Using Automatic Speech Recognition to Facilitate Communication Between an Individual who is Hearing and One who is Deaf or Hard of Hearing.

This study investigated use of automatic speech recognition (ASR) in 12 pairs where one individual was deaf or hard-of-hearing (DHH), and the other one was hearing, with the hearing individual using speech and ASR and the DHH one using typing. Each of the pairs used prototype software for messaging to communicate while completing a standardized decision making task. Results suggested that ASR produced text at a faster rate than a keyboard. When both participants used keyboards, they exchanged more messages than when one or both of them used a smartphone with a miniature keyboard.