered to his TV with the VP-200 hasn't made it easy to fit talking with his parents into his schedule.
"Sometimes they're busy and not available to talk, sometimes they'll call me back and I'm busy," said the student from New Hampshire. "Then we have to send a text and make an appointment to actually have phone time."
Thanks to the Dell laptop he won at the news conference already loaded with ntouch PC software, Merrill said his parents would be able to call him and leave a message, and he could do the same for them.
The Americans with Disabilities Act mandates that hard-of-hearing individuals have products that are functionally equivalent to what the hearing community enjoys. Because it is a federal mandate, Sorenson is reimbursed by the Federal Communications Commission, allowing the company to provide services free of charge for deaf individuals.
Two new products will allow people who are hard of hearing or deaf to have the same mobile options as their hearing counterparts.
At a news conference Monday conducted in American Sign Language at Rochester Institute of Technology's National Technical Institute for the Deaf, technology company Sorenson Communications announced ntouch PC and ntouch Mobile. They turn laptops and cellphones into videophones with the same Video Relay Service technology now used by deaf individuals to place calls.
"We're not kicking and screaming here," said Ron Burdett, Sorenson's vice president of community relations. "What we want is what hearing people have. My dream has come true."
Burdett said Sorenson is the largest provider of Video Relay Service, which allows the deaf to place calls using a videophone device called the VP-200. The VP-200 sat on top of a television set, and an interpreter would come on the TV screen to speak English to the hearing party, then relay their answers through sign language to the deaf individual.
"We can't very well strap our videophone and TV to our hip. That's not very user-friendly," said Burdett, who is deaf.
With ntouch PC, a computer or laptop can be turned into a videophone. The software is free and works with any Internet or wi-fi connection.
Ntouch Mobile is compatible with the HTC EVO phone on the Sprint network. It turns the cellphone into a videophone with features such as SignMail and e911. It even lets users set special vibration and flash patterns for different callers with the myRumble feature, essentially the equivalent of the ringtones hearing people use to identify callers.
Because the EVO is a 4G phone on the Android platform, Sorenson President and Chief Executive Pat Nola said it had the high bandwidth and self-facing phone needed to work with video relay service technology. Other mobile providers will be added soon.
Many of the students in the audience were excited by the convenience the
ntouch products present.
Steven Merrill, 21, said being tethered to his TV with the VP-200 hasn't made it easy to fit talking with his parents into his schedule.
"Sometimes they're busy and not available to talk, sometimes they'll call me back and I'm busy," said the student from New Hampshire. "Then we have to send a text and make an appointment to actually have phone time."
Thanks to the Dell laptop he won at the news conference already loaded with ntouch PC software, Merrill said his parents would be able to call him and leave a message, and he could do the same for them.
The Americans with Disabilities Act mandates that hard-of-hearing individuals have products that are functionally equivalent to what the hearing community enjoys. Because it is a federal mandate, Sorenson is reimbursed by the Federal Communications Commission, allowing the company to provide services free of charge for deaf individuals.
