All Dressed Up…With Someplace to Go! Technology and Accommodations to Get You “Out There”
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| The Intelligent Access Captioning System works with iPod Touch® and iPhone® for portable open-captioning. The WRAP visor will be usable in theaters, sports arenas, classrooms and anywhere open-capti |
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| Professor Harold Hill riles up the folks of River City during an open-captioned live performance of “The Music Man.” Photo by David LeShay, courtesy of Theatre Development Fund |
It’s Saturday night! What do you have planned? For the hearing, it would seem that entertainment possibilities are limitless, with new choices popping up every day. But for the deaf and hard of hearing (D/HH), finding viable options for a night on the town can be more challenging. Fortunately, accommodations for D/HH are out there – and technology is increasing by leaps and bounds. Sometimes you just need to know where to look.
Let’s see what’s available right now for D/HH, technologically speaking, and take a peek at what’s on the horizon. Better shine your shoes and slick back your hair – we’re goin’ out tonight!
GETTING THERE
Induction Looping
One of the most beneficial inventions for people with hearing loss is the induction loop. A wire, which is connected to a transmitter, is strung across the sides and ceiling of a venue, or under the carpeting. When a hearing aid wearer enters the room and turns the hearing aid to the telecoil (t-coil) position, the transmitter sends sound directly to the aid, acting as a personal amplifier and creating perfect, undistorted sound. According to HearingLoop.org, what Wi-Fi is to laptops, induction loops are to hearing aids.
Both large and small venues can be looped, from churches, museums, movie theaters, live theaters, auditoriums, classrooms, sports arenas and airport terminals, to taxicabs, ticket counters, kiosks and even home living rooms. Unfortunately, loop induction technology is still in relative infancy here in the U.S., primarily because not all hearing aids are equipped with t-coils. In the United Kingdom, where nearly 90 percent of all hearing aids have a t-coil switch, looping is commonplace and mandated by law in certain venues. You can catch a looped cab to the movie theater or travel by train through a looped station, purchase your tickets at a looped ticket window, and then listen to a live concert at a nearby cathedral with perfect sound clarity, simply by flipping a switch on the hearing aids you’re already wearing.
Here in the States, the cities of Holland-Zeeland, Grand Rapids and Grand Haven/Muskegon, Mich., are experimental looping communities where a good many public venues are looped. Let’s assume you’re fortunate enough to live in a city like one of these and you can catch a looped cab to your destination, then step up to the looped will call window and claim your tickets. It’s time to enjoy the show!
MOVIE THEATER TECHNOLOGY
It’s All About to Change
Your night out is set to include the latest Hollywood blockbuster at a local megaplex. You’re a hearing aid wearer; your wife is hearing and one of the friends accompanying you this evening is completely deaf. How are you all going to enjoy this movie?
If your local theater happens to be looped and you have a t-coilequipped hearing aid, flip that switch, sit back and enjoy! However, we’ve already seen that looping is not prevalent in the U.S. If you’re American Sign Language (ASL) proficient, you could ask your movie theater to provide an ASL interpreter, but again this requires some forethought and pre-planning.
At present, the best option for D/HH moviegoers is captioned film, of which there are two types.
Rear Window Captioning (RWC) is a closed-captioned (CC) system. An LED panel located at the back of the theater projects onto a transparent acrylic panel or reflector that is borrowed from the box offi ce when you purchase your tickets. The movie captions appear on the reflector, which hangs on the back of the seat directly in front of you or sits in your cupholder. You can adjust your own panel so that the captions appear superimposed on the movie screen. The primary advantage of RWC is that you can watch any showing of any movie that is RW-captioned, so you can attend and enjoy a movie in a mixed group of hearing and non-hearing individuals. However, RWC does have its drawbacks. Only certain movie theater companies use RWC. And patrons complain that they need to hunker down to read the panel, while constantly looking back up at the movie screen, creating neck and eye strain. The equipment itself is often old, broken or not well cleaned and movie theater employees do not always understand how the equipment works or how to troubleshoot problems when they occur. Unfortunately, for patrons who don’t want to draw attention to their hearing loss, the RWC equipment does just that.
Open-Captioning (OC) is generally preferred by D/HH moviegoers because the captions are incorporated in the fi lm itself so that everyone can read them by simply looking directly at the screen. The main advantage to open-captioning is that no assistive technology is needed. On the flip side, hearing patrons complain that the captions can be distracting, only a few movies are actually open-captioned (and they amy not always be fi lms that appeal to you) and showings are usually at less-than-optimal times. In all cases of captioning, open and closed, captions are usually limited to the English language.
So where is the hip, exciting new technology that’s going to make moviegoing fun again?
In April 2010, movie theaters across the U.S. will go digital – a conversion which, according to captioning advocate Nanci Linke-Ellis of California, will change the movie industry forever. “For the first time since the invention of film, film production and distribution is going to change,” says Ellis. Instead of distributing their movies to theaters on 35mm reels, motion picture companies will produce their films on servers and distribute them digitally, essentially as computer files.
Unlike television’s recent conversion from analog to digital, however, the movie theater digital rollout won’t happen all at once. Installation of the equipment is costly and time-consuming, with the conversion of a typical megaplex taking anywhere from four months to a year for equipment installation, at an average cost of $2.5 million. But according to Linke-Ellis, the wait will be well worth it.
Imagine this: You’re sitting with your family in a movie theater. You put on a pair of clear glasses that fit comfortably and discreetly over your head and then turn on your iPhone®. The movie begins. With a quick push of a button, your iPhone syncs with the equipment at the theater and captions to the movie appear on your iPhone’s screen, in your preferred language. You don’t care for the font offered, so you quickly adjust it. When you look up to the movie screen through your eyewear, the captions seem to fl oat in front of your eyes, wherever it’s comfortable for you to see them, with the movie in plain view. Your family members, meanwhile, are watching the same movie without captions.
Leanne West is the project director for a wearable captioning system developed by the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI), a project funded by Wireless Rehabilitation Research Center, which is in turn funded by the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research. According to West, the eyewear described above is slated to become commercially available in the fall of 2009.
GTRI’s personal captioning system and eyewear will also boast applications outside of movie theaters. “Live theater, color commentary at sporting events, auditorium presentations – anywhere captions are useful, the system will be a benefit,” says West. “The user can customize the font and color of the text to their own preference and receive song lyrics and messages, such as emergency announcements.” Users can view captions on their iPhone or iPod Touch®, or connect the eyewear to have the captions appear in front of their eyes. Compatibility with other platforms is under development.
West and her partner Ethan Adler are working to bring the product to market through their company, Intelligent Access. It’s already being used at Mystic Aquarium in Mystic, Conn., where visitors can check out iPods and use the eyewear at various movies and exhibits throughout the aquarium. When the digital conversion of movie theaters occurs next year, most theaters will likely maintain several sets in their box offices for patrons to borrow, but the eyewear and software will also be available for purchase by individuals, allowing for greater mobility when captioning options present themselves. As with most new technology, the price tag will seem a bit steep initially – in the $250 range, West estimates – but as it becomes more popular, the cost will likely drop, making this essential bit of assistive technology practical for all.
LIVE PERFORMANCES
Open-Captioning Plays and Musicals
When she finally lost all hearing in the 1980s, Arlene Romoff and her husband gave up one of their favorite pastimes: attending Broadway shows. They kept their subscription to Paper Mill Playhouse in Millburn, N.J., however, because the theater attempted to accommodate her by seating her in the front row and providing scripts to follow along with. She noticed that the theater offered a few sign language-interpreted performances. Since Romoff did not sign, she approached a court reporter with the idea of loading an entire script in his computer and displaying it line by line on an LED screen in sync with a live performance. The concept was developed and, in 1996, Paper Mill Playhouse debuted its first open-captioned performance. Romoff went on to become one of the country’s leading advocates of live theater captioning. As a member of Theatre Access Project (TAP), Romoff is a supporter of the Theatre Development Fund (TDF), which provides funding to theaters for open-captioning and other assistive technologies.
Sunshine Lampitoc, director of institutional giving for Signature Theater Company in New York City, applies to TDF each year for a grant to fund two open-captioned performances, which, depending on the season, might be a play or a full-fledged musical. She relies on assistance from David Chu at c2Net, a company that provides open-captioning for live theater. (Log on to HearingHealthMag.com for a list of open-captioned live theater performances through summer 2010.) Although a great deal of preparation goes into live captioning of a play or musical, on performance night all the audience sees is a small LED screen tucked discreetly to one side of the stage. Lines, song lyrics and sound cues appear on the screen so that no one in the audience misses a trick. Lampitoc estimates that Signature Theater Company serves about 100 D/HH patrons each season – a number that she is certain would increase if the service were more widely publicized.
SPORTING EVENTS
Gamers, Meet Game
Baseball fans in Seattle are testing a new video gaming device at Mariners baseball games, with positive results. According to the Washington State Communication Access Project, the Seattle Mariners and their principal owner, Nintendo of America, have developed the Nintendo Fan Network, which allows fans to bring portable Nintendo gaming consoles to the game, then use them during the game to access a number of interactive features. To promote use of the network and the purchase of the gaming devices, 150 of the devices are available for fans to borrow on a first-come, first-served basis at each game and there are always devices in reserve for people with hearing loss.
The Mariners’ radio broadcast is captioned and is fed into the stadium. When the stadium announcer speaks, the announcements override the broadcast. The PA announcer’s remarks are then captioned as well. The device can also be used for ordering food, checking scores, reading players’ bios and disseminating other ballpark information.
IF THEY BUILD IT…WE WILL COME. AND
THE DALAI LAMA, TOO.
Speaking Up for Accessibility
What prevents many D/HH from being patrons of the arts is simply not being aware that assistive technology is available to them, or being reluctant to ask for it. “If there is a demand, [theaters] will have to accommodate it,” says Linke-Ellis. “The best way to get noticed is to get a group of people together and request tickets for the same day. Talk to the accessibility coordinator for the theater and explain what you are trying to do. Basically, it’s helping them develop and keep a dwindling audience.”
Lampitoc agrees: “The key is information and outreach. If more people demand open-captioning, it will become more prevalent.”
Of course, open-captioning is not limited to theater. A visit by the Dalai Lama to the Pasadena Civic Auditorium in California prompted one audience member to ask about captioning, which had never been requested before at that venue. By the time the Dalai Lama had finished speaking, the audience member who had requested the captioning found herself surrounded by a group of other D/HH, eagerly watching the screen.
The moral to that story is: Don’t be afraid to ask for the accommodations that you are entitled to, and encourage others to speak up as well. You are not the only one who can benefit from assistive technology! Advocacy and accessibility go hand in hand; when more individuals request accommodation, they gain the attention of those who should – and can – provide it.
Well, it’s time to turn in. Hope you’ve enjoyed your night on the town. Be careful getting home and good night!
TV AMPLIFIERS – TAKING ADVANTAGE OF WHAT’S ALREADY THERE
In 1998, George Dennis of Spring Valley, Calif., watched his father struggle to hear his television as his hearing ability declined. Witnessing his father’s frustration, Dennis was motivated to develop a wireless TV listening device called TV Ears, which allows users to set their own volume and tone while others in the room can listen to the TV at a normal volume level. TV Ears and other brand-name TV amplifi ers are lightweight, wireless headsets which hang beneath the chin for greater comfort, easily connecting to all types of television sets.
Because most TV amplifiers use infrared technology, they can also be used outside the home. Most movie theaters, live theaters and sporting arenas use a specifi c frequency – 95kHz – in their venues. TV amplifiers connect to the infrared transmitters that operate on that signal to provide audio amplification to the user.
“The problem is that no one knows those frequencies are there,” explains Dennis. “But 90 percent of playhouses are already equipped with that technology.” Live theater, he says, is probably the best application outside the home, followed by movie theaters and sporting events. However, Dennis cautions that not all theaters and sports facilities operate on the 95kHz
frequency, so it might take a visit to one with your TV amplifier to determine compatibility.
Learn more about TV amplifiers at Harris Communications (www.harriscomm.com) and other assistive technology retailers.
A NIGHT IN – THE AFFORDABLE NIGHT OUT
In these times of economic belt-tightening and “staycations,” dinner at a restaurant and a movie at $9 a pop might just be beyond your budget. So why not stay home, watch TV and order a pizza instead?
Monday night? You’re in luck. Tune in to “Heroes,” an NBC fantasy/sci-fi epic drama about seemingly ordinary people around the world who come to discover that they possess superhuman abilities of various types, gifts they put to use in saving mankind from a variety of nefarious characters. Deaf actress Deanne
Bray joins the cast in October as “Emma,” who is herself deaf, but finds that she has the amazing ability to see sound, which appears to her like the aurora borealis, or northern lights. Emma becomes the love interest of character Peter Petrelli, whose brother Nathan sadly turned against the other Heroes last season. Bray, who has appeared in “Sue Thomas: F.B.Eye,”
“CSI,” “Ellen” and “Diagnosis Murder,” will bring a depth of understanding and empathy to her character. “I have the worst in both worlds, and I have the best in both worlds,” she says of her life straddling the deaf and hearing realms.
Bray was born profoundly deaf in her right ear and has 86-decibel loss in her left ear. She’s fl uent in American Sign Language and learned to speak clearly by hiring a voice coach to help her audition for a theater role back in 2000 and has continued hard work on her own. “Acting has been an interest of mine growing up,” she says. “The more characters I meet, the better I understand people in real life that have similar traits in the characters I play. I jump in, explore the character and bring the character to life the best possible way I can.”
If the taut suspense of the “Heroes” drama makes you hungry, Hungry Howie’s Pizza is ready to accommodate, in more ways than one. Hungry Howie’s now uses text relay services to enable people with hearing or speech impairment to place and receive calls via computer, cell phone, pager and PDA by clicking a text relay icon on the restaurant’s Web site: www.hungryhowies.com. The service is free and easier than traditional TTY services. Hungry Howie’s has about 575 locations in 24 states – maybe one near you.
