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History of Contributions Recognized
BEVERLY HILLS, CALIF. (June 15, 2007) – RP International (RPI),
the nation’s leading non-profit fighting Retinitis Pigmentosa and
other blinding degenerative eye diseases, announced it will honor Texas
Instruments for its many contributions to the organization and technology
developments that assist the blind. Beginning with a speech recognition
computer donated to the organization years ago, TI has since supported
RPI and its cause through technology development and research. The award
will be presented to Gene Frantz, TI’s principal fellow and digital
signal processing (DSP) visionary, during its annual fundraising event
tomorrow night at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills. Frantz helped
revolutionize speech synthesis technology using DSP while leading the
design team for the Speak ‘n Spell in the 1970s. DSP technology
is now found in many medical applications, including devices that assist
the blind.
“Technology makes a difference everyday in how the blind interact
with the world and TI has consistently been there offering its support,”
said Helen Harris, founder and inspiration behind RPI. “For taking
the initiative to help RPI from our earliest days and consistently pushing
the envelope on how to apply technology to reduce the impact of blindness,
I proudly recognize Texas Instruments with this 2007 Vision Award.”
On behalf of Texas Instruments, Frantz said, “Many of the technology
pieces required to restore a level of vision are well understood and being
tested today. I praise Helen for her tireless efforts in pushing TI and
all technologists to develop increasingly innovative solutions that can
change people’s lives.”
Signal processing in real-time is critical to applications involving sight
and sound because of the speed at which the body can process and respond
to information. TI analog and digital components provide that “real-time”
connection to the external world. These chips have been included in a
number of devices designed to assist the visually impaired, including
a speech recognition computer that reads back text and converts speech
to text; a TheatreVision set-top box that adds audio commentary and scene
descriptions to movies and TV, enriching the entertainment experience
for the blind community; and a processor that translates incoming information
from retinal implants to deliver sight to the blind. Led by a team at
the University of Southern California, a limited number of patients have
received early versions of these implants and, today, are helping researchers
test and improve this technology.
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About
Texas Instruments:
Texas Instruments Incorporated provides innovative DSP and analog technologies
to meet our customers’ real world signal processing requirements.
In addition to Semiconductor, the company includes the Education Technology
business. TI is headquartered in Dallas, Texas, and has manufacturing,
design or sales operations in more than 25 countries.
Texas
Instruments is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol
TXN. More information is located on the World Wide Web at www.ti.com.
Trademarks
All registered trademarks and other trademarks belong to their respective
owners.
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