Broadband phone draws attention
Fiona Tittensor, L.P.S
Scientists have developed a phone system which makes
maximum use for the high-speed broadband communications
networks which are becoming rapidly available to
homes and businesses in the United Kingdom.
Created
in AT&T’s research laboratory in the
English university city of Cambridge, the broadband phone
is designed to be easy to use, with a limitless potential
for applications. Dr Quentin Stafford-Fraser of AT&T
says that uses of the phone for people with disabilities
are also possibilities, for example using speech recognition
technology to provide subtitles for phone calls for people
who are hard of hearing, or providing information in
bold graphics in more readable colours to aid people
with impaired vision.
The broadband phone uses standard IP (Internet protocol)
telephony, which transmits data in digital form, so that
it can transmit other types of data in addition to voice.
The phone consists of a traditional receiver linked
to a video display and it is the combination of being
able to accompany verbal communication with graphics
which makes it such an effective communication tool.
For example, a phone call to order tickets for a concert,
theatre or sports arena is much easier if the person
selling the ticket can show you a seating plan of the
venue and the location of available seats.
The phone also has shared sketched which is visible
at either end of the call and makes it more flexible
than a personal computer (PC). For instance, if a professor
of theoretical physics wants to discuss a problem with
colleagues, it will be possible to scribble down the
symbols used in a formula on the sketched and show it
to colleagues while taking to them.
Instead of a keypad or keyboard, the broadband phone
has a touch-sensitive, user-friendly video display. One
advantage of this is the potential to be of benefit to
people who have difficulty using the small keys of a
standard fixed or mobile phone.
In the workplace, the broadband phone can bring enormous
advantages because changes can be made to networks alone,
eliminating the need to update the PC of every employee
whenever a new or improved application is introduced.
E-mail: Question@att.com
Website: www.uk.research.att.com/ -qsf
Source:
Success & Ability
Issue: Jan-Mar, 2001
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