Theater system offers text for deaf
Deaf fans will be able to follow along when “Big River: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” plays at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts Tuesday through May 22. It will showcase the recently developed I-Caption system. Developed by New York-based Sound Associates, I-Caption features a handheld wireless unit that displays dialogue and lyrics in text, in real time and from any seat in the house. The system made its debut on Broadway along with Deaf West’s production and has been available for all of the national touring company’s performances. “There is so much happening onstage that a deaf patron not fluent in American Sign Language could miss a lot,” said T. Richard Fitzgerald, chief executive of Sound Associates.
www.soundassociates.com.
Pony up to keep preschoolers happy
A new software program introduces kids to computers. Preschoolers can play with My Little Pony figures with their computers – or without them – using the My Little Pony PC Play Pack. The pack includes a play figure called Sparkleberry Swirl, and the accompanying software lets kids create a virtual playground on the computer screen where they prepare a celebration for her. Appropriately, the virtual world is brightly colored and predominately pink. All of the My Little Pony characters talk to youngsters and solicit help with the party preparations. Before Sparkleberry Swirl’s party can start, kids need to finish seven tasks, including designing and sending invitations, baking and decorating the cake, dressing up a pony, choreographing a dance for a pony and helping three other ponies with projects. The bottom line: This software is for little girls who love My Little Pony and want to become familiar with pointing and clicking.
www.atarikids.com.
