Sony Professional and the Munich technology company VerbaVoice have collaborated on accessible communication for those with impaired hearing. The audio content from a performance or a presentation is sent via VerbaVoice's cloud-based online platform to an interpreter, who converts this content into text on the fly. This text is then displayed on the hearing-impaired user's end device. This service will soon also be available via the VerbaVoice "iCap" app on the SmartEyeglass from Sony.

These augmented reality glasses, which are connected to a Sony Xperia smartphone via Bluetooth, will in future be used instead of a screen, monitor or tablet to read text. The VerbaVoice app allows those with impaired hearing to use the glasses to follow live performances,
meetings or political debates without having to look away from the speaker. The VerbaVoice developers have already successfully implemented the iCap app in the glasses, and the product is due to be launched in just a few weeks.

Ludger Philippsen, Director of Healthcare Systems Solutions at Sony Europe, is delighted about the collaboration: "We are very excited to be working with such a well-respected company to develop a shared live subtitling solution that will benefit several thousand German speakers with impaired hearing. Thanks to the software development kit, programmers can easily develop new apps that will expand the functionality of the smart glasses on an ongoing basis."

"The Sony SmartEyeglass is just the solution we were looking for. The see-through display allows the user to follow a dialogue situation with live subtitles without being cut off from what's happening in the room", says Robin Ribback, Technical Director and co-founder of VerbaVoice. "We are proud to work alongside a skilled partner such as Sony to continue the progress we have made towards accessible participation."

The VerbaVoice developers are currently working on using the GPS coordinates of a mobile device to adapt the subtitles to the user’s location. This would mean that the Sony SmartEyeglass automatically shows the appropriate live subtitles when the person enters a room.