[access-uk] Re: Accessible Set-top Boxes
- From: tony scanlon <turrots@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Tue, 29 Jun 2010 10:36:10 +0100
This post appeared on the Vibistro mailing list with thaks to Flor Lynch
World’s first talking TV now a reality
June 8th, 2010 - 13:36 UTC
by Andy Sennitt.
TVs that can talk to their owners are now a reality thanks to British
high-tech company, Ocean Blue Software. Expected in UK stores by the
end of the summer, the company’s low cost text-to-speech technology,
dubbed “Talk@TV”, is being built into set top boxes from Korean
company, Arion Technology, which will be branded and distributed by
major retailers in the UK from August.
The new set top boxes are like regular Freeview or satellite boxes,
but will be able to talk to their blind or partially-sighted owners –
advising, via speech technology, the TV programming schedule, for
example what’s on and when. Owners will be able to adjust the speed
and verbosity of the voice to suit their needs, choose to enlarge or
reduce font sizes and change background and text colours. A
re-designed and easy to use remote control will also be included.
The technology has been developed in partnership with digital TV chip
giant, STMicroelectronics, whose processors lie at the heart of most
TVs and set top boxes. Phase two of the development will introduce
voice activation technology to allow owners to talk back to their TV
sets – “channel up”, “channel down”, “volume up”.
“The digital switchover has multiplied the number of channels to 40
plus, for UK consumers, making navigation very difficult for the
visually impaired,” said Ken Helps, CEO of Ocean Blue Software. “This
technology is a step forward to making digital TV accessible to all
sectors of the community”.
Ocean Blue’s Talk@TV will be available in different languages and
dialects; the UK version supports both the Scottish Gaelic and Welsh
language for example. The technology behind Talk@TV is a derivative of
the pioneering work and development between the Royal National
Institute for the Blind (RNIB) and Ocean Blue over the last three
years. The development won an IABM Award for Excellence in Design and
Innovation, was nominated for a Royal Television Society award and
shortlisted for an IMS TV Innovation award in the USA.
The Arion Talking set top box will be available in a number of UK retailers.
(Source: Ocean Blue Software/Arion Technology)
On 29 June 2010 09:19, Long, Alison <Alison.Long@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> Hi,
> All I can say is check the RNIB website on Thursday!
> Regards
> Alison
>
>
> Alison Long
> Products & Publications
> Royal National Institute of Blind People
> Bakewell Road
> Orton Southgate
> Peterborough
> PE2 6XU
> England
>
> Tel: +44 1733 375178
> Fax: +44 1733 375383
> -----Original Message-----
> From: access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf
> Of dudleym@xxxxxxxxxxxx
> Sent: 29 June 2010 09:07
> To: access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: [access-uk] Accessible Set-top Boxes
>
> Hi Folks
>
> There was talk some time ago that there was going to be an
> accessible solution to set-top tuners/recorders by adding speech to
> the on screen menu'sfor such as EPG etc. I'm sure the RNIB member of
> staff who used to send out e-mail bulitins of AD films etc. who's job
> was sadly axed and she no longer works for them informed me that
> something was to be launched in February/March of this year but as
> yet I've heard nothing about it.
>
> Also I remember reading an article from someone called Brian Hartgen
> regarding something along these lines, or maybe he was talking about
> accessible TV's, but I'm sure the technology would be the same.
>
> So does anyone have any info on this subject please?
>
> Thanks
> Martin
>
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