3G phones for the visually and deaf impaired

Sadao Hasegawa, a blind man in Japan, has set up a website called Telesupport Net which uses sighted volunteers to help visually impaired people using the video capabilities of 3G mobiles, reports the The Sydney Morning Herald. Blind users point their mobile's built-in camera at the place or object that they want to decipher, and the sighted person on the other end of the phone can report back to them immediately.

Rebecca Ladd, the executive director of community services at the Deaf Society of New South Wales, says 3G videophones are still not good enough to convey the visual-gestural sign language of Auslan, which uses fast hand movements, facial expressions and body language to convey meaning. "No one in the deaf community in Australia uses video mobiles to sign in regular conversation. The screen is too small and they're just not fast enough," she says.

emily | 6:40 PM | How people and businesses are using videophones |
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