UK company developing technology that would allow real-time subtitles to appear on glasses
There is an article on Fox 32 Chicago that explains that a company in the UK, XRAI Glass, is developing a software concept that uses smart glasses to show captions on its lens so deaf people — or anyone — can read what people are saying. The technology seems to be similar to transcribing apps that can automatically convert spoken words into text, but the software makes it possible for the words to appear on the glasses.
Dan Scarfe, the CEO of XRAI Glass, said in an interview “So effectively we’re taking that audio stream from the microphone on the glasses. We’re running it through a piece of transcription software… then taking those captions and putting them into augmented reality.”
Scarfe said his software can “recognize who is speaking” and he hopes to get his software to translate languages, voice tones, accents, and pitch. Its website claims that you can label different voices, those of a friend, family, or someone you are playing a game against.
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I checked out XRAI Glass’ website and it explains that its technology requires a person to first purchase a set of Nreal Air glasses, which cost about $400 and are made by a large UK mobile network and internet service provider called EE. The glasses only work if they are connected to a smartphone — specifically Android smartphones.
XRAI’s website said it is offering a pilot program to those who are in the UK and Japan.
XRAI’s website said they expect to provide a free version of their software and also offer a “premium version.”
The Nreal Air glasses aren’t the only smart glasses that are out there — there are several companies creating similar types of smart glasses in the U.S. — so I think it’s reasonable to expect that we’ll see more companies and tech developers come up with ideas of how we can use existing speech-to-text technology and apply it to smart glasses.
https://www.fox32chicago.com/news/new-smart-glasses-provide-tv-like-captions-for-the-deaf-community