Hearing is one of the five major~senses". Deaf and hard of hearing persons are deprived of this vital source of information in all their daily activities. The Principal Investigator is privy to the latest technology as it breaks. Highly integrated chips will be used in the battery operated, portable device to convert Foot kinetics" information from an exercise instructor and transmit them to a local receiver via wireless waves for further processing. The Computer will process and encode customized synthesized sound or text or visual light signals based on the "foot kinetic" infommation along with background music, if desired. The enchanced information is retransmitted to the students via several media, depending on student preference. The three assistive devices are designed to work with relatively common and inexpensive assistive devices such as loop compatible hearing aids, infra red or RF cordless head-phones and FM receivers. These devices are universally acceptable as they do not interfere with the enjoyment of hearing participants. The encoder will be developed to enhance audio and visual information, foot kinetics, and cued language instructions for use with caption decoders on TV, VCR tapes and CD-ROM. These should all help hearing impaired students to synchronize better with the instructor's movements
Anticipated Results/Potential Commercial Applications of Research::Phase I Develop and test the concept of the Rhythmic Kinetic Encoder/Decoder. Phase II Development:- a Real Time Music Tempo Informer Encoder (RTMTi) and integrate the "all media" transmitter as described in the abstract, into one machine unit. This will not require modification of the various assistive devices such as FM receiver, Infra red or RF cordless headphone available "off the shelf". These assistive devices will be compatible with the RTMTi intended for use in all Health Clubs, public recreational facilities, and the private sector where group exercise classes are provided all over the world. The optional video information for the Telecaption decoder and VCR and CD-ROM development can be used by businesses that develop videotape or CD-ROM's to enhance the products by adding the special encoded signal that can be decoded by regular TV sets with built in Telecaption decoders or CD-ROM software. These innovations meet the aspirations of the "ADA", to bringing million hearing impaired Americans into mainstream recreational activities. It is anticipated that the commercial impact will be substantial. The changes are revolutionary, innovative and inexpensive and will fill a void in the field of health and fitness activities for the deaf and hard of hearing. They will be cost effective, universally compatible and flexible enough to be adapted to any form of Group physical activity.
