United States Patent [19J
`Engelke
`
`I lllll llllllll Ill lllll lllll lllll lllll lllll 111111111111111111111111111111111
`US005909482A
`[11] Patent Number:
`[45] Date of Patent:
`
`5,909,482
`Jun.1,1999
`
`[54] RELAY FOR PERSONAL INTERPRETER
`
`5,289,523
`
`2/1994 Vasile et al. ......................... 379/88.14
`
`[75]
`
`Inventor: Robert M. Engelke, Madison, Wis.
`
`[73] Assignee: Ultratec, Inc., Madison, Wis.
`
`[21] Appl. No.: 08/925,558
`
`[22]
`
`Filed:
`
`Sep. 8, 1997
`
`[51]
`[52]
`[58]
`
`[56]
`
`Int. Cl.6
`............................ H04M 11/00; H04M 1/64
`U.S. Cl. ....................... 379/52; 379/88.14; 379/93.15
`Field of Search .................................... 379/52, 88.14,
`379/93.05, 93.09, 93.14, 93.15; 340/825.19;
`704/235, 246, 270, 271
`
`References Cited
`
`U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS
`
`Primary Examiner-Curtis A Kuntz
`Assistant Examiner-George Eng
`Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Quarles & Brady LLP
`
`[57]
`
`ABSTRACT
`
`A relay is described to facilitate communication through the
`telephone system between deaf people and hearing people.
`To overcome the speed limitations inherent in typing, the
`call assistant at the relay does not type most words but,
`instead, re-voices the words spoken by the hearing person
`into a computer operating a voice recognition software
`package trained to the voice of that call assistant. The
`conversation-type flow of communications achieved by this
`type of relay enables the design of a new class of interpreters
`for the deaf.
`
`5,163,081 11/1992 Wycherley et al.
`
`...................... 379/52
`
`15 Claims, 2 Drawing Sheets
`
`36
`I
`VOICE
`BUFFER
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`38
`
`42
`I
`
`----
`
`48
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`111 Wffi)S
`I
`50
`
`111
`
`Ultratec Exhibit 1022
`Ultratec v Sorenson IP Holdings Page 1 of 8
`
`

`

`U.S. Patent
`
`Jun.1,1999
`
`Sheet 1 of 2
`
`5,909,482
`
`co
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`(Y)
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`ID (cid:173)
`(Y)
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`LO
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`(!J -u.
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`I
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`Ultratec Exhibit 1022
`Ultratec v Sorenson IP Holdings Page 2 of 8
`
`

`

`U.S. Patent
`
`Jun.1,1999
`
`Sheet 2 of 2
`
`5,909,482
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`10 -----Q
`
`FIG. 2
`
`10 \
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`12
`\
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`MICROPROCESSOR
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`22
`
`""'
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`24
`"-...
`
`MODEM
`
`20
`
`I
`CELLULAR
`TELEPHONE
`
`FILTER .__ _
`
`___.
`
`J -T - - -L_ _ __J-26
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`28
`
`I
`
`FIG. 3
`
`Ultratec Exhibit 1022
`Ultratec v Sorenson IP Holdings Page 3 of 8
`
`

`

`5,909,482
`
`1
`RELAY FOR PERSONAL INTERPRETER
`
`CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED
`APPLICATIONS
`
`Not applicable.
`
`STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY
`SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT
`
`Not applicable.
`
`BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
`
`2
`operations in the prior art, the call assistant types at a TDD
`keyboard the words which are voiced to her by the hearing
`user and then voices to the hearing user the words that the
`call assistant sees upon the display of his or her TDD. The
`5 call assistant serves, in essence, as an interpreting interme(cid:173)
`diary between the deaf person and the hearing person to
`translate from voice to digital electronic forms of commu(cid:173)
`nication.
`A limitation in the effectiveness of current relay protocols
`10 is the necessity for the call assistant simply to type what is
`said. Typical call assistants can usually type reasonably well,
`typically in the range of 30 to 50 words per minute. While
`systems exist which permit the digital encoding of verbal
`communications at a faster rate, such as court stenography
`used in the legal system, such systems require extensive
`15 special training and are impractical for the numerous call
`assistants required by the relay systems in operation today.
`This limitation on the speed of conversion from speech to
`digital communications hampers the effective flow of com(cid:173)
`munication in a relay call between the hearing person and a
`20 deaf person, since most hearing people speak at a rate which
`is higher than most call assistants can type. In addition, since
`conventional Baudot communications is unidirectional, the
`flow of conversation in a relay assisted communication
`session can be somewhat awkward. For example, first the
`25 hearing person must voice a statement or question. Then the
`calling assistant must type that statement or question, which
`is then transmitted at Baudot speeds, which are slower than
`normal human voice communication, to the deaf person. The
`deaf person waits until the entire statement or question is
`30 transmitted to him or her, after which he or she composes a
`response and types it in at his or her TDD. Then the
`communication flows backward to the call assistant who
`must voice to the hearing person what the deaf person has
`typed at his or her terminal. This process enables a degree of
`two-way communication between a deaf person and a hear(cid:173)
`ing person, but the system tries the patience of the hearing
`person, since it is typically not conducted at a pace anywhere
`close to normal human communications.
`
`BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
`The present invention is summarized in that a relay
`system to facilitate the translation of information and com(cid:173)
`munication between deaf and hearing persons includes a call
`assistant who re-voices the words of the hearing person
`45 which are spoken to the call assistant. The words spoken by
`the call assistant are recognized by a speech recognition
`computer program which has been trained to the voice
`pattern of the call assistant, such that the words are promptly
`translated into a high speed digital communication protocol.
`50 That high speed digital communication message is then
`transmitted electronically promptly by telephone to a visual
`display accessible to the deaf person.
`It is an advantage of the invention described herein that
`the call assistant does not have to type most, if any, of the
`55 words spoken by the hearing person in the communication
`session so that the overall speed of communications from the
`hearing person to the deaf person is dramatically increased.
`It is an object of the present invention that the design and
`utilization of a relay operated in accordance with the pro-
`60 tocols described herein permits the introduction of small
`hand-held personal interpreter which will enable on the spot
`communications between deaf persons and hearing persons
`wherever the deaf persons might go.
`Other objects, advantages and features of the present
`65 invention will become apparent from the following specifi(cid:173)
`cation when taken in conjunction with the accompanying
`drawings.
`
`The present invention relates to the general field of
`telephone communications. In more particular, the invention
`relates to systems to assist telephone communications by
`those persons who are deaf, hard of hearing, or otherwise
`have impaired hearing capability.
`Most modern human communications in both social and
`business environments takes place through sound commu(cid:173)
`nications. Yet within modern society there are many persons
`who have attenuated hearing capability. To assist those
`persons in making use of our telephonic communication
`system built for the hearing majority, there has been devel(cid:173)
`oped a system of telephone communication which has been
`principally used by the deaf community. That system makes
`use of a category of device known variously as a telecom(cid:173)
`munication device for the deaf (TDD), text telephone (TT)
`or teletype (TTY). Current TDDs are electronic devices
`consisting of a key board and a display as well as a specific
`type of modem, to acoustically or directly couple to the
`telephone line. Modern TDDs permit the user to type
`characters into their keyboard, with the character strings
`then encoded and transmitted over the telephone line to be
`displayed on the display of a communicating or remote TDD 35
`device.
`Most TDD communication is conducted in an idiosyn(cid:173)
`cratic code specific to the community of TDD users. This
`code, known as Baudot, evolved historically at a time when
`many telecommunication devices for the deaf were based on 40
`mechanical or electromechanical devices rather than the
`current technology based on digital electronic components.
`Accordingly, the Baudot protocol was constructed for a set
`of constraints which are no longer relevant to present date
`devices. The original Baudot protocol was a unidirectional
`or simplex system of communication conducted at 45.5
`Baud. The conventional Baudot character set was a character
`set consisting of 5 bit characters and the system encodes the
`bits of those characters in a two-tonal system based on
`carrier tones of 1400 and 1800 Hertz.
`The system of TDD communications is widely used and
`in fact has become indispensable to the deaf community
`throughout the industrialized world. Deaf persons exten(cid:173)
`sively communicate with their neighbors and with other deaf
`and hearing people remotely, using the TDD system. In
`addition, systems have been developed to facilitate the
`exchange of communication between the deaf community
`and hearing users who do not have access to or utilize a TDD
`device. In the United States, telephone companies have set
`up a service referred to as a "relay." A relay, as the term is
`used herein, refers to a system of voice to TDD communi(cid:173)
`cation in which an operator, referred to as a "call assistant,"
`serves as a human intermediary between a hearing user and
`a deaf person. Normally the call assistant wears a headset
`that communicates by voice with the hearing user and also
`has access to a TDD device which can communicate to the
`deaf user using a TDD appropriate protocol. In normal relay
`
`Ultratec Exhibit 1022
`Ultratec v Sorenson IP Holdings Page 4 of 8
`
`

`

`5,909,482
`
`3
`BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL
`VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS
`
`FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of a relay operated
`in accordance with the present invention.
`FIG. 2 is an exterior view of a personal interpreter enabled
`by the relay of FIG. 1.
`FIG. 3 is a schematic block diagram of the personal
`interpreter of FIG. 2.
`
`DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE
`INVENTION
`
`20
`
`4
`and convenience and portability that this device gives to
`deaf people. A deaf user could go into an establishment, be
`it a government office or retail facility, in which there are
`only hearing persons. The deaf person would carry with him
`5 or her the personal interpreter 10. The deaf person would
`then place the personal interpreter 10 upon a counter or other
`surface, open it up, and press the initiation key or start
`button. The microprocessor 16 and modem 18 of the per(cid:173)
`sonal interpreter then power up and act in many ways like a
`10 normal TDD device operating in telecommunication
`standard, such as Turbo Code. However, there is one critical
`difference. The start or initiation key further causes the
`microprocessor 16 of the personal interpreter to dial a relay
`to set up a relay communication session and includes in its
`15 communication with the relay a message, using the
`enhanced command features available in advanced telecom-
`munication protocols, such as Turbo Code, to initiate a
`special format of relay call adapted for the personal inter(cid:173)
`preter. Other codes which permit command functions, such
`as ASCII or CC ITT, could also be used. The first operation
`is to activate the cellular telephone and direct the cellular
`telephone to dial the number of a relay operating in accor(cid:173)
`dance with the method of the present invention. The cellular
`telephone dials the relay. Obviously, no wired connection is
`25 required to allow the cellular telephone function to establish
`a telephone connection with the remote relay, but alterna(cid:173)
`tively the jack 28 to a conventional telephone line could be
`used. In addition, when the relay answers the telephone
`connection, the microprocessor 18 of the personal inter(cid:173)
`preter 10 is instructed to provide command codes to the
`remote relay. These command codes, a feature possible
`through the use of Turbo Code, permits the personal inter(cid:173)
`preter to tell the relay that this is a personal interpreter-type
`relay communication session. All of this can happen in the
`time necessary to initiate the cellular call, perhaps two to ten
`seconds.
`Then, the deaf person can use the personal interpreter to
`translate words spoken by hearing persons in the presence of
`the personal interpreter into visually readable text. This is
`done by the personal interpreter 10 through an unseen relay.
`Words spoken by the hearing persons in the presence of the
`personal interpreter 10 are picked up by the microphone 22.
`Those words are then transmitted through the cellular tele(cid:173)
`phone 20 to the remote relay. The relay, operating as will be
`described below, then immediately transmits back, in
`enhanced Turbo Code, a digital communication stream
`translating the words that were just spoken. The words are
`received by the modem 18, and the microprocessor 16 in the
`personal interpreter 10, and it is displayed promptly upon the
`display screen 14. If the deaf person can speak, he or she
`may then answer the hearing person with a spoken voice, or,
`the deaf person may alternatively type upon the keyboard
`12. If the deaf user types on the keyboard 12, the personal
`interpreter transmits the communication by digital commu(cid:173)
`nication to the relay. The call assistant at the relay then reads
`and speaks the words typed by the deaf user which are
`transmitted to the speaker 22 contained in the personal
`interpreter into a voice communication which can be under(cid:173)
`stood by the hearing users. The filter 26 filters out the digital
`communication frequencies from the sound generated by the
`speaker 22. Thus, in essence, the deaf person has a personal
`interpreter available to him or her at all times of the day or
`night wherever the deaf person is within the range of the
`cellular telephone system. Also, because the relay is pref-
`65 erably operating in accordance with the fast translation
`methodology described below, a very conversation-like feel
`can occur in the communication session between the deaf
`
`The present invention is directed toward a relay system,
`and a method for operating a relay system, so as to provide
`more conversation-like performance of voice to text inter(cid:173)
`preting for translating between deaf and hearing users. The
`improvements to the relay system and method of operating
`the relay described herein are applicable to the broad TDD
`community and to all the applications in which a relay is
`normally used. However, since the advantages of this system
`are most clear in view of its usefulness in enabling the
`advent of the truly portable personal interpreter for the deaf,
`a brief diversion to discuss what this device is and how the
`relay may enable its practical use is appropriate here.
`Shown in FIG. 2 is an illustration of what a personal
`interpreter 10 can look like. This would be a small hand held
`device typically the size of a small hardbound book. It would
`have a keyboard of minimal size, but useable by a deaf
`person who can type. It would have a two to four line 30
`display, but the display could be any size that conveniently
`fits in the case of the device. The device would also have a
`key or switch which would initiate its operation.
`Shown in FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram of the
`internal mechanics of the personal interpreter. The personal 35
`interpreter keyboard shown at 12 and its display as shown at
`14. Inside the interpreter itself is a microprocessor shown at
`16. Not shown, but included within the personal interpreter,
`would be the appropriate memory and interface devices so
`as to allow the microprocessor to be programmed and to 40
`operate the personal interpreter and perform its functions, in
`a manner well known in the art. Also inside of the personal
`interpreter is a modem 18. The modem 18 is preferably a
`modem specifically designed for interface with the deaf
`telecommunications system. Most telecommunications with 45
`the deaf community are conducted using a Baudot type code.
`It is preferred that the mode be designed to use the enhanced
`form of Baudot communication known as "Turbo Code"
`(Ultratec), which is generally described in U.S. Pat. Nos.
`5,432,837, No. 5,517,548, and 5,327,479, the disclosure of 50
`which is hereby incorporated by reference. It is even more
`preferred that the modem use a new variant of Turbo Code,
`one which uses higher carrier frequencies (in the range of
`3000-3500 hertz) and a faster baud rate (over 100 baud).
`The output of the modem is preferably wired to a cellular 55
`telephone 20 included within the case of the personal
`interpreter 10. The cellular telephone 20 has a suitable
`antenna provided on it so that it may dial a cellular telephone
`network by radio frequency communications of the type
`normally conducted by cellular telephones. The personal 60
`interpreter also includes jack 28 to connect to a conventional
`wired or land-line telephone line as well. The personal
`interpreter also include a microphone 22 and a speaker 24.
`A filter 26 connects the speaker 24 and the microphone 22
`to the telephone 20.
`A brief description of the operation and functionality of
`the personal interpreter reveals the dramatic improvement
`
`Ultratec Exhibit 1022
`Ultratec v Sorenson IP Holdings Page 5 of 8
`
`

`

`5,909,482
`
`5
`
`10
`
`5
`user and the hearing persons in the presence of the personal
`interpreter 10. In order for this communication session to be
`satisfactory to the hearing users as well as the deaf person,
`however, the relay must operate exceedingly rapidly. It is, in
`part, to meet the need for the exceeding rapidity of this
`conversational style of communication that the relay proto(cid:173)
`col of the present invention has been designed.
`Shown in FIG. 1 is a relay intended to provide that
`capability. FIG. 1 is intended to show, in schematic fashion,
`how such a relay system can be set up. Shown at 32 is a
`telephone of a speaking person. Instead of a telephone of a
`speaking person, the input could also be the microphone of
`the personal translator 10 shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. The
`telephone of the speaking person 32 is connected through a
`telephone line 34 to a voice input buffer 36 at the relay. The
`telephone line 34 can be an actual physical land line, or two
`pair between the telephones, or can be a cellular or other
`over-the-air telephone linkage. The voice input buffer 36 is
`a simple buffer to ensure temporary capture of the voice in
`the event that the call assistant gets behind and needs to
`buffer or delay the voice of the speaking person. In any
`event, the output of the input voice buffer 36 is provided to
`a headset 40 where earphones 38 produce the sound of the
`remote speaking person in the ear of the call assistant. The
`call assistant is wearing the headset 40 and sitting at a 25
`computer 42 capable of communicating in an enhanced
`Baudot communication, such as Turbo Code or whatever
`other code protocol is being used. However, typically the
`call assistant does not type the words which the call assistant
`hears in his or her earphone 38. Instead, the call assistant 30
`then speaks the words which he or she hears in the earphones
`38 into a microphone 39 in the headset 40. The microphone
`39 on the headset 40 is connected to transmit the voice of the
`call assistant to the computer 42 at which the call assistant
`sits.
`The computer 42 has been provided with a voice recog(cid:173)
`nition software package which can recognize the spoken
`voice of the call assistant and immediately translate words
`spoken in that voice into a digital text communication
`stream. It is a limitation of currently available speech
`recognition software that the software must be trained or
`adapted to a particular user, before it can accurately tran(cid:173)
`scribe what words the user speaks. Accordingly, it is envi(cid:173)
`sioned here that the call assistant operates at a computer
`terminal which contains a copy of a voice recognition 45
`software package which is specifically trained to the voice of
`that particular call assistant. It is also important that the
`voice recognition system be capable of transcribing the
`words of the voice of the call assistant at the speed of a
`normal human communication. It has been found that a 50
`recently available commercial voice recognition package
`from Dragon Systems, known as "Naturally Speaking," is a
`voice recognition software which will accomplish this
`objective and which will translate to digital text spoken
`words of a user at the normal speeds of human communi(cid:173)
`cation in conversation when operating on conventional
`modern personal computers.
`The computer terminal 42 of the call assistant then
`translates the text created by the voice recognition software
`to a modem 46 out through a telephone line 48 back to the
`display 50 located adjacent to the deaf person. The display
`50 can be a conventional TDD located at the home of the
`remote deaf user, or can be the display 14 of the personal
`interpreter 10.
`For reasons that will become apparent, there is also a 65
`connection from the microphone 39 of the headset 40 of the
`call assistant to the incoming telephone line 34 through a
`
`6
`switch 52. The switch 52 can physically be an electrical
`switch located between the microphone 39 and the telephone
`lines 34 and the computer 42 or, as an alternative, it can be
`a software switch operating in the computer 42 which passes
`the voice of the user through to the telephone lines as voice,
`or not, under conditions which are selected by the call
`assistant, by choices he or she makes at the keyboard 44 of
`the computer 42. The switch 52 is functionally a single pole
`double throw switch although, of course, if this function is
`performed by the computer it will be a logical not a physical
`switch. In the simplest embodiment, the switch 52 is a
`simple single pole dual throw foot switch readily accessible
`to the call assistant which passes the voice of the call
`assistant from the microphone either out onto the telephone
`15 line 34 or to the computer 42.
`It is a further enhancement to the operation of the relay
`constructed in accordance with the present invention that the
`earphones 38 have noise attenuating capability. Noise can(cid:173)
`celing earphones are commercially available today or, for
`20 this purpose, the computer 42 can be provided with noise
`canceling sound generation software which would create
`sound transmitted to the earphone 38 so as to cancel the
`sounds of the call assistant's own voice. The noise attenu-
`ation or cancellation avoids distracting the call assistant,
`since he or she would then be less distracted by the words
`that he or she has spoken, and thus would be less likely to
`be distracted from the concentration of the task of re-voicing
`the sounds of the voice heard in the call assistant's ear.
`Similarly, another option which would be advantageous is
`that the software providing for the creation of the digital text
`string by voice recognition be buffered in its output flow to
`the modem 46. Before the computer 42 would pass the data
`on to the modem 46, the data would first be displayed on the
`computer screen of the computer 42 for review by the call
`35 assistant. The purpose of this option would be to permit the
`call assistant to use the keyboard to spell or correct hard(cid:173)
`to-spell words, or to create corrections of any misinterpre(cid:173)
`tations created by the voice recognition software, from the
`words spoken by the call assistant. It is anticipated that if
`40 such an option is utilized, it would require fairly infrequent
`use of the keyboard by the call assistant, since frequent use
`would clearly slow down the through-put of the communi(cid:173)
`cations.
`The relay ofFIG. l can operate with normal TDDs or with
`a personal interpreter as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. In either
`event, the hearing person speaks in the telephone 32 and the
`words are transmitted through the telephone line 34 to the
`voice buffer 36. The voice buffer 36, again operating under
`the control of the call assistant, would buffer the voice
`signals from the hearing user as needed for the call assistant
`to keep up. The call assistant would hear the voice of the
`hearing user through the earpiece 38 and then would
`re-voice those same words into the microphone 39. The
`words that the user speaks into the microphone 39 would be
`55 fed to the computer 42 where the voice recognition software,
`trained to the voice of the call assistant, would translate
`those words into a digital text stream. The digital text stream
`would be turned into a digital communication stream by the
`modem 46 and passed on the telephone line 48 to a display
`60 50 which can be observed by the deaf user. Experience has
`shown that using currently available technology the delay
`between the time the hearing user speaks into the telephone
`32 and the time the words appear on the display 50 of the
`deaf user is a modest number of seconds.
`In the reverse, when the deaf user types onto his or her
`telecommunication device, the digital signals are transmitted
`to the computer 42 which displays them for the call assistant
`
`Ultratec Exhibit 1022
`Ultratec v Sorenson IP Holdings Page 6 of 8
`
`

`

`5,909,482
`
`7
`who then voices those words into the microphone 39 which
`words are then transmitted onto the telephone line 34. Note
`that the presence of the switch 52 is therefore important in
`this mode. Since the voice of the call assistant serves two
`different functions in the operation of this system, the signal
`on the call assistant's voice must be switched so that the
`hearing user 32 only hears the voice for the communications
`which are intended to be directed to that person. The switch
`52 allows for the voice of the call assistant only to be
`directed to the hearing person at the appropriate times.
`Note that if the relay of FIG. 1 is used to facilitate a
`translation based on a personal interpreter such as that
`shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, there will be only one telephone line
`between the personal interpreter and the call assistant. In
`essence, in a modification ofFIG. l, the telephone 32 and the
`display 50 would both be within the personal interpreter 10. 15
`There would be only one telephone line, a cellular link,
`between the personal interpreter 10 and the call assistant.
`Note, therefore, that the voice of the call assistant and the
`digital communications created by the computer 42 would
`then travel on that same telephone linkage to and from the 20
`personal interpreter 10. It is therefore important for this
`embodiment that the personal interpreter 10 have appropri-
`ate filtering (i.e. the filter 26) to filter out the digital
`communication carrier frequencies of the digital communi(cid:173)
`cation protocol, so that they are not heard by hearing 25
`listeners in the presence of the personal interpreter 10. The
`telephone line must still carry voice signals, however, so that
`the spoken words articulated by the call assistant in response
`to digital instructions from the deaf user can be properly
`broadcast by the speaker contained within the personal 30
`interpreter.
`The provision for filtering of the digital frequencies can
`be done in any number of ways with two being the principal
`preferred methodologies. If Turbo Baudot communications
`are conducted at the conventional Baudot frequencies of
`1400 and 1800 Hertz, the personal interpreter 10 could be
`provided with notch filters 26 to filter out signals at those
`particular frequencies. It has been found that such notch
`filters still permit the transmission of audible and under(cid:173)
`standable human speech, even if they filter at those particu(cid:173)
`lar frequencies. As an alternative, it is possible to change the
`Baudot frequencies to those which are much higher, such as
`frequencies of 3000 to 3500 Hertz. If this alternative is
`selected, the personal interpreter 10 is then provided with a
`low pass filter which permits low frequency sounds to go to
`the speaker to be broadcast into the environment of the
`personal interpreter, while high frequencies are excluded.
`It has been found in actual human tests that utilizing the
`revoicing methodology combined with speech recognition
`by the call assistant results in a through put of communica(cid:173)
`tion two to four times faster than the typing which can be
`achieved by a normal call assistant operating a keyboard.
`This is a dramatic improvement in the social acceptability of
`deaf to hearing person translation systems. While deaf users
`are accustomed to the delays inherent in TDD 55
`communications, hearing users are not. The provision for the
`faster throughput through a relay system such as provided by
`the relay of FIG. 1 allows for more conversation-like inter(cid:173)
`change between deaf persons and hearing persons than was
`heretofore possible. The relay of FIG. 1 also enables, for the 60
`first time, a personal interpreter of the type illustrated at 10
`in FIGS. 2 and 3 to be available to deaf users who can then
`get on the spot interpreting virtually anywhere. This offers a
`freedom and functionality to deaf users which was not
`heretofore possible in the art.
`It is to be understood that the present invention is not
`limited to the particular illustrations and embodiments dis-
`
`8
`closed above, but embraces all such modified forms thereof
`as come within the scope of the following claims.
`I claim:
`1. A method of operating a relay system using a call
`5 assistant to facilitate communication between a deaf person
`and a hearing person by telephone comprising the steps of
`transmitting the voice of the hearing person when speak(cid:173)
`ing to the ear of the call assistant;
`the call assistant speaking in voice the same words that the
`call assistant hears spoken by the hearing person into a
`microphone connected to a digital computer;
`the digital computer using voice recognition computer
`software trained to the voice of the call assistant to
`translate the words of the voice spoken by the call
`assistant into a digital text message stream containing
`the words spoken by the call assistant;
`transmitting the digital text message stream created by the
`computer by telephone connection to a telecommuni(cid:173)
`cation device within sight of the deaf person; and
`the telecommunication device displaying in visually read(cid:173)
`able text the words in the digital text message stream.
`2. A method as claimed in claim 1 further comprising the
`step of using the voice spoken by the call assistant to create
`a noise canceling signal also transmitted to the earphone of
`the call assistant so that the call assistant hears less of his or
`her own spoken voice.
`3. A method as claimed in claim 1 further comprising a
`switch to switch the relay between one mode in which the
`voice of the call assistant is transmitted to the computer and
`another mode in which the voice of the call assistant is not
`transmitted to the computer but is instead transmitted over
`the telephone system to the hearing person.
`4. A method as claimed in claim 1 further comprising the
`35 step of buffering the voice of the hearing person between the
`telephone system and the earphone of the call assistant
`selectively under the control of the call assistant.
`5. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein there are
`separate telephone lines of the telephone system used for
`40 communicate between the call assistant and the hearing
`person and the call assistant and the deaf person.
`6. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein there is a single
`telephone line of the telephone system used to communica(cid:173)
`tion between the call assistant and the hearing person and the
`45 call assistant and the deaf person, the digital text message
`stream and the voice of the hearing person both being
`transmitted over that single telephone line.
`7. A relay to facilitate communication between a deaf
`person using a telecommunication device for the deaf and a
`50 hearing person through a telephone system and using a call
`assistant, the relay comprising
`a speaker connected to receive voice communications
`from the telephone system and transmit those voice
`communications to the ear of the call assistant;
`a microphone connected to pickup voice spoken by the
`call assistant;
`a digital computer connected to the microphone, the
`computer programmed to use a voice recognition com(cid:173)
`puter software package trained to the voice of the call
`assistant to translate the words spoken in voice by the
`call assistant into a digital text stream;
`a modem to transit the digital text stream created by the
`computer over the telephone system to the telecommu(cid:173)
`nication device for the deaf of th