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Israeli Student Develops
New Device For Deaf
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16
FRIDAY, APRIL 17, 1992
AMY J. MEHLER
Staff Writer
C
ollaboration between
an Israeli graduate
student and a
Kalamazoo hearing-aid spe-
cialist has produced a device
that converts telephonic
speech into lip movements
appearing on a video moni-
tor.
The "Liperator," invented
by Robert P. Slager, presi-
dent of the Hearing Aid
Center in Kalamazoo, and
Yair Mendelowitsch, a re-
cent graduate in electrical
engineering from Western
Michigan University, will
enable the hearing impaired
to lipread telephone conver-
sations.
"With variations and
modifications, this device
could accommodate all lang-
uages, and also translate
spoken words into hand
gestures for the sign-
language dependent per-
son," said Dr. Slager, who
has worked in the hearing
aid business for more than
30 years.
The Liperator took 15th
place out of 50 entries last
December in a competition
at the Museum of Science
and Industry in Chicago. It
also was entered last year in
the Johns Hopkins National
Search for Computing to
Assist Persons With
Disabilities competition.
"I thought this would be
an interesting project to
work on,'' said Mr.
Mendelowitsch, who spe-
cialized in digital signal pro-
cessing in his electrical en-
gineering program.
Mr. Mendelowitsch, 29,
moved to Michigan four
years ago after completing
Israeli army service and
work as a project engineer
with a firm in Herzliya.
"I looked for universities
with good international stu-
dent programs," Mr.
Mendelowitsch said. "WMU
had a good one, so I came
here."
When Dr. Slager needed
help with developing his
idea, he contacted the WMU
College of Engineering and
Applied Science. Faculty
members suggested Mr.
Mendelowitsch.
"Yair was very helpful in
developing the technology
and conducting the resear-
ch," Dr. Slager said.
In fact, Mr. Mendelowitsch
designed a computer to
analyze the voice signals
received by a telephone.
Words are reduced to
phonemes, small units of
speech, and shapes are
shown in the form of human
lips on the video display.
Mr. Mendelowitsch said
the Liperator has several
advantages over today's
TDDs (Telephone Device for
the Deaf), which take voice
messages and translate
them to electronic readouts.
"Two people need a TDD
for it to work," he said. "On-
ly a deaf person needs the
Liperator, and it can be
made portable. Plus, you can
have a continuous conversa-
tion with the Liperator,
which you can't have with
the 'MD."
Dr. Slager, who has a
patent pending on the
device, is searching for a
firm to develop and
manufacture it. ❑
T'Chiyah To Pray
Uptown Monthly
NOAM M.M. NEUSNER
Staff Writer
T
'chiyah, a Reconstruc-
tionist Jewish con-
gregation in
downtown Detroit, will hold
one service a month in the
suburbs.
The monthly switch in
venue, which was approved
by the congregation April
12, will start in October in a
site to be named later. Cur-
rently, T'Chiyah, which
means renaissance in Heb-
rew, holds services at St.
Mary's Community Center
in Greektown.
The main purpose for the
move, said T'Chiyah Presi-
dent Sandy Hansell, is to
reach out to prospective con-
gregants.
"We're not abandoning the
city," he said. "In fact, the
proposal was passed under
the condition that the ex-
periment last only one
year."
If after a year the con-
gregation is not convinced
the move uptown had an ef-
fect on membership, services
will only be held downtown,
Mr. Hansell said.
Holiday services and b'nai
mitzvah will still be held at