Expanding Access Through Captioned Radio - Part 2

Presented by Stephen Foster

Steven Foster is the Founder and CEO of iMAT (iMobile Access Technologies), which focuses on providing media access to populations that are currently excluded.

This is part two of two parts.

For more coverage of this great convention, please point your browser to http://www.hearinglossweb.com/res/hlorg/alda/cn/2006/2006.htm

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Part One

Q. Are you doing anything to improve accessibility for things like churches?
A. No. That's not really our market, at least right now.

Q. What about people who already wear glasses?
A. Our system can overlay existing glasses. There will be a very thin cord that goes from the receiver to the eyepiece. We're also looking at how to provide accessibility to people with low vision. They will probably not be using the eyepiece, so we'll need the ability to provide various output devices.

Q. So this will be basically a floating display, out in front of you?
A. Yes, much like some of the new cars that have a speedometer projected on the windshield. We don't recommend using our system while you're driving. But we're looking at plugging the system into a dashboard, and having the display projected onto the windshield.

Q. One market you might want to look at are people with normal hearing who may want to get this type of information inconspicuously - e.g. getting stock quotes while in a meeting at work.
A. Some people listen to a baseball broadcast while at the game. What people likes about that is that they can hear the broadcast and the enjoy the game ambience at the same time. Keep in mind that we are in the content business. How can we deliver content to users in alternate formats?

Q. Does your system work with polarized sunglasses?
A. Yes. We've done that test.

Q. Aren't you worried about information overload? Like watching sports on TV now, there's the game and the captions and a couple of "runners" and a scroll. It's too much.
A. We intend to allow the user to control how much content is in the system.

C. ESPN had a throwback broadcast recently, and the broadcast was like it was 10 years ago. It was at a very relaxed pace, and I liked it better than current broadcasts.

Q. Are you also planning to have something like a PDA as an output device?
A. We're looking at that. We have to provide guarantees of quantities to interest manufactures, but we may have something like that.

Q. How will the user be able to control what he gets on his captioned radio?
A. We'll have channels, just like on current audio radio.

Q. Who is your focus group? Who is represented?
A. The purpose of a focus group is to allow early design changes, before we create the beta product. We will have 100 or 200 people who have prototypes, and get their feedback before we proceed.

Q. When you presented this in Boston, I remember some of the hearing people had doubts about this system, especially how you can wear an eyepiece while you're driving.
A. My response is that media is becoming more mobile. We don't want our system to be fixed to the car, so that you can only use in the car. People have lots of choices, and we need to see how they will use it.

Q. Where are all these captions coming from? Is it like CART?
A. Captioning will be provided just like it is with the CapTel phone, and we need to synch it with the audio. We expect a delay of about three seconds for live programming, just like you see now with live captioning.

Q. Is this something that could be provided free on the Internet?
A. Absolutely. Our challenge is to convince the industry that there is an audience for this. Until that time, it will have to be supported by the users. I have to say that I'm not a big fan of shoving things down people's throats. But I also think that this market could be mandated. If that happens, it will probably be a consumer driven model.

Q. It seems that emergency situations provide a good case for mandating this service.
A. I agree, but we need to have a viable product before we can approach the FCC about mandating.

Q. CSPAN has television with captions and a simultaneous radio program. Could you get the television captions and use that for your radio captions?
A. Yes

Q. We've talked about the dangers of using it in the car. But I don't see why a passenger couldn't use it in the car, just like people in the back seat can watch TV.
A. Absolutely.

Q. About 95% of people with hearing loss are hard of hearing, and most of us can hear amplified speech. I'm wondering who your market really is. Are you primarily focusing on the people who can't discriminate speech?
A. I think it's very hard to know that. We are targeting anyone who relies on captioning for access. We don't use the "28 million" number. We use the non-ASL population. For one reason, we think the ASL population may not be able to afford this, may not be comfortable with English grammar, may not be interested in what's on the radio.