

Show HN: make phone calls when you can't talk. I would love feedback on this - Timothee

Hello,<p>The idea is to be able to make phone calls when you can't really talk, by using text-to-speech and typing what you want to say instead.<p>The original incentive was a Twilio contest and to see if that would technically work. Now that it mostly does, I would love to read what you think and in particular if this is <i>actually</i> useful :) (and thus if I should look into ways to make it a "real", even if small, product)<p>Thanks a lot for your time!<p>The URL: http://speakforme.timotheeboucher.com/
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jeffool
You may have no idea, but, how is speech-to-text these days?

There are several companies who operate call centers for the deaf. A hearing
person talks a live agent, who types a deaf person. If the software reached a
decent quality, you could offer it directly to a deaf person to use.

Hit up a few sites that cater to deaf people. Make friends. Ask if they'd be
willing to test it with their friends and family. And if it works? Sell it to
them, or one of the previously mentioned companies, or charge a monthly fee.

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Timothee
No I didn't know.

But, at this point, what I built would work for mute people, rather than deaf
people, since I don't transcribe what is being said. I imagine I could work
something out, but seeing what Google Voice does with this, I'd be surprised
if the quality were useable.

~~~
jeffool
The thing is, many deaf people prefer to type, not being confident with their
speaking voices. Also, most hearing people don't have TDD/TTY machines.

Just a note.

~~~
Timothee
_many deaf people prefer to type_

I can see that. It's my understanding that it's common for deaf people to be
mute or have difficulty to speak, but they would need to know what is being
said on the other end, which I can't quite provide at this time. (though I'll
look into it)

 _most hearing people don't have TDD/TTY machines_

I guess you're saying that it could be useful as a TDD/TTY machine on-the-go,
is that right?

Thanks for the feedback, I figured that it could be useful in that use-case,
and will look into that more.

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Timothee
Clickable link: <http://speakforme.timotheeboucher.com/>

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instakill
Great idea if the caller types decently fast. I really wish Twilio were
available in South Africa.

~~~
Timothee
Good point on fast typing.

Amongst other things, I wanted to add some customizable preset sentences
accessible through keyboard shortcuts (e.g. "Hello my name is Tim and I can't
really speak right now") as well as a log of what you already said in that
conversation (again, with KB shortcuts).

