

Ask HN: Any deaf or blind hackers? - GuiA

How does it affect your hacking on a day to day basis? What&#x27;s the state of software like for your particular situation? Is there anything that you&#x27;d absolutely love to see a startup&#x2F;open source project do?<p>I&#x27;d just love to hear about individual experiences in that regard.<p>Note: if you fall outside of deafness&#x2F;blindness but still feel like you have a meaningful answer to contribute, please do! I wasn&#x27;t sure exactly how to phrase the title.
======
jcr
There's a vast spectrum of various vision and hearing impairments. The
severity of each possible impairment is also variable, and often a single
person faces multiple types/severities of impairments. The end result is a lot
of variables, too many combinations, and the need to customize solutions on a
per-person basis.

All health issues are extremely sensitive subjects, and the language used can
be extremely important. Words like "deaf," "blind," and "disabled" are tough,
really tough. They're tough to admit, tough to say, and tough to hear. I know
people who insist on calling themselves "Hard of Hearing" (typically
abbreviated "HoH") or "Hearing Impaired" rather than being called "deaf"
\--which they consider offensive. Others are really easy-going about the terms
used, so yes, this is yet another variable. And again, some are willing to
speak publicly about it, while others prefer to just quietly pretend to normal
on the Internet like everyone else.

You _really_ need to add your email address to the 'about' section of your HN
profile since many would only discuss it with you privately.

As for ideas, I have more than a few. Some are hardware. Some are software.
But none of them seem profitable from a business perspective. Accessibility is
subject to the same market forces as everything else in the world. Given the
dizzying number of possible combinations of types of impairments with many
requiring customized solutions as well as the comparatively small number of
disabled people, providing accessibility is often ignored. Even HN itself has
major accessibility issues that prevent some people from using the site.

Free ideas are generally worth what you pay for them, but here's one; a pin
grid display. Imagine every pixel on a normal display as a pin that can be
raised or lowered. You could "see" the screen with your fingertips. It would
be a world's first. You'd make pictures accessible to the blind, along with
text, fonts, and formatting (layout/design).

With enough hardware, software, and mechanical engineering prowess, a pin grid
display may now be possible to do, but it would be difficult. Just getting the
raising and lowering of tightly packed pins right would take a lot of effort,
but the idea can be expanded to include vibration, temperature, and possibly
other tactile feedback.

This is long enough for now, but yes, my email address is in my profile.

------
Jemaclus
I'm hearing impaired (not deaf) and I'm also a very experienced software
engineer. The tools at my disposal allow me to do a very good job, so that's
not really a problem. What really sucks is the whole communication thing. I
work with a number of people whose first language is not English, and some of
them have very, very strong accents. It's nearly impossible for me to carry a
conversation with them because of it. It gets better over time, but the first
few weeks/months are a nightmare.

Here are some tech ideas that I would love to see come to fruition:

* Google Glass (or some similar device) with speech-to-text recognition for real-time subtitles. Main problem: Speech-to-text isn't advanced enough, and I probably get more out of reading lips than reading incorrect words. Also doesn't work too well with strong accents.

* Better hearing aid integrations. My hearing aid currently has a bluetooth attachment, which makes talking on the phone and listening to music 1000x easier. Previously, I'd have to hold my phone up to my hearing aid. Imagine this: someone speaks into a microphone, and the sound comes out of a speaker, then goes into another microphone, then comes out of another speaker and hits my ear drums. And that second microphone makes no differentiation between sounds from that first speaker or ambient noise. In other words, it's really, really hard to talk on the phone. Now with my Bluetooth device, your voice speaks into your microphone and comes directly out of my speaker -- I can even mute the microphone on my hearing aid, so that _all_ I hear is the phone call. Very cool. More things along this line would be awesome.

* Along the lines above, some tiny, cheap (read: replaceable) microphones/devices that I could just hand to my friends/girlfriend/family and have them clip onto their shirts or something that would send directly to my Bluetooth, enabling me to hear better in loud environments like restaurants and so on. Main problem: probably not cheap.

* Hearing aids that run off body heat. I don't even know if this is possible, but I have to change my hearing aid battery about once every 7-10 days. Sometimes it dies in a terrible place, like in an interview or a meeting or while I'm on a phone call or out on a run. In those cases, it's difficult to find time to change the battery -- assuming I even have a battery with me! And trust me, keeping a pack of batteries on you is a pain in the royal ass. Main problem: probably not even possible with current technology

* You know how they have those polarized glasses where something is invisible to the general public until you put on the glasses? Those. For subtitles. I can't watch TV without subtitles -- I honestly don't know how you hearing people do it. My friends and family are very understanding, but strangers and new acquaintances often make fun of me for having subtitles on (unless I point out the hearing loss thing, which I don't like to do with people I don't know). And even for my friends and family, many of them find subtitles to be distracting. When I'm not around, they turn them off. I would _love_ to be able to just pop on a pair of glasses and watch TV with subtitles without my friends or family having to see them. I'm aware that some movie theaters have these mirrored glasses with subtitles behind them, but that won't work in, say, a bar or my friend's house. Main problem: getting TVs to adopt the tech

* Some fun way to get someone to repeat themselves without saying "What?" over and over and over again. Seriously, it gets old, and eventually I just nod and smile and say "Oh yeah, totally," even though I have no idea what I just agreed to. This has come back to bite me in the ass many, many times. Main problem: I haven't figured this out in 32 years of existence.

* Something that gives a tactile response when someone says my name, preferably with some hint as to the direction. I'm completely deaf in one ear and I have a profound hearing loss in the other. Unfortunately, this means I don't have stereo sound -- I can't tell the direction of sound! I'd love a device that would buzz when someone says my name and give a hint as to the direction the sound came from so that I can turn to find them. Most times I just look around until I see someone looking at me. This has backfired many, many times. Main problem: If I can't hear my own name, how would a device? I dunno.

* Waterproof hearing aids. I love, love, love to swim... but I have to do it while I'm effectively deaf. Very frustrating. Main problem: waterproofing hearing aids would be done already if it was easy.

I'm sure I could think of others, but those are the ones that I can think of
right now. I'd love to hear what other people think about these ideas.

Good luck.

~~~
jcr
Powering electronics with body heat is really tough, but at least there's some
research being done on this front.

[http://www.cnet.com/news/arm-band-technology-converts-
body-h...](http://www.cnet.com/news/arm-band-technology-converts-body-heat-to-
energy/)

[http://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2014/ee/c4ee00...](http://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2014/ee/c4ee00242c)

[http://www.forbes.com/2010/06/07/nanotech-body-heat-
technolo...](http://www.forbes.com/2010/06/07/nanotech-body-heat-technology-
breakthroughs-devices.html)

Vaguely Related:

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7811023](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7811023)

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7876160](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7876160)

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7771777](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7771777)

~~~
Jemaclus
Awesome. I'm reasonably sure that current tech won't power it _enough_ to get
rid of the battery (which by the way, is the primary reason hearing aids are
so big to begin with), but... even an alternator-style body heat-powered
generator would be nice.

I do wonder how it would work in winter, though.

~~~
jcr
In winter it would work better, not worse. The reason is (most) thermoelectric
stuff is harnessing the _difference_ in temperatures to generate electricity,
since electricity is a _difference_ in potential. Well, electricity can be
thought of as a difference in potential, but I'm a bit too tired for a
philosophical or scientific debate. ;)

If you're familiar with how a Stirling Engine converts a difference in
temperature (i.e. heat) into mechanical energy, the vague and general
principle will make a lot more sense.

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stirling_engine](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stirling_engine)

As for the recent KAIST work (linked above) on thermoelectric (TE) generators,
according to the following it does work on temperature difference:

[http://www.kaist.ac.kr/_prog/_board/?code=ed_news&mode=V&no=...](http://www.kaist.ac.kr/_prog/_board/?code=ed_news&mode=V&no=17562&upr_ntt_no=17562&site_dvs_cd=en&menu_dvs_cd=0601)

> _" When using KAIST's TE generator (with a size of 10 cm x 10 cm) for a
> wearable wristband device, it will produce around 40 mW electric power based
> on the temperature difference of 31 °F between human skin and the
> surrounding air."_

I'm yet to watch these, but there are some videos on the KAIST TE.

[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BlN9lvEzCuw](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BlN9lvEzCuw)

[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9b4wOlc4Do0](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9b4wOlc4Do0)

My mom won't let me near her hearing aids due to her knowing all too well that
I want to take them apart to figure out how they work. My past started with
door knobs at the age of three, and some things just never change. ;)

Anyhow, I'll have to very roughly guess the power requirements of a "typical"
(if there is such a thing) hearing aid. From the following:

[http://www.audiologyonline.com/articles/battery-
consumption-...](http://www.audiologyonline.com/articles/battery-consumption-
in-wireless-hearing-11899) [http://www.audiologyonline.com/ask-the-
experts/voltage-of-zi...](http://www.audiologyonline.com/ask-the-
experts/voltage-of-zinc-air-batteries-477)
[http://www.rayovac.com/Products/Hearing-Aid-
Batteries/Retail...](http://www.rayovac.com/Products/Hearing-Aid-
Batteries/Retail-Hearing-Aid-Batteries-10-13-312-675.aspx)

Also I just found and still need to read this study "Siemens Battery
Performance In Hearing Instruments" but it looks interesting:

[http://hearing.siemens.com/Resources/Literature/_Global/trai...](http://hearing.siemens.com/Resources/Literature/_Global/training-
material/2010%20-%20Battery%20performance.pdf?__blob=publicationFile)

Our imaginary "typical" hearing aid power requirements are probably somewhere
close to this:

    
    
      Capacity: 145 mAh
      Voltage:  1.4 V
      Drain:    1.1 mA
    
      1.1 milliamperes = 0.0011 amperes
      Watts = Amps * Volts
      Watts = 0.0011 * 1.4 = 0.00154 W = 1.54 mW
    

The KAIST TE can generate 40 mW with a 10cm by 10cm patch, and our mythically
"typical" hearing aid only requires 1.54 mW. Some of the pictured TE
generators are much smaller, but no specs are given in the abstract or the
articles on it. Unfortunately, the paper is paywalled. None the less, creating
a battery-less hearing aid with existing tech actually seems doable from a
(very rough) power standpoint.

~~~
Jemaclus
Oh wow, I didn't know that! Awesome. I'll watch those videos on my lunch
break. Very cool :)

