Telephone system for the hearing impaired
AssigneeEugenious Enterprises, LLC
InventorsMichael J. Medley, Matthew G. Good
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A telephone system is described herein, wherein the telephone system is configured to assist a hearing-impaired person with telephone communications as well as face-to-face conversations. In telephone communication sessions, the telephone system is configured to audibly emit spoken utterances while simultaneously depicting a transcription of the spoken utterances on a display. When the telephone system is not employed in a telephone communication session, the telephone system is configured to display transcriptions of spoken utterances of people who are in proximity to the telephone system.
Claims18
A telephone that is configured to present a transcription of spoken utterances simultaneously with the spoken utterances being output by a speaker of the telephone, the telephone comprising:
- a display;
- a microphone;
- a speaker;
- and
- processing circuitry that is operably coupled to the display, the microphone, and the speaker, the processing circuitry programmed to perform acts comprising:
- initiating a voice connection with a second telephone by way of a server computing device, wherein the server computing device initiates a second voice connection between the server computing device and the second telephone in connection with initiating the voice connection with the telephone;
- subsequent to initiating the voice connection with the second telephone, receiving an audio signal that encodes a spoken utterance from the second telephone over the voice connection and outputting the audio signal from the speaker of the telephone, wherein the server computing device receives the audio signal over the second voice connection and causes a transcription of the spoken utterance to be generated;
- receiving, from the server computing device, the transcription of the spoken utterance;
- simultaneously with outputting the audio signal from the second telephone from the speaker of the telephone, displaying the transcription of the spoken utterance received from the server computing device;
- receiving, by way of the microphone, a second spoken utterance from a user of the telephone;
- and
- transmitting the second spoken utterance to the second telephone by way of the voice connection between the telephone and the second telephone, wherein the server computing device fails to receive the second spoken utterance.
A method performed by a telephone, the method comprising:
- establishing a voice connection between the telephone and a second telephone by way of a server computing system, wherein a second voice connection is established between the server computing system and the second telephone such that a voice signal output by the second telephone is received by the telephone and the server computing system;
- receiving, from the second telephone, a voice signal that encodes a spoken utterance;
- receiving, from the server computing system, a transcription of the spoken utterance;
- outputting, by way of a speaker of the telephone, the voice signal to a user of the telephone;
- simultaneously with outputting the voice signal, displaying the transcription of the spoken utterance on a display of the telephone;
- and
- transmitting a second voice signal to the second telephone, wherein the second voice signal is not provided to the server computing system.
A telephone comprising a computer-readable storage medium, the computer-readable storage medium comprising instructions that, when executed by a processor of the telephone, cause the processor to perform acts comprising:
- initiating a voice connection between the telephone and a second telephone by way of a server computing system, wherein the server computing system establishes a second voice connection between the server computing device and the second telephone in response to the voice connection being initiated between the telephone and the second telephone such that a voice signal emitted by the second telephone is received by both the server computing system and the telephone;
- subsequent to initiating the voice connection with the second telephone, receiving the voice signal from the second telephone over the voice connection, wherein the voice signal comprises a spoken utterance;
- outputting the voice signal from a speaker of the telephone, wherein the server computing system receives the voice signal over the second voice connection and causes a transcription of the spoken utterance to be generated;
- receiving, from the server computing system, the transcription of the spoken utterance;
- simultaneously with outputting the voice signal from the speaker of the telephone, displaying the transcription of the spoken utterance received from the server computing system;
- and
- transmitting a second voice signal to the second telephone, wherein the second voice signal is not provided to the server computing system.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.