So you’ve got a fish in your ear, right? You’re in trouble! Unless, of course, that fish is the same one they introduce in “The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy,” in which case that fish, the Babel fish, feeds on communication fed into the ear, pooping it all out in a stream of information that your head can understand. It’s mutually beneficial. So what is this post about? It’s about the “BabelFisk,” a device that works in a very similar manner to the Babel fish, but instead spoken words being fed directly into your brain, they’re turned to text in front of your eyes.
BabelFisk is essentially speech recognition software tied in with hearing aid algorithms that help recognize speech in the midst of white noise. Once words are heard, they’re converted to text on the fly. Embedded controllers turn this heavy task into an easily manageable one, while 2 microphones work together to show which direction the sound is coming from.
And if you’d like to get creative, you could use this lovely device for your schoolwork or office work. BabelFisk can be used to take dictation at meetings and lectures, saving the sound info on flash memory in both audio and text format. Super fabulous and awesome for both the hearing impaired and those students covering for their lazy roommates!
Designer: Mads Hindhede
