Google's Live Transcribe and Sound Amplifier Aim To Help the Hard of Hearing (cnet.com) 30
Google wants to make Android phones powerful tools for people who are deaf or hard of hearing. From a report: On Monday, the search giant released two new services, Live Transcribe and Sound Amplifier, aimed at helping people who have trouble hearing communicate more easily. Live Transcribe does exactly what its name suggests -- it uses your phone's mic to automatically generate captions that appear on your screen. With Sound Amplifier, you can use your phone and a set of headphones to improve the clarity of the speech around you. To develop the new products, Google said it worked with Gallaudet University, the private school in Washington, DC for people who are deaf or hard of hearing.
Obligatory (Score:3)
News for the hard of hearing [youtube.com].
Re: (Score:2)
Hardly, obligatory would be:
What?
Re:Free market (Score:4, Insightful)
Well it depends. If Google cannot find a way to monetize it, it will just say locked up as an unused patent, in their R&D Department.
Then you get question on how well it will transcribe for you. Would it transcribe data well enough for a Hearing Impaired person to make sound legal decisions from its transcriptions.
Also depending on how Google monetizes it, there can be significant privacy and security concerns around it.
It seems by tone of your post, you have a hard time differentiating socialism from communism. Socialism welcomes a free market, however will get involved if something goes too far, or does more harm then good. Compared to Communism, which Government controls the business, in all aspects.
With the recent government shutdown, the the closing of the FDA. New types of Beer couldn't be released, and new drugs cannot be approved. In essence putting a hold on economic growth. Because the FDA, FCC, SCC... While not perfect, has the goal of doing more good then harm, and make sure free trade, doesn't devolve into snake oil sales.
Re: (Score:2)
I doubt it would be used for making legal decisions, even for people who can hear perfectly well we tend to write stuff down.
Visually impaired people already make extensive use of Google services like maps and text to speech so any privacy issues are probably well known by now. At least in Europe you can opt out of everything and run it all locally if you wish. The biggest issue they have is abuse from people who see them looking at their phones and assume that they are faking their disability.
Re: (Score:2)
There are things that would require understand of the words before deicing to act. Not all legal decisions are contractual.
Lets use the old trope of the Miranda rights, yes the police doesn't need to give the speech, and you won't give a free pass just because they arrested you without it.
However if given, and Google Transcribe came up with something wrong, then use made your decision based on the bad transcription, how would that play out in court. "You have the right to remember sentences. Any thing for
Re: (Score:2)
.
What's funny is that this "shutdown" only shutdown around 7% of the government spending and "work" - the stuff you mention among it. No paychecks don't get paid - zero. No entitlements don't get paid - there'd be revolt. Sure
Should've added to YouTube first (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Apple's hard-of-hearing-ness (Score:4, Interesting)
I applaud Google in their efforts here, but as a current iPhone user, I'm saddened to see it as something I can't/won't immediately be able to take advantage of. What frustrates me--as an Apple customer, as a "fan" of Apple's Accessibility work, and as one of those 466 million hard-of-hearing folks--is the difficulty I have personally had in getting Apple to understand hearing impairment, and to take it more seriously than they do. Apple seems to be of the mind that hearing impairment can be and is resolved with hearing aids, which to those in the know is absurd. Perhaps, though, Google's initiatives will help Apple see what additional work could be done to improve their ecosystem for hard-of-hearing users, not just the specific subset of the hearing-impaired population that can benefit from hearing aids.
Re:Apple's hard-of-hearing-ness (Score:5, Insightful)
Don't applaud too loudly Google's efforts to get more people to willingly turn their cellphones into even more of a spy device.
Re: (Score:2)
Don't applaud too loudly...
I wonder what the subtitles for that would be?
Re: (Score:2)
[loud applause]
Re: (Score:1)
Re: (Score:3)
If Google actually cares about helping people, and not just using it as a Cash grab to get a group of people to switch to Google. I don't see why Google cannot release an iOS app. Google and Microsoft does have a set of Apps for iOS as well as for Android.
The real question goes into how Google expect to monetize the technology.
Re: (Score:2)
What's their motive? (Score:2)
Not for me (Score:2)
Also sends everything to Google (Score:2)
To be stored forever and data-mined to the nines. Google does nothing for others, everything it does is just to make its elite even more filthy rich.
Too much of a delay (Score:2)
I have hearing loss and tinnitus in my right ear. A hearing aid was going to cost over $1,000 (after insurance reduced the cost) so I tried less expensive options first. White noise applications on a bluetooth headset reduced the ringing but blocked me from hearing through my right ear. I tried some "sound booster" apps but there was a delay. Not a big delay, but enough to be frustrating. Sort of like the stereotypical badly dubbed Japanese movie. {mouth moves} "How are {mouth stops moving} you doing?" Befo
Re: (Score:1)
Some tinnitus is mental / neural; some is caused by infection. Hopefully you're seeking very competent medical help / tests?
Sadly my mom suffered from hearing loss (which significantly impacted her life) that might have been lessened or stopped if it had been caught years before. One of the symptoms showed up on a head CT showing some bone loss that was attributed to an inner-ear infection that can spread.
I occasionally get some perceived tinnitus that I attribute to a combination of not enough sleep and
Re: (Score:2)
I had a hearing test by an audiologist that showed significant hearing loss in the ear with the ringing. This might be genetic (as my mother has tinnitus as well) or just due to old age (which still feels odd to say given that I'm 43). Luckily, a second test a year later didn't show any additional hearing loss. Everything was exactly the same so we're hoping that this isn't going to get worse.
I believe that some "OTC hearing amplifiers" are being approved to help with the cost of hearing aids. These wouldn'
Re: (Score:1)
I'm sorry you're having this loss at such a young age. I'm a good bit older and regularly run (mix) sound (and I'm pretty good at very gentle augmentation of classical, to full-on rock). I haven't had my hearing tested, but I don't perceive it to be any worse than when I was 20, and now that I've gotten into audio work, I ardently/fiercely protect my hearing.
I know they're pricey but you've bypassed the world of junk hearing aids, and some argue that the super-cheap ones can do more damage.
I'm much more c
Spy even more intensely on the deaf (Score:2)