This week saw the launch of RogerVoice, the 1st app which allows people with profound hearing loss to read a transcript of a phone conversation in real time. Founders Olivier Jeannel (CEO), Sidney Burks (CTO), and Pablo Seuc-Rocher (CMO), have been working since just 2013 to bring a truly independent calling experience to the deaf and hearing impaired by seamlessly integrating voice recognition technology into calls. With RogerVoice, its founders seek to transform the lives of the 70 million deaf and hearing impaired around the world.
As RogerVoice is completely technology focused and, thus, not dependant on human intermediaries at all, it has a distinct advantage over traditional phone-relay operators serving the hearing impaired community. More specifically, RogerVoice delivers:
- Cutting edge tech: Which puts them at the forefront of communications technology, by using WebRTC, node.js, ASR, VoIP …
- A couple of firsts: RogerVoice is the 1st mobile app that allows deaf people to have a phone conversation, entirely using automatic voice recognition (ASR). It is also the 1st caption phone that is available worldwide, in English, Spanish, Italian, Polish, French, Japanese…
- Hacking accessibility: Accessibility matters not just for disabled persons. Everyone benefits. Ergonomic, scalable, cost-effective … RogerVoice is part of a new breed of smart technology that innovates on accessibility in the 21st century
Prior to their public launch this week, RogerVoice has already been making waves having been featured at the M-Enabling Summit this past June as a panelist on the subject of mobile apps for the deaf and having won an award from SFR for “best digital services” in May 2014.
In speaking about what they’re looking to achieve, CEO Olivier Jeannel adds:
“RogerVoice is part of what G3ICT president Axel Leblois calls m-enabling technology. No technology will replace human ability, but innovations like RogerVoice go beyond technology, they empower people, they liberate our potential. Accessibility benefits everyone.”
“My favorite citation is from Mary Pat Radabaugh, Director of IBM National Support Center for Persons with Disabilities…’For most people, technology makes things easier. For people with disabilities, technology makes things possible.’ ”
Their Kickstarter campaign is off to a great start having already achieved 35% of their goal in just a couple of days. However, if you’d like to play a part in helping them get to 100% (or more), you can contribute to their campaign here.