JP2003150188A - Interaction support device for hearing-impaired person - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an interaction support device for a hearing-impaired person which enables a hearing-impaired person and a person with a normal, healthy body can freely make communications with each other by an interactive system, is simple to operate and is easily effectively utilizable outdoors as well. SOLUTION: This interaction support device for the hearing-impaired person contains a character-speech output device 10 including input buttons (character input means) 6, character-speech converting means 11 for converting the inputted character signals into speeches and a speaker (speech generating means) 8 and a speech input-character output device 20 including a microphone (speed input means) 8, speech-character converting means 22 for converting the inputted speech singles to characters and a liquid crystal display screen (character display means) 5 for displaying the converted characters in a main body 1a of a portable type.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a dialogue support device for a hearing impaired person, which enables a hearing impaired person to easily talk with a healthy winner outdoors.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In order for a disabled person and a healthy person to easily communicate with each other without using sign language, a small word processor is rotatably supported on a rotating plate, and two face-to-face display parts are provided on the surface thereof. A provided conversation machine has been proposed (see Registered Utility Model No. 3025127). However, in the above conversation machine, the disabled person and the healthy winner have no choice but to input characters with the keyboard of the word processor, display the characters on the display unit, and transmit them to the other party. For this reason, since communication is performed in a state similar to that in writing, it takes time and effort for each person to input characters, and because of the large number of keyboards, the size of the conversation machine becomes large and it can be handled outdoors. It was inconvenient.

[0003]

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION The present invention solves the problems in the prior art described above, and enables the hearing impaired person and the healthy winner to easily communicate with each other in an interactive manner, and the operation is simple and outdoors. However, it is an object to provide a dialogue support device for the hearing impaired who can be easily utilized.

[0004]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention includes a function of outputting characters input to a portable body as voice and a function of displaying the voice of a healthy winner as characters. It was made with an inspiration. That is, the dialogue support device for hearing-impaired persons (claim 1) of the present invention is
A character input unit including a character input unit, a character-to-speech conversion unit that converts an input character signal into voice, and a voice generation unit; a voice output device; a voice input unit; and a voice that converts an input voice signal into a character- Characteristic conversion means, and a voice input-character output device including a character display means for displaying the converted characters, are built in the portable body.

According to this, unless the hearing impaired person can speak with his / her own voice to the conversation partner, for example, a healthy winner, by inputting characters into the main body and making this a voice, You can make a call. Moreover, when a healthy person who is a conversation partner speaks to the main body, the voice is displayed as characters on the character display means of the main body. Therefore,
Since the deaf person can easily carry out the necessary dialogue outdoors by carrying the portable main body, it is possible to contribute to the social participation of the disabled person.

The above-mentioned character input means includes a form in which a button of a known mobile phone or a simple mobile phone (PHS) is used as it is, and a form of a liquid crystal display screen for inputting by writing with a pen. In addition to the liquid crystal display screen, the character display means also includes a screen composed of a group of light emitting diodes. Further, the hearing-impaired person in the present invention also includes deaf and hard-of-hearing persons, and the conversation partner of the hearing-impaired person is
The person is not limited to a healthy person, but includes, for example, a person with slight visual impairment such as amblyopia and a person with mild hearing impairment such as deafness. In addition, in the present invention, the character input-character of the voice output device-
The voice conversion means and the voice-character conversion means of the voice input-character output device may include a dialogue support device for a hearing impaired person in which a common dictionary is used. In this case, the size of the main body can be easily reduced.

According to the present invention, the character input / speech output device has a function of displaying an input character to the conversation partner by the character display means.
(Claim 2) is also included. According to this, the hearing impaired person can visually recognize the characters input by himself / herself, and surely transmit his / her intention to the conversation partner together with the sound by the characters displayed on the liquid crystal display screen as the character display means. You can As a result, it becomes possible to more easily engage in dialogue with the elderly and people with mild hearing impairment such as hearing loss.

Further, according to the present invention, the character input / speech output apparatus uses the common phrase selected by the character input means,
For the hearing impaired, it is possible to perform at least one of voice output by the character-speech conversion means and voice generation means and / or display on the character display means for displaying the selected common term phrase to a dialogue partner. A dialogue support device (claim 3) is also included. According to this, frequent use is and pre-character input in the go - common phrases stored in the audio output device, for example, "Good morning", "Hello", and "thank you", for example, shortening the button in the character input means By pressing the button, you can instantly make a voice call. Alternatively, the selected common phrase can be displayed as characters on a liquid crystal display screen or the like together with the voice transmission. Therefore, it is possible to quickly and easily convey the common vocabulary phrase used frequently when going out to the conversation partner, and to contribute to communication.

Further, in the present invention, the character-speech conversion means of the character input-speech output device includes a function for converting Japanese into a foreign language, and a dialogue support device for a hearing impaired person (claim 4). Is also included. According to this, it is possible to translate the input characters or Japanese of the selected common phrase into a foreign language and then voice-transmit it to the other party of the conversation, and visually display it on the character display means together with the relevant voice. . For example, in the case of or deaf If you want to talk to foreigners traveling in the country has been traveling abroad, word that commonly used, for example, "Hello" and "How much", "Good morning" and "How
You can say "much" in English and also display characters. In addition to English, foreign languages include German, French, Chinese, Korean, Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, Thai, Vietnamese, etc. The translation software of is to be stored.

Further, in the present invention, in addition to the two devices, a vibrator is further incorporated in the main body, and the voice input means in the voice input-character output device has a preset value (sound pressure value) or more. Also included is a dialogue support device for the hearing impaired person (claim 5), which activates the vibrator when receiving a strong sound. According to this, when a loud voice, an explosive sound, an impact sound, etc. are generated around us, the vibrator activates and vibrates the body and fingertips, so that a dangerous situation or disaster can be instantly recognized. At the same time, it becomes possible to take evacuation action quickly.

Further, in the present invention, in addition to the two devices, a timer is further incorporated in the main body, and the vibrator is operated at a preset time, or a pictogram for alerting the character A dialogue support device for hearing impaired persons (claim 6) displayed by the display means is also included. According to this, when the preset alarm time or outing time is reached, the timer is activated to vibrate the body or fingertips with the vibrator, or display an easy-to-see pictogram on the character display means. This ensures that the planned actions can be performed without forgetting.

In addition to the above-mentioned two devices, the present invention further includes mode selection means for selecting a plurality of modes such as a home mode, a dialogue mode, and a walking mode in the main body. By selecting one of the above modes, a function of speeding up at least one of the character input-voice output device and a voice input-character output device, a function of preferentially activating the vibrator, or the voice generation. Also included is a dialogue support device for hearing impaired persons (claim 7) capable of transmitting a danger signal by means. According to this, for example, as an answering machine by selecting the at-home mode, the vibrator is activated by a ringing sound or an interphone by a visitor, and the response is promptly performed by the vibration, or by selecting the interactive mode, It is possible to search the common phrase at high speed from the storage means and support the dialogue. In addition, a walking mode can be selected to promptly send a voice requesting help to the surroundings, thereby avoiding an immediate danger.
The dialogue support device for the hearing impaired according to the present invention does not use a communication line and does not leak radio waves because one portable main body performs a two-way dialogue. It is safe as it does not cause adverse effects or malfunction of medical equipment.

Further, in the present invention, the portable main body also serves as a portable information terminal or a portable telephone.
A dialogue support device for hearing impaired persons (claim 8) is also included. According to this, in the body of the personal digital assistant or mobile phone,
The character input-voice output device and the voice input-character output device are further incorporated. For this reason, it is usually used for searching information on the go and making calls with remote people.
It enables deaf people and the like to easily communicate with the conversation partner in front of them. The mobile phone is equipped with either a known PDC communication function or PHS communication function. In addition, the portable information terminal (PD
A) indicates a portable personal information terminal having any of the functions of a personal computer. Further, the portable information terminal has the character input-voice output device and the voice input-character output device built-in. It is also possible to operate by transmitting to the portable information terminal by using the short-range wireless communication technology).

[0014]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Hereinafter, preferred embodiments for carrying out the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. 1 (A) and 1 (B) show the external appearance of a dialogue support device 1 for a hearing impaired person of the present invention. As shown, the dialogue support device 1 has a front surface 2 and a back surface 3.
The main body 1a is similar to a portable terminal that is thin plate-shaped and can be operated with one hand. The portable main body 1a
Is a liquid crystal display screen (character display means) 5, an input button (character input means) 6, and a mode selection / switch button 7 on the front surface 2.
And a speaker (voice producing means) 8 and a microphone (voice inputting means) 9 are provided on the tip surface 4.

The functions of the above-mentioned dialogue support device 1 include the main body 1a.
In order to convey the intention from a hearing-impaired person (hearing-impaired person) carrying a sound to a healthy winner, a character is input from the input button 6 as shown by an arrow in FIG.
There is a calling function by a character input-voice output device 10 which will be described later and causes the speaker 8 to speak to the conversation partner by converting the voice into a voice. It should be noted that, as shown by the one-dot chain line arrow in FIG. 1C, the characters input in parallel are displayed on the liquid crystal display screen 5,
You can also check it yourself and let the other person see it. Another function of the dialogue support device 1 is to input a voice of a healthy winner who is a dialogue partner from a microphone 9 of the main body 1a as shown by an arrow in FIG. After being decoded by 22 and converted into a character, the character is displayed on the liquid crystal display screen 5 to be visually recognized by the deaf person.
It is a receiving function by.

FIG. 2 illustrates the character input / speech output device 10 of the dialog support device 1 shown in FIG. 1 (C).
The character input-voice output device 10 is a voice synthesizer (character-
The voice conversion means) 11 and the voice converter 19. First, as shown in the upper left of FIG. 2, the input button 6 of the main body 1a of the dialogue support device 1 is operated with the finger y, and the intention or word to be transmitted is input as individual characters. The plurality of input buttons 6 on the surface 2 of the main body 1a are appropriately numbered 0 to 9 and 0 to 9 correspond to the order of row, row, and row to row, and "0" at the fingertip y. When you press the input button 6 of “” once, “A”, when you press it twice, “Yes”, when you press it three times, “U”.
By selecting the input button 6 corresponding to any line and pressing the input button 6 a predetermined number of times, any one of the characters can be selected. Further, by inputting "asa" and pressing any button 6 to convert the kanji, kanji such as "morning", "linen" and "shallow" can be selected. It should be noted that the confirmation button (6) is pressed each time an individual character or word is input.

If the input operation by the input button 6 is complicated or if the hearing impaired person wants to avoid so-called thumb injury, the input button 6 is replaced by a liquid crystal input screen as shown in the lower left side of FIG. (Character input means) 6a may be provided on the surface 2 of the main body 1a, and a character may be directly written (input) in hiragana and kanji while pressing the input pen (pointing device) 6b against it. However, the characters (image information) input to the liquid crystal input screen 6a are digitized by an A / D converter (not shown) and converted into predetermined characters by a character decoding device (not shown), and then the screen 6 is displayed.
Display in one corner of a to confirm the written hearing impaired person.

As shown in FIG. 2, a character input by operating the input button 6 or touching the pen on the liquid crystal input screen 6a is sent to the voice synthesizer 11 in the character input / voice output device 10. The speech synthesizing device 11 is based on the rule synthesizing method. As shown in FIG. 2, the inputted characters are divided into morphological / elementary strings by the character sequence input 12, and these are analyzed by the syntax / word sense analysis 13. At this time, the dictionary 30 is appropriately matched. The analysis result is set as the phoneme symbol sequence 14 and the prosody symbol sequence 15, and the time regulation 16 and the parameter rule 17 are further applied to obtain the phoneme parameter time series and the prosody pitch pattern. Sound source generation and voice synthesis 18 having a digital filter by parameter time series are performed to form a synthesized voice signal. The dictionary 30 used for the analysis 13 is
For example, you may add translation software such as Japanese to English. As a result, it becomes possible to obtain a synthesized voice signal corresponding to the English after translating the character input Japanese into English. Further, if there is a character having the same sound meaning in the collation of the dictionary 30, the common phrase is set to be preferentially searched. Further, the dictionary 30 is a voice decoding device 2 which will be described later.
Used in common with 2.

As shown in FIG. 2, the synthesized voice signal formed by the voice synthesizer 11 is converted into an actual voice signal by the voice converter 19, and then the speaker 8 on the tip surface 4 of the main body 1a communicates with the conversation partner. It is transmitted as a synthetic voice to the healthy winner of. At this time, in order to increase the reliability of voice transmission, a repeat function may be added, and synthetic voice may be transmitted repeatedly a few times. As a result, the hearing-impaired person can change the characters input to the dialogue support device 1 into a voice, and surely convey his / her intention to the healthy opponent of the dialogue partner. Incidentally, FIG.
As shown in the upper part of FIG. 5, the character input by the operation of the input button 6 or the liquid crystal input screen 6a may be displayed on the liquid crystal display screen 5 together with the transmission of the synthetic voice so that the other party can visually recognize it. The software of the speech synthesizer 11 shown in FIG. 2 is stored in a known LSI (IC) chip. Furthermore, the speech synthesizer 11 may be replaced with one that utilizes software other than that shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 illustrates the voice input / character output device 20 of the dialogue support device 1 shown in FIG. 1 (D).
The voice input / character output device 20 includes an A / D converter 2
1, a voice decoding device (voice-character conversion means) 22, and a character converter 38. As shown on the right side of FIG. 3, the voice of the conversation partner is first captured by the microphone 9 located on the tip surface 4 of the main body 1a. The voice signal from the microphone 9 is converted into a digital signal by the A / D converter 21, and then sent to the voice decoding device 22 as shown in FIG. In the voice decoding device 22, the noise-free and digitized voice signal is subjected to voice recognition processing by pattern recognition. In the voice recognition process, as shown in the center of FIG. 3, a rough voice analysis / feature extraction 24 based on a frequency spectrum is performed on the voice signal, and a feature parameter is extracted from the analysis result to convert it into a time-series signal. .

Next, segmentation into voice units is performed, and as shown in FIG. 3, phoneme recognition 27 is performed by comparing each segment with a phoneme standard pattern to create a phoneme sequence. The phoneme sequence is word-matched with the word standard pattern in the dictionary 30 and word-recognized 32. If the corresponding standard pattern is not found in the dictionary 30 by the word matching, the phoneme is learned and the dictionary 30 is used as the word standard pattern.
Will be added and saved in. The phoneme recognition 27 and the word recognition 32 are repeated to make a phoneme sequence into a word sequence, and these words are collated with a syntax pattern, whereby the syntax recognition 34 is performed as shown in FIG. If the recognition of the word syntax is accurate, it is confirmed whether the sentence of the word string is valid as a meaning, and if it is valid, the meaning recognition 36 is performed and the recognition character result is output. If not appropriate, the above process is repeated until an appropriate result is obtained. The above speech recognition processing is performed based on a program (not shown).

The character (recognition) signal output from the voice decoding device 22 and having obtained the character code is converted into character data by a character converter 38 as shown on the left side of FIG. The screen is displayed on the screen 5. As described above, the voice of a healthy winner or the like can be quickly recognized by the hearing impaired person as character information by the dialogue support device 1. As a result, by using the character input-voice output device 10 and the voice input-character output device 20 shown in FIG. In between, conversation can be smoothly and continuously carried out easily by using voice and characters as a medium.
Therefore, it is possible to promote the social participation of the hearing impaired and contribute to the improvement of social welfare. In the center of FIG. 3, the program (software) for the voice recognition processing shown in the flowchart is stored in a known LSI (IC) chip. Further, the voice recognition processing described above may be based on different software.

Further, as shown in FIG. 4, the dictionary 30 in the speech synthesizer 11 of the character input / speech output apparatus 10 of FIG. 2 is the dictionary in the speech decoding apparatus 22 of the speech input / character output apparatus 20 of FIG. It is also commonly used as 30. That is, the characters input by the speech synthesizer 11 are
When analyzed by the word sense analysis 13, it is appropriately matched with the dictionary 30, and when the voice signal input by the voice decoding device 22 is subjected to word recognition 32, it is matched with the word standard pattern in the dictionary 30. The main body 1a can be downsized by using the function of the dictionary 30 in combination with the two devices 10 and 20.

FIG. 5A shows a system configuration in which the timer 40 and the vibrator 42 are further incorporated in the main body 1a. That is, the timer 40 is connected to the voice decoding device 22 in the voice input / character output device 20, and the timer 40 and the vibrator 42 are separately connected. As shown in FIG. 5 (A), when the preset wake-up time or outing time is reached, the timer 40 activates the vibrator 42, so that the vibrator 42 vibrates at the preset time. At the same time, the timer 40 operates to cause the voice decoding device 22 to display a visually recognizable pictogram or a blinking display of a specific pattern through the character converter 38 on the liquid crystal display screen (character display means) 5.
To display. Therefore, it is possible to surely prevent forgetting to wake up or go out, and maintain a regular life pattern, for example.

When a loud scream or explosion is generated near the hearing impaired person, as shown in FIG. 5B, when the sound pressure is transmitted from the microphone 9 to the A / D converter 21, When only a signal whose level is a fixed value (X dB) or more is transmitted to the vibrator 42, the vibrator 42 vibrates and the voice decoding device 22 is activated. This makes it possible to detect that danger is imminent or that an accident or disaster has occurred in the immediate vicinity, and the slogan that should be immediately evacuated (for example, "Because it is dangerous, please immediately evacuate to a safe place") is transcribed. A blinking display or the like is performed on the liquid crystal display screen 5 via 38.
Therefore, an emergency can be immediately grasped by the vibrations felt by the body and the visual display of the liquid crystal display screen 5, so that the safety of the handicapped person while going out can be determined by himself.

FIG. 5C shows the character input / voice output device 10 and the voice input / character output device 2 shown in FIGS.
In addition to the normal mode M0 of 0, any one of the home mode M1, the interactive mode M2, and the walking mode M3 can be selected by the mode selection / switch button 7 of the main body 1a. For example, by selecting the home mode M1, when the hearing-impaired person is alone in the answering machine, as shown in FIG. 5 (C), it is caused by the ringing tone of the telephone, the interphone by the visitor, or the operation of the security system. When receiving the attention sound, the sound is taken in from the microphone 9 and the vibrator 42 is immediately activated. At the same time, similarly to the case shown in FIG. 5B, the liquid crystal display screen 5 visually displays which situation is occurring by displaying pictograms or blinking a specific pattern. As a result of these, you will notice calls and visitors without losing timing,
Alternatively, it is possible to quickly detect a situation where a burglary or the like is likely to invade.

Further, as shown in FIG. 5C, by selecting the interactive mode M2, the speech synthesizer 11 of the character input / speech output device 10 searches for a commonly used phrase in high speed. It is possible to activate the function of 44 to give priority to the voice of the user to quickly convert the common characters that he / she wants to communicate to the voice. For example, idiomatically used at the beginning and end of a dialogue, "I ask you a little,""How are you?", "Thank you very much."
, Or "Is this way good to go?", "How much is this?", "What is that?" When inputting with the abbreviated symbol, the individual words or the whole sentence is searched at high speed 44 in the speech synthesizer 11. At the same time, the speed of the voice decoding device 22 of the voice input / character output device 20 can be increased. Therefore, it becomes easy to quickly conduct a dialogue with a healthy winner and to reduce the burden on the dialogue partner.

Further, as shown in FIG. 5 (C), by selecting the walking mode M3, for example, when the wheel of the wheelchair cannot move on a step, the voice synthesizer 11 preferentially functions as the danger signal transmitter 46. Then, by promptly transmitting a voice requesting the help of “please push the wheelchair” to the surroundings, it is possible to avoid a familiar danger. Also,
"Call an ambulance", "... contact the hospital immediately", or "please help because you feel sick" in the same way, promptly inform your surroundings with a voice promptly to notify you of a dangerous condition. It is possible to avoid it. In addition to the above modes M1 to M3, for example, a foreign travel mode is set and a dictionary in the voice synthesizer 11 can be searched at a high speed for conversion from Japanese to English, so that a dialogue with a foreigner is possible. Can also be given priority.
In the normal mode M0, the functions shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 can be performed at the normal speed.

FIG. 6A shows a mobile phone 50 in which the dialog support device 1 of the present invention is incorporated. Mobile phone 50
Consists of a main body 51 and a lid 57 which are openably and closably connected via a hinge h. As shown in FIG. 6 (A), the main body 5
Reference numeral 1 denotes an operation unit (character input means) composed of a plurality of buttons 5
2, a microphone (voice input means) 53, a mode switching key 54, a call start key 55, a call end key 55a, a dialogue support start key 56, and a dialogue support end key 56a. Further, the lid 57 includes a liquid crystal display screen (character display means) 58 and a speaker (sound generation means) 59. Further, the main body 51 and the lid 57 include the well-known voice-signal conversion means, signal-voice conversion means, and radio wave transmission / reception means, as well as the character input device including a voice synthesizer (character-voice conversion means) 11. -Voice output device 10 and voice decoding device
A part of the voice input-character output device 20 including the (voice-character conversion means) 22 is put into service and included.

The main body 51 also includes a vibrator (42) and a timer (40) similar to the above, and the mode switching key 54 further selects the home mode M1, the interactive mode M2, when the interactive support mode is selected. Alternatively, the walking mode M3 can be added. The mobile phone 50 has a known PDC communication function or PHS communication function, selects a phone mode with the mode switching key 54, and calls the call start key 55.
By operating a and a button (dial) of the operation unit 52, a call can be made with a remote person. On the other hand, by selecting the dialog support mode with the mode switching key 54, the hearing impaired person can easily and quickly communicate with the healthy winner as described above.

FIG. 6 (B) shows a portable information terminal device 60 incorporating the dialog support device 1 of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 6B, the portable information terminal 60 has a box-shaped main body 61 having a size that can be stored in a chest pocket such as a palm or a shirt.
The liquid crystal display screen (character display means and character input means) 6
2, search key 63, operation keys 64-67, microphone
(Voice input means) 68, and speaker (voice generation means) 6
9 is equipped. The liquid crystal display screen 62 can display characters and the like, and can also input characters using the input pen 6 or the like.

The main body 61 includes a voice synthesizer (character-
The character input-speech output device 10 including the sound conversion means 11 and the sound input-speech output device 20 including the sound opening device (speech-character conversion means) 22 are included, and a storage similar to that of a personal computer is included. Built-in means for exerting functions such as calculation, dictionary search, etc. According to the portable information terminal 60 as described above, normally, information collection, information search, information display, etc. at the destination are performed, and by selecting the dialogue support mode with the search key 63, as described above. The hearing impaired person can easily and quickly communicate with a healthy winner or the like.

By the way, a general mobile phone has a large number of buttons to be operated and can be operated with one hand, but the character input-speech output device 1 for newly providing the dialogue support is provided therein.
It is currently difficult to add 0 and the voice input-character output device 20 in view of, for example, lack of memory capacity. On the other hand, a normal mobile information terminal has few operation buttons, and it is difficult to input with one hand.
There is a problem. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 6C, a method of using a combination of an ordinary mobile phone 70 equipped with a Bluetooth function and the mobile information terminal device 60 equipped with the above function can be considered. The mobile phone 70 has a main body 71 having a plurality of operation buttons 72, a search key 74, a call port 75 and the like, and a lid 76 having a liquid crystal display screen 77, an earpiece 78 and the like, which can be opened and closed via a hinge h. It is connected.

For a deaf person, the portable information terminal 60 equipped with the Bluetooth function in advance is stored in his / her chest pocket, hung from the neck with a hanging strap, or placed on the palm of the hand, as shown in FIG. ), The ordinary mobile phone 70 equipped with the Bluetooth function is operated with the remaining one hand. Then, as indicated by a solid arrow in FIG. 6C, a weak radio wave is transmitted from the mobile phone 70 to the mobile information terminal 60, and the character input / speech output device 1 of the terminal 60.
0 works. As a result, the words are transmitted as voice from the speaker 69 to the conversation partner. Alternatively, as shown by an alternate long and short dash line arrow in FIG. 6C, the voice from the other party is input by the microphone 68, and the voice input-character output device 20 is input.
With this, the liquid crystal display screen 62 can be displayed and read. With such a combination, a person with a disability who has become accustomed to one-handed input operations on a mobile phone can quickly have a dialogue with the other person.

The present invention is not limited to the form described above. For example, the portable body is not limited to the so-called mobile phone type having the elongated shape, but may be a calculator type having a plate shape that is substantially square or rectangular in plan view.
Further, the size of the characters displayed on the liquid crystal display screens 5, 58, 62 may be successively increased, so that it is easy for the elderly and the visually impaired to visually recognize. Further, the liquid crystal display screens 5 and 58 of the main body 1a are rotatably divided so that the characters input by the deaf person can be simultaneously displayed to the conversation partner in the character input / speech output device 10. Is also good. Alternatively, the voice input-character output device 2
Liquid crystal display screens 5, 58, 6 visually recognized by persons with disabilities at 0
The character of 2 may be made to be confirmed by the conversation partner.
It is also possible to provide liquid crystal display screens 5 on both the front surface 2 and the back surface 3 of the main body 1a.

[0036]

According to the dialogue support apparatus for hearing-impaired persons (claim 1) of the present invention described above, the hearing-impaired person can input characters and make them into voices to be transmitted to the healthy winners. When the healthy winner of the conversation partner makes a voice toward the main body, the voice is displayed as characters on the main body. Therefore, by carrying the above-mentioned portable body, it is possible to easily carry out the necessary dialogue outdoors, and it is also possible to contribute to the social participation of the hearing impaired. Further, according to the dialogue support apparatus for the hearing impaired person of claim 2, the person with disabilities can visually recognize the characters input by himself / herself, and also the voice of the dialogue partner together with the voice by means of a character display means such as a liquid crystal display screen. Can be transmitted more reliably.

Further, according to the dialogue support apparatus for the hearing impaired person of claim 3, the common term phrase which is frequently utilized and stored in advance when going out is instantly voiced by pressing, for example, the shortening button of the character input means. Can be sent as. Therefore, it is possible to quickly and easily inform the conversation partner of common phrases used frequently when going out. Further, according to the dialogue support apparatus for the hearing impaired person of claim 4, Japanese of the input characters or the selected common vocabulary can be translated into a foreign language and can be transmitted to the conversation partner by voice. Further, according to the dialogue support device for a hearing impaired person of claim 5, when a loud voice or an explosion sound is generated in the immediate vicinity, the vibrator is activated to vibrate the body or the fingertip, thereby preventing a dangerous situation or a disaster. You can instantly be aware and take evacuation action quickly.

Further, according to the dialogue support apparatus for the hearing impaired person of claim 6, when the preset alarm time or outing time is reached, the timer is activated and the vibrator vibrates the body or fingertips. By giving or displaying an easy-to-read pictogram on the character display means, it is possible to perform the planned action without forgetting. Further, claim 7
According to the dialogue support device for hearing impaired persons, as an answering machine by selecting the at-home mode, the vibrator is activated in response to a ringing sound of a visitor, and a response is promptly given by the vibration, or a dialogue mode is set. It is possible to quickly search for the common phrase to support dialogue, or select a walking mode to promptly send a voice asking for help to the surroundings when necessary, thereby avoiding familiar danger. In addition, according to the dialogue support device for the hearing impaired person of claim 8, the character input-voice output device and the voice input-character output device are further built in the main body of the mobile information terminal or the mobile phone. Therefore, it is usually used for information retrieval and telephone calls, and it becomes possible for a hearing impaired person to easily communicate with the other party.

[Brief description of drawings]

1A and 1B are perspective views showing the appearance of a dialogue support device of the present invention, and FIGS. 1C and 1D are schematic diagrams showing the function thereof.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing a character input / speech output device in the dialogue support device of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing a voice input / character output device in the dialogue support device of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a mode in which a dictionary common to the speech synthesizer in FIG. 2 and the speech decoder in FIG. 3 is used.

5A to 5C are schematic diagrams showing an application system form of the dialogue support device.

FIG. 6A is a schematic diagram of a mobile phone incorporating the dialogue support device of the present invention, FIG. 6B is a schematic diagram of a portable information terminal incorporating the dialogue support device of the present invention, and FIG. FIG. 6 is a schematic view showing a mode in which the machine is remotely operated by an ordinary mobile phone.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ………………………… Dialogue support device for hearing impaired person 1a ……………… Main body 5, 58, 62… Liquid crystal display screen (character display means) 6 ………………… Input button (character input) Means) 6a …………………… Liquid crystal input screen (character input means) 7 …………………… Mode selection / switch button 8, 59, 69… Speaker (voice generation means) 9, 53, 68… Microphone ( Voice input means) 10 ......... Character input-speech output apparatus 11 ......... Speech synthesizer (Character-speech conversion means) 20 ... ………… Voice decoding device (speech-to-character conversion means) 40 ……………… Timer 42 ……………… Vibrator 50 ……………… Mobile phone (dialogue support device for the hearing impaired) 60 ... …………… Portable information terminal (dialogue support device for the hearing impaired) M1 to M3 ……… Selection mode

Continuation of front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification code FI theme code (reference) G10L 21/06 G10L 3/00 R

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. A character input-speech output device including character input means, a character-speech conversion means for converting an input character signal into speech, and a sound generation means, a speech input means, and a speech signal inputted. Dialogue support for the hearing impaired, characterized in that a voice-to-character conversion means for converting into a voice and a voice input-to-character output device including a character display means for displaying the converted characters are built in a portable body. apparatus. 2. The dialogue support for hearing-impaired persons according to claim 1, wherein the character input-speech output device has a function of displaying the inputted characters to the conversation partner by the character display means. apparatus. 3. The character input-speech output device outputs the common term selected by the character input means by sound by the character-speech conversion means and the sound generation means, and
It is possible to display at least one of the selected common term phrase on the character display means for displaying to a dialogue partner, The dialogue support device for a hearing-impaired person according to claim 1 or 2, wherein. 4. The character input-the character of a voice output device-
The dialogue support device for a hearing impaired person according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the voice conversion means includes a function of converting Japanese into a foreign language. 5. A vibrator is further incorporated in the main body in addition to the two devices, and when the voice input means in the voice input-character output device receives a strong sound of a preset value or more, The dialogue support device for a hearing-impaired person according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein a vibrator is operated. 6. A timer is further incorporated in the main body in addition to the two devices, and the vibrator is operated or a pictogram for alerting is displayed by the character display means at a preset time. The dialogue support device for a hearing-impaired person according to any one of claims 1 to 5. 7. In addition to the two devices, a mode selecting means for selecting a plurality of modes such as a home mode, a dialogue mode, and a walking mode is further incorporated in the main body, and any one of the above modes is selected. By doing so, the function of speeding up at least one of the character input-voice output device and the voice input-character output device, the function of preferentially activating the vibrator, or the transmission of a danger signal by the voice generating means. The dialogue support device for a hearing-impaired person according to any one of claims 1 to 6, which is capable of performing a function. 8. The portable type main body doubles as a portable information terminal or a portable telephone.
8. A dialogue support device for a hearing-impaired person according to any one of 7 to 7.