AWARD YEAR
2015
CATEGORY
Community
GOALS
Navigate Post-Factual Society
KEYWORDS
Smartphone App, Deaf/Hard of Hearing People, Face-to-face Communication Gap
COUNTRY
United Kingdom
DESIGNED BY
Chia-Ming Chang is a research designer and a design researcher based in the UK. Currently he is a PhD candidate in Interaction Design in Nottingham Trent University. Chang obtained his MA in Interactive Media from University of the Arts London in 2006. He has been creating various design works and web platforms (Web2.0) since he graduated from National Taiwan University of Arts in 2002. His current research specifically looks at interaction design (UI/UX design) and new media communication.
WEBSITE
http://adonischang.com/talk2me.html
Talk2Me: An App for Deaf/Hard of Hearing
A Smartphone app for bridging the communication gap between Deaf/Hard of Hearing and hearing people.
New media communication technologies (SNS and Smartphone apps) have opened new communication opportunities to Deaf/Hard of Hearing people. However, these new media communication technologies are mainly used for non-face-to-face communication. Talk2Me is a Smartphone app designed to bridge face-to-face communication gap between Deaf/Hard of Hearing and hearing people. Talk2Me provides a specific feature—Rotating for Showing Messages—to conduct physical interaction with nonverbal messages such eye contact and facial expressions into communication when people are using it. It is because physical interaction with nonverbal messages is one of the most significant elements of face-to-face communication that is excluded from new media communication technologies. In addition, Talk2Me provides various ways of inputting messages for facilitating communication process (e.g. predictive text typing, emoticons, stored messages and voice recognition) as well as a specific mode for the elderly.
