Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/18/84; site fortune.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!cbosgd!ihnp4!fortune!uph From: uph@fortune.UUCP (Umesh P. Hiriyannaiah) Newsgroups: net.consumers Subject: Re: Re: Commercial ventures Message-ID: <4693@fortune.UUCP> Date: Wed, 28-Nov-84 16:56:29 EST Article-I.D.: fortune.4693 Posted: Wed Nov 28 16:56:29 1984 Date-Received: Thu, 29-Nov-84 05:53:14 EST References: <940@teddy.UUCP> Reply-To: uph@fortune.UUCP (Umesh P. Hiriyannaiah) Organization: Fortune Systems, Redwood City, CA Lines: 21 Summary: In article <940@teddy.UUCP> mlf@teddy.UUCP (Matt L. Fichtenbaum) writes: > > My own idea for an indispensible consumer product takes note of the fact >that many TV programs are now being broadcast "closed captioned." These >send character codes for the subtitles during the picture blanking interval. >This means that the receiver has the subtitle text in machine-readable form >(the decoder then generates the video for the characters). > > Now, hardware to synthesize speech is available and, because of the >prevalence of LSI chips, becoming cheaper and cheaper. One could take the >character codes corresponding to the subtitles, process them into words >with a microprocessor, and convert the resulting words into speech. Said >another way, one could build a little box to speak the subtitles! > > That way, even blind people could watch TV! > > Matt What's wrong with the volume control knob on the TV ? Umesh