VRS visually connects the deaf and hard of hearing to the world

By Sagee Ben-Zedeff

Categories: Innovation, Video Conferencing

July 22nd, 2008

There is a very unforgettable scene in the 2006 motion picture Babel, where the deaf teenage Japanese girl Chieko talks to her best friend using her very cool mobile phone discussing what to do later that night.

Official poster from the movie Babel.

You might wonder why that particular scene left such an impression on me, when other scenes from that movie are probably much more impressive. I think it’s because sitting in the cinema, then and there, I saw for the first time that visual communication can change lives.

Yes, visual communication technology is changing the lives of many (mainly their professional lives) and making communication much more cost-effective. But for someone who is deaf or hard of hearing, visual communication can make a difference.

The telephone is surely one of the most important inventions of our time. One hundred and thirty years after Alexander Graham Bell’s successful experiment with the telephone, it would be impossible to imagine our lives without one. The mobile phone, invented some 70 years later and commercially implemented some 25 years ago, has taken communication to a totally different level. My 3 year old son is aware from birth that anybody can be reached at any given time from anywhere, not to mention that they can (or at least should be able to) see him using my video-enabled mobile handset.

Alexander Graham Bell speaking into a prototype of the first telephone, 1876.

However to someone who is deaf or hard of hearing, the telephone (and mobile phone) revolution hasn’t really changed life that much. A deaf person can’t use the telephone for communicating with a spouse or  family member. A deaf person can’t pick up the telephone and call the teacher at the school or the cable company complaining about the bad service. Think about a deaf person stuck in traffic, late for a meeting. All of these trivial things that we regard as basic abilities  are impossible for a deaf person.

In the past, the only possibilities for a deaf person to communicate with the outside world were through text messages or sign-language conversations using jittery web-based services. Still, the possibility of using sign language to communicate with someone on the other side of the line just like any other person was not available for the deaf community.

VRS in action. Taken from the Corliss Institute website.

In comes Video Relay Service (VRS), a telecommunication service that allows deaf, hard of hearing and speech-impaired individuals to communicate with hearing and speaking people in real-time using a sign language interpreter. The concept of VRS was envisioned by Ed Bosson from the Texas Public Utility Commission more than 16 years ago. Bosson contacted Sprint Relay and discussed possibilities. Three years later the first trial was run by Sprint in Austin, limited to 4 public call centers, and 6 years later (1998) Washington and Texas tested VRS statewide. In 2002 the FCC started to regulate VRS in the US, and also to fund it via the Interstate Telecommunications Relay Fund.

In a nutshell,  this is how it works: The deaf person calls a special call center, using a video-enabled endpoint, located in his home. An interpreter (VI, short for Video Interpreter) sits in front of a camera in that call center, waiting to accept his call. The VI then places a call (regular call) to a third party, according to the deaf person desire. The VI will then translate from/to sign language and talk to the third party at the same time.

VRS explained. Taken from “The public Swedish video relay service“, article by Gunnar Hellström.

The next step would probably be connecting video-enabled mobile handset to the same VRS call centers. What does that mean?  It means that a deaf person using VRS will be able to call anyone, anywhere, at any time, just like you and me. It means true equality for the hearing and speaking impaired, enjoying the same level of freedom we all enjoy, most of the time without even appreciating it. There are a lot of technical barriers to run through before this becomes a reality, but at least there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

Video interpreter on an iPhone?  A mock-up from Nathan W. Kester’s blog.

VRS is one of the best examples of how technology can improve human lives tremendously. As someone deeply involved in visual communications, I must admit I have yet to encounter a better example for the necessity of video conferencing technologies in our lives.