Nintendo DSi Trials Speech Recognition For Classrooms

The Nintendo DSi isn't what you'd expect teachers to want in classrooms, but that may change as the handheld gaming device explores new uses in education. Along with Japanese telecom company NTT, Nintendo is testing speech-to-text and speech recognition technology on the DSi for students with hearing impairment or other disabilities.

Trials for the technology started Monday in Tottori Prefecture and Okinawa, where disabled students will be able to read what they otherwise could not hear of their teacher's lessons. The technology converts vocal instruction into text that shows up on the Nintendo DSi or on an electronic blackboard.

Beyond converting from speech to text, the technology also saves lectures to the cloud so that students can access them later. Students can also use the Nintendo DSi to interact and communicate.

[via JoyStiq]