Teen Loses Cochlear Implant After Being Tased

Cochlear Implant helps people hear? A Tennessee teen loses cochlear implant after being tased who failed to hear the officer’s command.

LAFOLLETTE, Tennessee -- A Deaf teenager tased by a sheriff’s deputy because he couldn’t hear the officer’s command to stop. To make matter’s worse, when he fell, his expensive cochlear implant was lost. The teen was released when they realized there had been a mistake.

The young Campbell County man wears a cochlear implant. It’s a complex electronic device that can help to provide a sense of sound to a person who is profoundly Deaf or severely hard of hearing.

His device wasn’t working 11 days ago, following an unfortunate incident in which the young man couldn’t communicate with sheriff’s deputies who were responding to an emergency call in Lafollette.

19-year-old Brett Elkins is Deaf and he is a graduate of the Tennessee School for the Deaf.

His mother showed us where Brett’s cochlear implant was located; the surgical scar is behind his right ear, about the size of a quarter.

But you don’t see the device, that’s because it was lost when Elkins was tased and fell to the ground incapacitated on October 11.

Elkins had gone to a friend’s house to use their phone to have his mother pick him up. As he was leaving the house, he didn’t know that Campbell County deputies had been called there for a domestic dispute between Brett’s friends.

"Jamie Wilhoit, Elkins’ mother, saying, “He was walking, he felt a shock, his arms fell beside him, and he fell over. He assumed it was his cochlear, that it had malfunctioned, that was the first thing he thought. He was scared and crying. His cochlear implant had died, the batteries weren’t working, it wasn’t charged.”

Elkins’ implant was new, it came from TennCare. He said somehow it fell off after being tased.

He and his mother went back to look for it, but it hasn’t been found.

We received a copy of the sheriff’s report, and deputies didn’t know Brett was Deaf when he failed to respond to their commands.

It states he was released once determined he had nothing to do with the domestic disturbance. Deputies also called an ambulance to check him out, however, there is no reference to the implant.

"Connie Hull, Elkins’ grandmother, saying, “He got the cochlear three weeks ago. It was $8,000, they just don’t hand those out left and right.”

Brett showed us his back where several prongs from the taser gun left welts after suffering a five second shock, according to the incident report.

His mother telling us that Elkins would like an apology and for them to replace his cochlear implant.

"A ranking officer from the Campbell County Sheriff’s Office called Elkins’ mother and said, “Sheriff Goins has talked to with our insurance provider and they are willing to pay for Brett’s implant.”

Elkins and his mother were overwhelmed.

“Wow! Oh my God, oh, they cared, they cared.”

Jamie Wilhoit – Elkins’ mother.

It will take a few weeks before Elkins’ fitted with a new cochlear device.

Sheriff Robbie Goins telling us that domestic violence calls are the most danger his deputies face, and they have to make split second judgement calls with the information they have during the situation.

He also said his deputies acted reasonably under the circumstances when they first confronted Elkins. Sheriff Goins is pleased to learn that Elkins and his family are happy with the resolution.

SOURCE - WATE

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Deaf Chat: Best Video Calling App For Deaf

Deaf Chat App - Privacy is possible. Deaf Chat makes it easy.

Using Deaf Chat, you can communicate instantly while avoiding SMS fees, create groups so that you can chat in real time with all your friends at once, and share media or other files all with complete privacy. Deaf Chat's servers never have access to any of your communication and never store any of your data.

- Say Anything. Deaf chat uses an advanced end-to-end encryption protocol to keep your conversations private. Every message, every call, every time.

- Open Source. Deaf Chat is Free and Open Source, enabling anyone to verify its security by auditing the code. Deaf Chat is the only private messenger that uses open source peer-reviewed cryptographic protocols to keep your messages and calls safe.

- Be Yourself - Deaf Chat uses your existing phone number and address book. There are no separate logins, usernames, passwords, or PINs to manage or lose.

- Group Chat. Deaf Chat allows you to create encrypted groups so you can have private conversations with all your friends at once. Not only are the messages encrypted, but the Deaf Chat server never has access to any group metadata such as the membership list, group title, or group icon.

- Fast. The Deaf Chat protocol is designed to operate in the most constrained environment possible. Using Deaf Chat, messages are instantly delivered to friends.

- Speak Freely - Make crystal-clear phone calls to people who live across town, or across the ocean, with no long-distance charges. Deaf Chat is not currently compatible with tablets, but support for larger screens is on our roadmap and will be included in a future release.

Download App Now:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.wDeafChat_8743374

For support, questions, or more information, please visit: Deaf Chat App.

Follow @DeafChat: https://youtube.com/channel/deafchat

NOTE: Warning, Deaf Chat app may be a scam... download at your own risk, Deaf Chat app from India and there's none of details/informations on social media such as facebook, instagram, twitter or website, DeafChat About.

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Between Sound & Silence: How Technology Is Changing Deafness

Op-Doc: For a generation of people with cochlear implants, technology is transforming the experience of deafness.

NEW YORK CITY -- For more than a generation now, cochlear implants have, for some, been transforming the experience of deafness. In this week’s Op-Doc , “Between Sound and Silence ,” director Irene Taylor Brodsky delves into conversation with a cohort of Deaf people living that transformation.

To activate this feature, press the "CC" button.

Herself the child of Deaf parents and the mother of a Deaf son, Brodsky delves into a complex realm where deafness and hearing, rather than absolute states, are territories of human experience to be bridged and explored.

The full story with video at New York Times.

SOURCE - New York Times

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ChatterBaby - A New App For Deaf Parents

Dr. mom creates app for Deaf parents that interprets baby's cries.

Parents learn the cries of their babies, differentiating between hunger, pain and just plain fussiness. Now, thanks to a new app, hearing-impaired and Deaf parents can tell when their infant is wailing and what is most likely the problem.

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The ChatterBaby app, developed by Dr. Ariana Anderson, uses sound frequencies and patterns of silence to interpret what a baby is crying about.

InsideEdition.com's Keleigh Nealon (Twitter.com@KeleighNealon) has more.

SOURCE - Inside Edition

Follow @ChatterBaby:
Facebook: https://facebook.com/chatterbaby
Instagram: https://instagram.com/chatterbabyapp
Twitter: https://twitter.com/chatterbabyucla
Website: https://chatterbaby.org

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'I Love You' Sign Is Now An Emoji

“Apple is preparing a new emoji for saying 'I Love You' in ASL

CUPERTINO, California -- _\,,/, the gesture for “I love you” in American Sign Language, shown as a raised pinky (little) finger, index finger, and an extended thumb. Love-You Gesture was approved as part of Unicode 10.0 in 2017 under the name “I Love You Hand Sign” and added to Emoji 5.0 in 2017.

Apple has revealed an array of new emoji that will come to iPads and iPhones with the upcoming introduction of iOS 11.1.

-- Petition | 'I Love You' ASL Handshape Emoji

In all likelihood, one of the most popular will be the “I Love You” gesture--a hand with the middle two fingers curled in and the pinky, forefinger and thumb stretched out. This is a gesture that moved from deaf culture into the mainstream several decades ago, having been derived from the American Sign Language sign for “I Love You.”

It’s also very close to the so-called “devil horns” gesture used by fans of heavy rock, which differs in that the thumb is curled in rather than extended (and which has its own, separate emoji). Indeed, the similarity is such that KISS star Gene Simmons tried earlier this year to trademark the “I Love You” gesture as his own devil-horns variant, before changing his mind in the face of heavy criticism.

Other notable additions to Apple’s emoji roster include a depiction of a woman wearing a headscarf, an image representing breastfeeding, a zombie, someone in the lotus position, foodstuffs ranging from sandwiches to broccoli, and--just in time for winter--clothing items such as scarves and gloves.

Of course, Apple doesn’t come up with these ideas itself--they are just the company’s own spin on emoji that are approved by the Unicode Consortium in order to let people send symbols between different communications platforms while retaining their meaning.

Apple will probably release iOS 11.1 sometime in the coming month. Apart from introducing new emoji, the beta version of the software update is reportedly being used to test out the new Apple Pay Cash person-to-person payment platform.

SOURCE - Fortune

I Love You Sign Language Emoji, download from Request Emoji.

Related:
Petition | 'I Love You' ASL Handshape Emoji
'I Love You' Sign Is Now An Emoji

Ava - New App For Deaf & Hard of Hearing

Introducing Ava: 24/7 accessible conversations with Deaf & Hard of Hearing people.

Ava is the fastest and easiest way to understand and participate in conversations for Deaf & Hard of Hearing people.

- Didn’t get what the guy in front of you said? Ava uses your microphone to hear and shows you word by word what is said. Instant captions, in your pocket, always available.

- Tell something super quickly: show in big letters what you meant, or ask Ava to voice it for you. The easiest 2-way communication with hearing people who don’t know sign language.

- Don’t miss out in group conversations anymore. Share your unique "&AvaID" link with others so they can join your conversation on their Ava app. At lunch, in meetings or hanging out with friends, Ava shows you who says what, in real time, and in colors.

- Connect quickly one or multiple friends, next to you or anywhere in the world. It takes one tap to connect you all.

- Join the other Ava Pioneers exploring every day new ways to use Ava to make the world more accessible. Ava 1.0 is just the first step towards a 24/7 accessible world. Visit https://ava.me/life for more details on how other Pioneers use Ava.

- Experience the first artificial intelligence designed to empower Deaf & Hard of Hearing people. Anyone can tap on words that Ava got wrong to teach her. Ava gets smarter at understanding you & your peers’ voice.

- Benefit from the different optimizations we’ve done: Ava will not use more battery than streaming audio when listening to transcribe, or using other reading app when you follow the conversation.

Find all of the latest Ava news on our Twitter account - https://twitter.com/avascribe or Facebook page - https://facebook.com/avadotme

SOURCE - Ava

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Short Film: Are You Lost In The World Like Me?

Moby's Grim's smartphone addiction - Steve Cutts' animation highlights The Void Pacific Choir's "Are You Lost In The World Like Me?"

Moby and the Void Pacific Choir paint a grim portrait of the smartphone-obsessed masses in the video for "Are You Lost In The World Like Me?" featuring old school Max Fleischer-inspired animation courtesy of Steve Cutts.

In the video for the "These Systems Are Failing" cut, mindless cellphone-addicted junkies post selfies, send emojis, hunt for Pikachu or swipe right through human interactions, completely oblivious to the reality around them.

"A few years ago I saw Steve Cutts' ‘Man’ video and was amazed and blown away," Moby said of the video in a statement. "I did some internet sleuthing and found his e-mail address and humbly asked him to make a video for me. And, lucky me, he agreed. The video he made for 'Are You Lost in the World Like Me?' is without question one of the best videos that's ever been made for one of my songs."

Cutts added, "For me the video is about our increasing dependence on technology and about human interaction today, or a certain lack of it. It focuses on the way tech is changing us - how we have become desensitized."

SOURCE - Rolling Stone

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SignAloud Glove Translates ASL Into English

The University of Washington students built a glove that translates American Sign Language into English.

SEATTLE, Washington -- Fast Company: A pair of undergraduates at the University of Washington made a glove that translates gestures in American Sign Language (ASL) into English and speaks it via speakers. The SignAloud glove won them a $10,000 Lemelson-MIT Student Prize and international attention. Now they're figuring out how to refine their gadget for social good...and make sure they pass their college exams.

The SignAloud glove captures ASL gestures with sensors that measure everything from XYZ coordinates to the way individual fingers flex or bend. That sensor data is sent via Bluetooth to a nearby computer and fed into coding algorithms that categorize the gestures, which are translated into English and then audibly spoken via speaker. But co-creator Navid Azodi emphasizes that SignAloud is still very much in a prototype phase.

"Keep in mind, we have by no means captured the entire language and we’re nowhere near that. [ASL] is more than just words and phrases, and we know that. It has complex grammar structures. What we eventually want to get is for SignAloud to categorize a majority of the language," says Azodi.

The two creators, Azodi and fellow sophomore Thomas Pryor, planned and built SignAloud in their dorms and the school’s CoMotion MakerSpace. After a rough first version built on cardboard and string, they put together the current working prototype for about a hundred bucks in parts.

"Many of the sign language translation devices already out there are not practical for everyday use. Some use video input, while others have sensors that cover the user’s entire arm or body," says Pryor in a UW press release.

Innovating past existing limitations is what earned the team the $10,000 award, which Azodi isn’t sure how they will spend. The money could help pay their tuition or perhaps even get them a nice dinner, Azodi jokes, but refining their gadget is top priority. Both are motivated by SignAloud’s possibilities, both as an input device and an empowerment tool... Read The Full Story.

Boycott: The gloves are off! - Deaf People Don’t Need New Communication Tools-Everyone Else Does.

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New App Features For Deaf Uber Drivers

Uber just made it easy to be a Deaf drivers.

MUMBAI, India -- When Salman, an Uber driver in Mumbai, could not take calls from passengers, customers would cancel his ride. He would also have to text every rider to let them know that he’s Deaf, which caused delays when picking up his riders.

Uber just made life easier for him and several drivers across the world who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing.

An update to the taxi-hailing app, which was launched in Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Washington, D.C., has now gone live in India.

While there has been no official announcement on this yet, Uber has confirmed this development in India.

So, how does the app work?

Once a driver chooses to turn on the special features by flipping a switch inside the app, a light will flash when a new trip is requested in addition to the existing audio cue.

The passengers won't be able to call the driver as that option will be blocked. Riders who want to provide special pickup instructions, can only to do so via text.

The app also adds an extra screen for passengers to enter their destination alongside a note that lets them know their driver is Deaf or Hard-of-Hearing.

“We hope these features help extend the earning opportunity that Uber presents to the Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing community,” Ben Metcalfe, head of product innovation at Uber, wrote in his blog.

Miraj Vora, who took a ride with Salman, tweeted that he happy with his experience.

"I had a great ride with Salman. We spoke about his new life as a driver in Mumbai and it was a peaceful ride overall," he told HuffPost India.

Though the learning process is the same for all drivers, the trainers usually spend more time with them. "We are also planning to get professional aid for training," Uber spokesperson said.

“If I can do it, so can you.” Larry is Deaf and on a mission to follow his dreams. Find out how partnering with Uber made it possible for him to move to LA and support his family while starting a new career.

As reported by WHO, there are about 250-300 million Deaf people in the world, with 66 percent of them live in the underdeveloped nations, and India has the largest share.

A spokesperson from Uber said that not too many Deaf drivers have signed up for it yet.

But, this is just the beginning of the initiative and a much appreciated one.

SOURCE - HUFFINGTONPOST

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Forbes: Changing Technologies For The Deaf

Deaf News: The Forbes Report: 4 Game-Changing Technologies For The Deaf And Hard Of Hearing.

The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that there are more than 360 million people worldwide with a disabling hearing loss, including 32 million children and one-third of people over 65 years of age. Hearing loss may result from genetic causes, complications at birth, certain infectious diseases, chronic ear infections, the use of particular drugs, exposure to excessive noise and aging.

Related - New Technology of Communication for the Deaf

One of the main impacts of hearing loss is on the individual’s ability to communicate with others, since spoken language development is often delayed in children with deafness. Limited access to services and exclusion from communication can have a significant impact on everyday life, causing feelings of loneliness, isolation and frustration, particularly among older people with hearing loss.

Recent advances in technology have the potential to improve the quality of life for those who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing. Here’s a look at four products in this space that caught our attention.

MotionSavvy UNI: MotionSavvy, founded by a team of students from Rochester Institute of Technology’s National Technical Institute for the Deaf, announced “the world’s first two-way communication software for the Deaf.” UNI translates American Sign Language (ASL) into speech, and speech into text. It utilizes a special camera to track the location of both hands and all ten fingers. Graphic representations of the hands provide live feedback to make sure gestures are being captured correctly. The software’s dictionary can be expanded with customized signs added by the user. There’s also an option to upload those signs to the Internet, to share with others. The more an individual uses the system, the more accurate and tailored it becomes. To facilitate the Hearing-to-Deaf half of the communication, the package also includes Dragon Nuance Pro, one of the leading pieces of voice recognition software. Interested customers will have to wait for MotionSavvy UNI, but not long.

The company is planning to release it in September 2015. The video below gives a high level overview of the concept...read full story with videos, HERE.

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New Technology of Communication for the Deaf

MotionSavvy introduces Uni - a two way communication tool for the Deaf and Hearing.

ROCHESTER, New York -- With recent advancements in gesture recognition technology, it is now possible to provide the millions of Deaf and Hard of Hearing people worldwide with a affordable tool to communicate with their peers.

Related - Forbes: Changing Technologies For The Deaf

UNI uses advanced gesture recognition technology called Leap Motion, this allows users to see how their signs appear on camera, which helps to make sure signs are input correctly and avoid missing important information.

What UNI does for you ? First of its kind device translates sign language into audio and spoken word to text, finally empowering the Deaf and Hard of Hearing to lead full lives and boundless careers. More details at www.motionsavvy.com

Sign To Speech - Powered by motion gesture recognition technologies, UNI translates signs into audible speech for hearing individuals.

Speech to Text - Using voice recognition technology, UNI identifies audible speech and converts it to text for Deaf and Hard of Hearing individuals. Leap Motion V2 Tracking Developer Beta - Demo:

Developer beta of Leap Motion's V2 tracking. Learn more at https://developer.leapmotion.com. More details at www.motionsavvy.com.

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Microsoft's Kinect Turns Sign Language Translator

Microsoft uses Kinect to interpret sign language, should the team's efforts reach commercialization, it could have a big effect on the world's Deaf population.

Microsoft’s Kinect technology, already adept at reading hand and body movements, is incorporating sign language into its motion-sensing vocabulary as part of a new research project meant to help the Deaf. Developers at Microsoft Research have been using the Xbox 360 gaming peripheral to read sign language from Deaf users, and translate it into spoken text.

To activate this feature, press the "CC" button.

On Wednesday, they showed off some of the results. “Thanks Microsoft for turning my dream into a reality,” gestured Yin Dandan, a Deaf student, who demonstrated the Kinect translator.

The technology can not only turn sign language into words spoken by a computer, but also do the reverse. A non-Deaf user can speak or type words into the Kinect translator. The system will then motion the words in sign language using a virtual avatar shown on a display.

Microsoft Research demonstrated the technology as it celebrated the 15th year of its Asia division. language translation has been among one of its focuses and already researchers there have developed software that can artificially replicate a person’s voice, and have it speak other languages, including Chinese.

At the same time, the company has been promoting the use of Kinect among software developers in China, said Wu Guobin, a Microsoft Research program manager. The gadget has proven to be an ideal motion-sensing device for the Chinese Academy of Sciences, which has long been researching sign language recognition technology... Read The Full Story.

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Future Of Electronic Devices For The Deaf

Expected in future of technology devices for the Deaf have various abilities to communicate, relate to, and access their world.

We see a world where communication is open and transparent. A world where every Deaf person can interact freely with others. It's not simply a far-fetched dream, it's our vision for the future.

The technology devices can support, change or modify an individual's ability to succeed at tasks that they otherwise may not be able to accomplish.

Expected Future or the Deaf. Share our Vision, Make it a Reality.

It's why Communication Service for the Deaf, Inc. (CSD) exists, and why we come to work every single day. CSD has always belonged to the community, and this vision belongs to you. For more, visit www.c-s-d.org/innovations.

Educational Technology Access:
Gallaudet Technology Services (GTS) www.gallaudet.edu/gts.html
The Technology Access Program (TAP) tap.gallaudet.edu
The Information Technology (IT) www.gallaudet.edu/information_technology.html
The NTID Center on Access Technology (CAT) www.ntid.rit.edu/cat
Technology & Information Services (TIS) www.ntid.rit.edu/tis

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Deaf Girl's Family Sues Cochlear Ear Implants For $7.25M

Louisville jury punishes company with $7.25 million verdict for selling Meade County girl defective ear implants that shocked her.

LOUISVILLE, Kentucky -- An electrical short caused an 8-year-old girl to be thrown to the ground, vomiting and convulsing. The shocks happened two more times until the device was disconnected. Born Deaf, Breanna Sadler of Vine Grove, Ky., had a cochlear ear device implanted in her head in 2006, when she was 4 years old. Four years later, an electrical short from the device shocked her so violently that she was thrown to the ground, vomiting and convulsing.

After she was shocked two more times, the device had to be removed from her skull and replaced with a competitor’s model in an open-head surgery that took more than seven hours.

Breanna’s parents sued the manufacturer, Advance Bionics of Valencia, Calif., accusing the company of continuing to sell the device after executives knew it was leaking and defective. On Tuesday a U.S. District Court jury in Louisville agreed, awarding Breanna, now 11, and her parents $7.25 million in damages.

In the first of about 40 lawsuits filed nationally to go to trial, the jury said the company should pay $6.25 million in punitive damages alone for recklessly disregarding patient safety.

The Sadlers’ lawyers presented evidence that Advance Bionics executives delayed disclosing the defect so they could sell more devices and get more money when the company was sold. They “chose to ignore risks and focus on profits,” the attorneys said in a brief.

About 4,000 of the devices have been implanted worldwide, and about 1,000 have failed, according to lead plaintiff’s counsel Tim Edwards, who estimated that dozens of patients in the Louisville area are “walking around with the devices in their head that have failed or will fail.”... Reaf The Full Story.

Advanced Bionics HiResolution Bionic Ear System:

LOUISVILLE, KY -- A federal jury has awarded $7.25 million in damages to an 11-year-old girl who suffered severe electric shocks from a defective cochlear-ear implant that has been inserted in 4,000 people most of Deaf children.

Born Deaf, Breanna Sadler of Vine Grove, Ky., had a cochlear ear device implanted in her head in 2006, when she was 4 years old. Four years later, an electrical short shocked her so violently that she was thrown to the ground, vomiting and convulsing.

After she was shocked two more times, the device had to be removed from her skull and replaced with a competitor’s model in an open-head surgery that took more than seven hours.

Her parents sued the manufacturer, Advance Bionics of Valencia, Calif., and on Tuesday a U.S. District Court jury here awarded Breanna, now 11, and her parents the money.

In the first of about 40 lawsuits filed nationally to go to trial, the jury said the company should pay $6.25 million in punitive damages alone for recklessly disregarding patient safety by continuing to sell the device after company officials knew it was leaking and defective.

The Sadlers’ lawyers presented evidence that Advance Bionics executives delayed disclosing the defect so they could sell more devices and get more money when the company was sold. They ” chose to ignore risks and focus on profits,” the lawyers said in a brief.

About 4,000 of the devices have been implanted worldwide, and about 1,000 have failed, according to lead plaintiff’s counsel Tim Edwards... Read The Full Story.

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