New Devices Aid The Deaf By Translating Sound Waves To Vibrations
Friday, February 27, 2009 - 12:14
in Physics & Chemistry
Lip reading is a critical means of communication for many deaf people, but it has a drawback: Certain consonants (for example, p) can be nearly impossible to distinguish by sight alone. Tactile devices, which translate sound waves into vibrations that can be felt by the skin, can help overcome that obstacle by conveying nuances of speech that can't be gleaned from lip reading. Now researchers are working on a new generation of such devices.