Abstract: A wearable display device displays a sequence of words into the field of view of a person wearing the device in order to communicate information to the person, such as captions for hearing-impaired persons or translations of speech spoken by another person. Various embodiments of the device include an eyeglass frame configured to be worn by the person, a housing mounted to the eyeglass frame, including a circuit for receiving a signal containing the sequence of words, a display for displaying the sequence of words received by the circuit, a mirror mounted to reflect the displayed sequence of words downwardly through the housing, and a lens disposed in the path of the mirror to magnify the displayed sequence of words downwardly reflected by the mirror, and a partially reflective beamsplitter, mounted to the housing and extending downwardly over an eye of the person, for receiving the downwardly reflected sequence of words and projecting them into the field of view of the person.

Abstract: An apparatus for providing described television services includes a computer for receiving and storing description data corresponding to an audiovisual program; an encoder for encoding the description data into a program signal corresponding to the audiovisual program; and a receiver which receives the encoded program signal and extracting the description data from the encoded program signal. A text-to-speech converter converts the description data into a speech signal corresponding to the description data, and a speaker provides the speech signal to a viewer. Similarly, a method for providing described television services includes the steps of generating description data corresponding to an audiovisual program; encoding the description data into a program signal of the audiovisual program; and decoding the encoded program signal, whereby the description data is extracted from said encoded program signal.

Abstract: Apparatus for providing closed captioning at a performance comprises means for encoding a signal representing the written equivalent of spoken dialogue. The signal is synchronized with the spoken dialog and transmitted to wearable glasses of a person watching the performance. The glasses include receiving and decoding circuits and means for projecting a display image into the field of view of the person watching the performance representing at least one line of captioning. The field of view of the displayed image is equivalent to the field of view of the performance. A related method for providing closed captioning further includes the step of accommodating for different interpupillary distances of the person wearing the glasses.

Abstract: A method of decoding data for a language having the Roman alphabet or a language having a syllabic alphabet from a television data stream includes the steps of receiving the data in the form of data packets and determining from bit values stored at particular bit positions whether the data is control data or represents printable character data comprising a head code or a tail code. Once it is determined that the data represents either a head code or a tail code of a printable character, the data bytes are valued for parity and, from that determination, a letter component is generated which points to a letter component or complete character for one or the other alphabet. Because characters of a syllabic language may be quite complex, the step of displaying the syllabic language character includes the steps of overlaying two or more letter components to form the syllabic character image.

Abstract: A system for encoding, storing, and displaying captions includes a modem for transmitting a signal including one or more closed captions generated in real time, a videotape player for playing a videotape of a television program including both a video signal and a time code signal corresponding to a time position of the video tape, an encoder for receiving the video signal and a caption input and integrating the video signal and the caption input into one integrated signal for transmission, and a computer that receives captions from the modem and a time code output from the video tape player. The computer transmits the received captions to an encoder and simultaneously generates data records storing the received captions with a time code stamp corresponding to the time code signal input when the caption was received.

Abstract: A system for encoding, storing, and displaying captions includes a modem for transmitting a signal including one or more closed captions generated in real time, a videotape player for playing a videotape of a television program including both a video signal and a time code signal corresponding to a time position of the video tape, an encoder for receiving the video signal and a caption input and integrating the video signal and the caption input into one integrated signal for transmission, and a computer that receives captions from the modem and a time code output from the video tape player. The computer transmits the received captions to an encoder and simultaneously generates data records storing the received captions with a time code stamp corresponding to the time code signal input when the caption was received.

Abstract: A method of decoding data for a language having the Roman alphabet or a language having a syllabic alphabet from a composite video signal comprises the steps of receiving the data in the form of data packets and determining from bit values stored at particular bit positions whether the data is control data or represents printable character data comprising a head code or a tail code. Once it is determined that the data represents either a head code or a tail code of a printable character, the data bytes are valued for parity and, from that determination, a letter component is generated which points to a letter component or complete character for one or the other alphabet. Because characters of a syllabic language may be quite complex, the step of displaying the syllabic language character includes the steps of overlaying two or more letter components to form the syllabic character image.