(本网讯) 编译/肖文英

０４年０１月２６日

(美联社－美国佛罗里达州塔玛拉克)　塔拉斯·丹尼斯和安尼塔·丹尼斯都是聋人，可幸的是借助新技术，这对聋人夫妇能够用他们熟悉的美国手语与别人作即时交谈，他们只需在电视机顶上安装一部视频电话就可以了。

他们在需要跟听力正常人交流时，比如他们在华盛顿州和纽约市的孩子，只要拨打“美国手语翻译”的电话，出现在视频上的手语翻译会为聋人提供即时翻译。这些翻译人员经过培训，不仅能为聋人传递语言信息，而且还为他们传递各种表情情绪。塔拉斯·丹尼斯说, 我们只需要一部电视、高速的因特网接入和Sorenson的VP100视频解码器。

布罗瓦德郡自立中心专业人员丹尼斯说，这项新技术比传统的文字寻呼和电传打字更方便有效，你只要给Sorensen视频传递服务部打个电话就能享受这项便捷服务了。

这项技术使电话变成为聋人与听力正常人之间交流的便捷工具。

“我就是通过它打电话给我的医生和牙医，打电话与人约会或预定餐位等等等等。还可以叫外卖比萨，昨晚我们就是在中心这叫外卖的，要了一份大比萨。你甚至可以把大屏幕分拆成两部分，一边看足球一边打电话。”丹尼斯高兴地说。

Sorenson Media 的销售经理卡梅伦·廷吉说，AT&T 公司和MCI公司也提供类似的服务, 不同的是它们使用电脑而不是电视（Sorenson公司也有基于电脑的这种服务），这项新技术的重心是运用在VP100视频电话中的图象压缩技术。

“我们把视频进行压缩，缩小到可以通过网络来传递并且保持视频质量。一般来说，个人电脑每秒钟传递图象１５帧，而VP100每秒是３０帧。” 廷吉说。

塔罗斯·丹尼斯说，画面可以设置到整个视频那么大，图象依然清晰，与其他体统配合使用时，也不会出现雪花和抖动现象。所有这些对手语和面部表情的清楚传递是很重要的。

自三月投放市场以来，VP100解码器在全国已有约５０００用户。廷吉说：“为了方便聋人学生打电话回家、叫比萨和寻求资金援助，我们在全国所有大学都安装了VP100解码器。”

视频电话设备、通话费和相应的服务都是免费的，这是联邦工程的一部分，目的在于为聋人和弱听者提供享受电信服务的平等机会。根据美国残障人法规定，所有从事长途电话服务的电信公司，必须从其收取用户电话费中抽取百分之一的资金，交与美国电讯传递服务基金会。

聋人只要具备带录象的电视和宽带网络，就可以享受Sorenson的这项新服务。

AT&T, MCI 和Sprint 等电讯巨人也在简单的文字传递服务上（文字传递服务长久以来是聋人和弱听者使用电话的主要方式）拓展其服务领域。传统的TTY 或 TDD，要求电话带有可输入文字设备。一方输入内容后，需要输入代码提示完成，这样对方才能开始输入内容，过程缓慢琐碎，这种交流方式在许多方面都不尽人意。

Sprint的发言人史蒂夫·兰斯福德说：“多数人的打字速度是每分钟６０到６５个词，我们说话的速度是每分钟１００到１５０个词，而使用美国手语也能达到这个速度。”

无论是通过电脑显示还是电视显示，视频传递能使对话即时进行。兰斯福德说：“这使对话更流畅，而且能感受对方的语气和表情。”

和Sorensen一样，声称在全国最早提供视频传递服务的Sprint也开始了电视视频传递服务，这项称为SprintVRS.tv的服务，基本上是结合了视频会议软件和视频电话装置（如附带Sorensen 研发的芯片的D-Link i2eye）。

使用基于电脑的系统的用户，需要具备电脑、网络摄像头和高速的网络接入。用户在需要服务时, 登陆AT&T、MCI或Sprint等服务网站联系视频翻译员。聋人用户用手语与翻译交流，翻译就会为聋人用户拨打电话，为聋人用户和电话另一端的听力正常者做翻译。

然而新技术也有其局限性，首先，VRS不适用于紧急电话，拨打９１１，最好还是选择普通电话或TTY传递服务。其次，翻译服务也不是每天２４小时全天候为你服务的，服务商的服务时间各有不同，还要考虑不同时区。另外，有时还得等上几分钟才能联系到翻译服务员。

美国聋人协会（总部在马里兰州西尔弗斯普林美）法律辩护常务副理事, 凯尔比·恩·伯利克认为，VRS服务商的迅速发展是件好事。

伯利克对各服务商的服务做了比较，发现有的提供的视频质量较好，有的具备更好的翻译，有的翻译接待迅速，有的服务时间长。

“各服务商都有其优越之处。” 伯利克说，“VRS服务商的迅速发展将为美国２８０万聋人和弱听者不断创造平等享受电讯服务的条件。”

附原文

Technology Lets Deaf Communicate Via TV

Mon Jan 26

By MARGO HARAKAS

TAMARAC, Fla. - Taras and Anita Denis are both deaf. But thanks to new technology involving a videophone device mounted on top of both TVs, the couple are able to talk in real time in the method they are most accustomed to — American Sign Language.

And when they want to communicate with the hearing — their children in Washington state and New York City, for example — they place their call through a hearing ASL interpreter, trained to convey not only the words but the emotion of the caller as well. The ASL interpreter, who appears on the screen, simultaneously translates.

All it takes, said Taras Denis, is a TV, a high-speed Internet connection and the Sorenson VP100.

Called Sorensen Video Relay Service, this new system is far simpler and more efficient than the traditional text-based pagers or TTY, said Denis, employment specialist for the Center for Independent Living of Broward County.　

It makes the phone as useful a tool for the deaf as for the hearing.

"I use the VP100 to call my doctor, to contact my dentist, to make appointments or reservations for restaurants, for a whole host of things. I even use it to order pizza. Last night, we ordered a mega meal pizza at the center here.

"You can even split the screen and watch a football game and talk at the same time," he said with a laugh.

While similar services are offered by AT&T and MCI, those utilize a computer rather than a TV, said Cameron Tingey, sales executive for Sorenson Media. (Sorenson also has a computer-based program.) The heart of the new service is the video compression technology packed into the VP100 videophone.

"We are able to take video and compress it small enough to send it through the Internet yet maintain the video quality," Tingey said. "Normally, a PC would have 15 frames per second, compared to 30 frames per second on the VP100."

The image, which can be as large as the TV screen, is clear and free of the graininess and jerky playback often associated with other systems. These are important factors when trying to follow signing and observe facial expressions, Taras Denis said.

The VP100, which has been on the market since March, has about 5,000 users nationwide, Tingey said. "We've put them on college campuses all across the country so deaf students can call home, order pizza, call the financial aid office."

The videophone appliance, calls and service are free. They are part of a federal program aimed at providing equal telecommunications access to the deaf and hard of hearing. Under the Americans With Disabilities Act, all long-distance telephone companies are required to pay a percentage of money collected from phone customers into a national telecommunications relay services fund.

To access Sorenson's new service, the deaf need to provide their own TV with video input, and a broadband Internet connection.

Telecommunications giants such as AT&T, MCI and Sprint also have expanded beyond the simple text-based relay services that for so long were the primary method for the deaf and hard of hearing to talk by phone. These traditional systems, called TTY or TDD, require a phone attachment that allows typed conversation. Codes have to be typed in to indicate when one speaker is done and the other should begin. It's a slow, cumbersome process and in many ways a less satisfying way of communicating.

"When you type, most people type 60 to 65 words a minute," said Steve Lunceford, spokesman for Sprint. "We speak 100 to 150 words per minute. American Sign Language is comparable to that."

Video relay, whether displayed on a computer monitor or a TV screen, allows a conversation to proceed in real time. "You get a much more fluid conversation," said Lunceford. "You also get to introduce tone and expression into the conversation."

Like Sorensen, Sprint, which claims to be the nation's first video relay service provider, also has a service utilizing the TV monitor. Called SprintVRS.tv, it basically combines videoconferencing software with a videophone such as a D-Link i2eye device, which incidentally uses a Sorensen-developed chip.

For the computer-based system, deaf users need a computer, Web camera and a high-speed Internet connection. They log onto one of the provider Web sites, AT&T, MCI or Sprint, for instance, and connect with a video interpreter. They sign to the interpreter, who then places the call by phone and acts as translator between the deaf caller and the hearing person at the other end of the line.

There are limitations even with the new technology. First, VRS is not appropriate for emergency calls. Calling 911 on a phone or TTY relay service are better options. Also, interpreter assistance is not available 24/7. The hours vary depending on the service provider, and in some cases on the time zone. Also, callers may have to wait a few minutes for a video relay interpreter.

Kelby N. Brick, associate executive director for law and advocacy for the National Association of the Deaf, headquartered in Silver Spring, Md., applauds the growing number of VRS providers.

Trying to weigh the advantages of one over the other, Brick notes some providers have better video quality while others have better interpreters, better average speed of answering calls, or longer hours of service.

"Each service has specific areas that stand out," Brick said. "Continued development by all VRS providers will continue to bring more than 28 million deaf and hard-of-hearing Americans closer to functional equivalency in the area of telecommunications."