GB2602316A - A communication aid for the disabled - Google Patents

A communication aid for the disabled Download PDF

Info

Publication number
GB2602316A
GB2602316A GB2020470.7A GB202020470A GB2602316A GB 2602316 A GB2602316 A GB 2602316A GB 202020470 A GB202020470 A GB 202020470A GB 2602316 A GB2602316 A GB 2602316A
Authority
GB
United Kingdom
Prior art keywords
smartphone
air
jets
power
control
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Pending
Application number
GB2020470.7A
Other versions
GB202020470D0 (en
Inventor
Asady Baback
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Individual
Original Assignee
Individual
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Individual filed Critical Individual
Priority to GB2020470.7A priority Critical patent/GB2602316A/en
Publication of GB202020470D0 publication Critical patent/GB202020470D0/en
Publication of GB2602316A publication Critical patent/GB2602316A/en
Pending legal-status Critical Current

Links

Classifications

    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04M—TELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION
    • H04M1/00—Substation equipment, e.g. for use by subscribers
    • H04M1/02—Constructional features of telephone sets
    • H04M1/04—Supports for telephone transmitters or receivers
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
    • G06F—ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
    • G06F1/00—Details not covered by groups G06F3/00 - G06F13/00 and G06F21/00
    • G06F1/16—Constructional details or arrangements
    • G06F1/1613—Constructional details or arrangements for portable computers
    • G06F1/1632—External expansion units, e.g. docking stations
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
    • G06F—ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
    • G06F3/00—Input arrangements for transferring data to be processed into a form capable of being handled by the computer; Output arrangements for transferring data from processing unit to output unit, e.g. interface arrangements
    • G06F3/01—Input arrangements or combined input and output arrangements for interaction between user and computer
    • G06F3/016—Input arrangements with force or tactile feedback as computer generated output to the user
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G09—EDUCATION; CRYPTOGRAPHY; DISPLAY; ADVERTISING; SEALS
    • G09B—EDUCATIONAL OR DEMONSTRATION APPLIANCES; APPLIANCES FOR TEACHING, OR COMMUNICATING WITH, THE BLIND, DEAF OR MUTE; MODELS; PLANETARIA; GLOBES; MAPS; DIAGRAMS
    • G09B21/00—Teaching, or communicating with, the blind, deaf or mute
    • G09B21/001—Teaching or communicating with blind persons
    • G09B21/003—Teaching or communicating with blind persons using tactile presentation of the information, e.g. Braille displays
    • G09B21/004—Details of particular tactile cells, e.g. electro-mechanical or mechanical layout
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G09—EDUCATION; CRYPTOGRAPHY; DISPLAY; ADVERTISING; SEALS
    • G09B—EDUCATIONAL OR DEMONSTRATION APPLIANCES; APPLIANCES FOR TEACHING, OR COMMUNICATING WITH, THE BLIND, DEAF OR MUTE; MODELS; PLANETARIA; GLOBES; MAPS; DIAGRAMS
    • G09B21/00—Teaching, or communicating with, the blind, deaf or mute
    • G09B21/001—Teaching or communicating with blind persons
    • G09B21/003—Teaching or communicating with blind persons using tactile presentation of the information, e.g. Braille displays
    • G09B21/005—Details of specially-adapted software to access information, e.g. to browse through hyperlinked information
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G09—EDUCATION; CRYPTOGRAPHY; DISPLAY; ADVERTISING; SEALS
    • G09B—EDUCATIONAL OR DEMONSTRATION APPLIANCES; APPLIANCES FOR TEACHING, OR COMMUNICATING WITH, THE BLIND, DEAF OR MUTE; MODELS; PLANETARIA; GLOBES; MAPS; DIAGRAMS
    • G09B21/00—Teaching, or communicating with, the blind, deaf or mute
    • G09B21/009—Teaching or communicating with deaf persons
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04M—TELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION
    • H04M1/00—Substation equipment, e.g. for use by subscribers
    • H04M1/72—Mobile telephones; Cordless telephones, i.e. devices for establishing wireless links to base stations without route selection
    • H04M1/724—User interfaces specially adapted for cordless or mobile telephones
    • H04M1/72403—User interfaces specially adapted for cordless or mobile telephones with means for local support of applications that increase the functionality
    • H04M1/72409—User interfaces specially adapted for cordless or mobile telephones with means for local support of applications that increase the functionality by interfacing with external accessories
    • H04M1/724094—Interfacing with a device worn on the user's body to provide access to telephonic functionalities, e.g. accepting a call, reading or composing a message
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04M—TELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION
    • H04M1/00—Substation equipment, e.g. for use by subscribers
    • H04M1/72—Mobile telephones; Cordless telephones, i.e. devices for establishing wireless links to base stations without route selection
    • H04M1/724—User interfaces specially adapted for cordless or mobile telephones
    • H04M1/72475—User interfaces specially adapted for cordless or mobile telephones specially adapted for disabled users
    • H04M1/72481—User interfaces specially adapted for cordless or mobile telephones specially adapted for disabled users for visually impaired users

Landscapes

  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Theoretical Computer Science (AREA)
  • General Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Business, Economics & Management (AREA)
  • Educational Administration (AREA)
  • Educational Technology (AREA)
  • Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
  • General Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
  • Audiology, Speech & Language Pathology (AREA)
  • Human Computer Interaction (AREA)
  • Signal Processing (AREA)
  • Computer Hardware Design (AREA)
  • Telephone Set Structure (AREA)
  • Photovoltaic Devices (AREA)

Abstract

A communication aid for the disabled which conveys information from a Smartphone 3 as jets of air blown against the user's skin in digital or analogue format. The device comprises a case 1 providing a means for attachment 10 to the user's body and a means 2 for securing a Smartphone within, and encasing a number of photodetectors 4, which act as light-dependent switches activated or deactivated by the presence or absence of light from the screen of the Smartphone 3. The photodetectors control a corresponding number of electric fans 5 to produce jets of air through the holes 6 under the control of a program residing on the Smartphone 3. Power to the electric circuit is provided either by battery 11, held within the battery compartment 8, or solar panels 7 with selector switch 9 to select between the two power sources or turn the power off.

Description

A communication aid for the disabled This invention relates to an aid for conveying information from a Smartphone to a blind, deaf, or disabled person.
The proposed aid uses jets of air to convey the information from a Smartphone to the user using the principle described in the UK patent by the applicant (Title: Navigation and communication aid for the blind -Patent No: GB 2390733). The proposed design is for an implementation of some of the features described in the above-mentioned patent.
The advent of the Smartphone has enabled a great wealth of information, from the intemet, to be available to the user readily and conveniently. But the blind and the deaf cannot fully take advantage of the available information and services, which could improve the quality of life. The main problem is that the data is provided, either visually through the Smartphone's screen or as audio through the speaker. The proposed aid aims to overcome the problem by representing the data as a set ofjets of air blown against the user's skin.
The pattern of the jets of air could convey the information in a binary format, while the intensity of air could convey analogue information. For example, the patterns of the Braille alphabet can be represented by the jets of air blown through a number of holes. A colour could be represented as its red, green and blue constitutes as three jets of air blown through three holes and the saturation of each constitute colour could be conveyed by the intensity of the relevant air jet. Navigation information, from a Smartphone, could be represented as directions of compass (i.e. North, South, West, East, North West, North East, South West and South East) by jets of air blown through eight holes, whose relative positions could represent the directions of compass.
Audio data, from a Smartphone could also be presented, as jets of air, to a deaf person. The position and the loudness of a sound can be conveyed by a jet of air, whose location in a pattern, could convey the direction of the sound and the intensity of the air jet could convey its loudness. It would also be possible to present speech, and even music, to a deaf person as a pattern of air jets, each representing a certain frequency component of the sound with the intensity of air representing the volume. A disabled person, who may not be able to use a Smartphone in a normal way, due to physical constraints, could also benefit from the proposed aid.
According to the present invention there is provided an aid comprising a case providing means for attachment to the user's body and securing a Smartphone within and encasing a number of photodetectors, acting as light-dependent switches controlled by a program residing on the Smartphone, to control a number of corresponding electric fans for the production of air jets with the power for the electric circuit being provided, either by solar power or battery, under the control of a selector switch.
A specific embodiment of the invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:-Figure 1 shows the overall aid with the individual parts.
Figure 2 shows the electric circuit for the production of air jets.
The proposed design consists of a program, which can vary according to application, residing on the Smartphone and the physical aid as described below.
The proposed design, as a way of example, uses 9 jets of air, which allows the representation of 512 (i.e. 29= 512) combinations of data in binary format (i.e. 1/0 Air/No Air) or 9 separate individual outputs under the control of software. This arrangement enables the presentation of all the characters of the ASCII code, the Braille alphabet, various colour information and the directions of compass as jets of air under software control. The design also avoids any physical connection to the Smartphone to avoid any infringement of proprietary rights associated with it. However, it is technically possible to provide the electric power for the aid from the Smartphone's headphone socket.
Referring to figure 1, the proposed aid comprises a case 1 having a belt 10 for fastening it to the user's body and flexible grips 2 to hold a Smartphone 3 within. Case 1 also houses a number of photodetectors 4, acting as light-dependent switches for a number of corresponding electric fans 5 -one photodetector for one electric fan. Each photodetector 4 faces a designated area on the Smartphone's screen and can be activated or deactivated by presence or absence of light from the Smartphone's screen under the control of a program residing on the Smartphone 3. This allows the electric fans 5 to be turned on or off selectively to produce jets of air, which are blown through holes 6 against the user's skin to carry the desired data either as a pattern of air jets in binary format (e.g. a Braille alphabet character) or individually with each air jet representing a certain data (e.g. a colour as its red, green and blue constitutes).
The jets of air produced by the electric fans 5 could also be pulsed at different rates by activating or deactivating the corresponding photodetectors 4, under software control, to vary the intensity of air jets to convey the information in analogue format (e.g. volume of a certain sound). The electric fans 5 are of 'Direct Current (DC) Motor' type.
The battery compartment 8 provides housing for battery 11 for powering the electric circuit, which could also be powered by the solar panels 7. In the proposed design, there are two solar panels 7, with the top one facing outward to receive ambient light and the bottom one facing a designated area on the Smartphone's screen to receive light from it, in case of insufficient or lack of ambient light. The light, from the Smartphone's screen, can be varied under software control.
Referring to figure 2, the electric circuit shows the connections for one photodetector 4 and one fan 5 and how they are connected to the power supply. The arrangement would be the same for any additional pair of 'fan and photodetector' with the electric fan connected to the photodetector in series and the two connected to the power supply at points XX (as shown in Fig 2). The two solar panels 7 are connected, in series, to collectively provide electric power. The selector switch 9 has three positions for turning the power off (Position I) or selecting the power source, either from battery 11 (Position II) or solar panels 7 (Position III) (as shown in Fig 2).
The photodetector 4 (shown in Fig 2) is a photodiode but a phototransistor could equally be used. Although a photodiode has the advantage of lower power consumption and could provide protection against any back e.m.f produced by the electric fans 5.
The section of the case 1 for housing the photodetectors 4 and the solar panels 7, and also the distance from the electric fans 5 to the case 1 have been exaggerated in size to clearly show the different features of the design.

Claims (1)

  1. CLAIMS1) According to the present invention there is provided an aid comprising a case providing means for attachment to the user's body and securing a Smartphone within and encasing a number of photodetectors, acting as light-dependent switches controlled by a program residing on a Smartphone, to control a number of corresponding electric fans for the production of air jets with the power for the electric circuit being provided by solar power or battery under the control of a selector switch.
GB2020470.7A 2020-12-23 2020-12-23 A communication aid for the disabled Pending GB2602316A (en)

Priority Applications (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
GB2020470.7A GB2602316A (en) 2020-12-23 2020-12-23 A communication aid for the disabled

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
GB2020470.7A GB2602316A (en) 2020-12-23 2020-12-23 A communication aid for the disabled

Publications (2)

Publication Number Publication Date
GB202020470D0 GB202020470D0 (en) 2021-02-03
GB2602316A true GB2602316A (en) 2022-06-29

Family

ID=74221063

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
GB2020470.7A Pending GB2602316A (en) 2020-12-23 2020-12-23 A communication aid for the disabled

Country Status (1)

Country Link
GB (1) GB2602316A (en)

Citations (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
EP2778850A1 (en) * 2013-03-15 2014-09-17 Immersion Corporation Systems and methods for parameter modification of haptic effects
US20160342781A1 (en) * 2015-05-19 2016-11-24 Lg Electronics Inc. Mobile terminal and method of controlling therefor
EP3144770A1 (en) * 2015-09-18 2017-03-22 Immersion Corporation Systems and methods for providing haptic effects in response to deformation of a cover for an electronic device
EP3418869A1 (en) * 2017-06-20 2018-12-26 LG Electronics Inc. Mobile terminal
EP3511802A2 (en) * 2017-12-22 2019-07-17 LG Electronics Inc. Mobile terminal

Patent Citations (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
EP2778850A1 (en) * 2013-03-15 2014-09-17 Immersion Corporation Systems and methods for parameter modification of haptic effects
US20160342781A1 (en) * 2015-05-19 2016-11-24 Lg Electronics Inc. Mobile terminal and method of controlling therefor
EP3144770A1 (en) * 2015-09-18 2017-03-22 Immersion Corporation Systems and methods for providing haptic effects in response to deformation of a cover for an electronic device
EP3418869A1 (en) * 2017-06-20 2018-12-26 LG Electronics Inc. Mobile terminal
EP3511802A2 (en) * 2017-12-22 2019-07-17 LG Electronics Inc. Mobile terminal

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
GB202020470D0 (en) 2021-02-03

Similar Documents

Publication Publication Date Title
ES2702970T3 (en) Control device to control the color of light emitted from a light source
US20120044085A1 (en) Multifunctional doorbell with controllable lighting
US20070047740A1 (en) Headset with flashing light emitting diodes
US20140286522A1 (en) Audio output module for use in artifical voice system
US20230284774A1 (en) A signal driven light-emitting e-sports table
GB2602316A (en) A communication aid for the disabled
US20100280922A1 (en) Illumination and decoration for amplifier and speaker networks
US20210383791A1 (en) Audio output module for use in artificial voice systems
EP4135341A1 (en) Microphone providing light effects
CN207340116U (en) Earphone
KR20100007476U (en) A Headset with levelmeter and levelmeter accessory
US20030197620A1 (en) Systems and methods for indicating headset usage
CN216134577U (en) Wireless earphone
CN116583326A (en) Wearable air purifier
CN205245037U (en) Stereo set lamp
KR101798177B1 (en) Wearable platform system using FOLED
CN211132977U (en) Game machine handle
CN113068092A (en) Earphone charging box and projection control method thereof
KR101021767B1 (en) A control apparatus for led color by voice signal level
CN208124076U (en) A kind of intelligent radio music downlight
CN207800013U (en) Light sensation constellation tellurion
US20150222975A1 (en) Combination Audio and Light System
CN213586171U (en) Luminous digital sound equipment
JPS6240101A (en) Stage production
CN107707993A (en) A kind of surround sound lamp light loudspeaker box