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http://www.deccanherald.com/deccanherald/feb12006/cyberspace1210582006131.asp
Free software will allow deaf people to talk in real time on their mobile phones.
A new system developed by The Royal National Institute for Deaf People (RNID) will allow the deaf to use a real-time text message service on their mobile phones. The software allows deaf users to conduct live conversations by typing into their mobiles.
Although the boom in text messaging has handed a lifeline to many deaf people who want to use phones on the move, they are otherwise excluded from most mobile communications. After three years of development, RNID will this week unveil its new Typetalk - and offer it as a free download.
Although there are similarities with instant messaging, the RNID service is mediated through an operator to allow deaf people to carry out telephone conversations with hearing counterparts. Guido Gybels, the director of new technologies at RNID, says it will allow deaf people to carry on with their daily lives.
"It is precisely because the mobile phone is a key part of so many people's lives that this application is critical," he said. "If it helps people operate in society - take calls on the move, enter the world of work - it will be a success."
The system will initially be rolled out on phones such as the Nokia 6822 and Sony Ericsson P900, but because it is provided as a Java download, it should be easy to make it compatible with most modern handsets. The software has been in development since 2002, and has been funded mainly through charitable donations.
"Realistically speaking, it's a fairly small user group," says Gybels. "If you look at our estimates, there are 11,000 to 12,000 textphone users in the UK. But this is really a qualitative issue, not a quantitive one."
RNID is calling on network providers to offer the download free of charge - as well as giving deaf customers preferential data transfer rates. Operators have a legal obligation to provide mobile textphone solutions to deaf people in Britain, but the organisation says most networks have failed miserably.
"Frankly, operators have been ignoring the new Communications Act - apart from Vodafone," Gybels adds. "The other networks have been useless.
Free software will allow deaf people to talk in real time on their mobile phones.
A new system developed by The Royal National Institute for Deaf People (RNID) will allow the deaf to use a real-time text message service on their mobile phones. The software allows deaf users to conduct live conversations by typing into their mobiles.
Although the boom in text messaging has handed a lifeline to many deaf people who want to use phones on the move, they are otherwise excluded from most mobile communications. After three years of development, RNID will this week unveil its new Typetalk - and offer it as a free download.
Although there are similarities with instant messaging, the RNID service is mediated through an operator to allow deaf people to carry out telephone conversations with hearing counterparts. Guido Gybels, the director of new technologies at RNID, says it will allow deaf people to carry on with their daily lives.
"It is precisely because the mobile phone is a key part of so many people's lives that this application is critical," he said. "If it helps people operate in society - take calls on the move, enter the world of work - it will be a success."
The system will initially be rolled out on phones such as the Nokia 6822 and Sony Ericsson P900, but because it is provided as a Java download, it should be easy to make it compatible with most modern handsets. The software has been in development since 2002, and has been funded mainly through charitable donations.
"Realistically speaking, it's a fairly small user group," says Gybels. "If you look at our estimates, there are 11,000 to 12,000 textphone users in the UK. But this is really a qualitative issue, not a quantitive one."
RNID is calling on network providers to offer the download free of charge - as well as giving deaf customers preferential data transfer rates. Operators have a legal obligation to provide mobile textphone solutions to deaf people in Britain, but the organisation says most networks have failed miserably.
"Frankly, operators have been ignoring the new Communications Act - apart from Vodafone," Gybels adds. "The other networks have been useless.