Well worn words

For people who are deaf or hard of hearing, the voices of actors, teachers, sports announcers and clergy are often silenced.

With captioning typically available only in selected cinemas, a lack of access to information often limits community involvement for people who are deaf or hard of hearing. But a wearable captioning system developed at the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) and recently licensed by the Georgia Tech Research Corporation's Office of Technology Licensing to a metro Atlanta company may change that situation for the 28 million Americans (about 10 percent of the population) who are deaf or hard of hearing.

The system, which relies on mobile wireless technology, will allow users to easily receive information that is being presented audibly to the general public in a variety of public venues, such as cinemas, museums, playhouses, schools, government meetings, sports arenas, and places of worship. Because the system can transmit multiple text streams, it may also be used for language translation because its software is said to be internationally compatible.