Real-time text (RTT) is

text Text may refer to: Written word * Text (literary theory), any object that can be read, including: **Religious text, a writing that a religious tradition considers to be sacred **Text, a verse or passage from scripture used in expository preachin ...

transmitted instantly as it is typed or created. Recipients can immediately read the message while it is being written, without waiting. Real-time text is used for conversational text, in collaboration, and in live captioning. Technologies include TDD/TTY devices for the deaf, live captioning for TV, Text over IP (ToIP), some types of

instant messaging Instant messaging (IM) technology is a type of online chat allowing real-time text transmission over the Internet or another computer network. Messages are typically transmitted between two or more parties, when each user inputs text and tri ...

, captioning for

telephony Telephony ( ) is the field of technology involving the development, application, and deployment of telecommunication services for the purpose of electronic transmission of voice, fax, or data, between distant parties. The history of telephony is i ...

video teleconferencing Videotelephony, also known as videoconferencing and video teleconferencing, is the two-way or multipoint reception and transmission of audio signal, audio and video signals by people in different locations for Real-time, real time communication. ...

telecommunications relay services A telecommunications relay service, also known as TRS, relay service, or IP-relay, or Web-based relay service, is an operator service that allows people who are deaf, hard of hearing, deafblind, or have a speech disorder to place calls to stan ...

including ip-relay, transcription services including

Remote CART Communication access realtime translation (CART), also called open captioning or realtime stenography or simply realtime captioning, is the general name of the system that stenographers and others use to convert speech to text. A trained operator ...

, TypeWell, collaborative text editing,

streaming Streaming media is multimedia that is delivered and consumed in a continuous manner from a source, with little or no intermediate storage in network elements. ''Streaming'' refers to the delivery method of content, rather than the content i ...

text applications, next-generation 9-1-1/1-1-2 emergency service. Obsolete TDD/TTY devices are being replaced by more modern real-time text technologies, including Text over IP, ip-relay, and instant messaging. During 2012, the Real-Time Text Taskforce (R3TF) designed a standard international symbol to represent real-time text, as well as the alternate name ''Fast Text'' to improve public education of the technology.

Use over instant messaging

While standard

is not real-time text (messages are sent deliberately when the writer is ready, not transmitted while they are being composed), a real-time text option is found in some instant messaging software, including

AOL Instant Messenger AIM (AOL Instant Messenger) was an instant messaging and presence computer program created by AOL, which used the proprietary OSCAR instant messaging protocol and the TOC protocol to allow registered users to communicate in real time. AIM w ...

's "Real-Time IM" feature. Real-time text is also possible over any

XMPP Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP, originally named Jabber) is an open communication protocol designed for instant messaging (IM), presence information, and contact list maintenance. Based on XML (Extensible Markup Language), i ...

compatible chat networks, including those used by Apple iChat, Cisco WebEx, and

Google Talk Google Talk was an Instant messaging, instant messaging service that provided both text and voice communication. The instant messaging service was variously referred to colloquially as Gchat, Gtalk, or Gmessage among its users. Google Talk was ...

, by using appropriate software that has a real-time text feature. When present in IM programs, the real-time text feature can be turned on/off, just like other chat features such as audio. Real-time text programs date at least to the 1970s, with the talk program on the DEC

PDP-11 The PDP-11 is a series of 16-bit minicomputers sold by Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) from 1970 into the 1990s, one of a set of products in the Programmed Data Processor (PDP) series. In total, around 600,000 PDP-11s of all models were sol ...

, which remains in use on Unix systems. Certain real-time text applications have a feature that allows the real-time text to be "turned off", for temporary purposes. This allows the sender to pre-compose the message as a standard IM or text message before transmitting.

Use by the deaf

Real-time text is frequently used by the

deaf Deafness has varying definitions in cultural and medical contexts. In medical contexts, the meaning of deafness is hearing loss that precludes a person from understanding spoken language, an audiological condition. In this context it is written ...

, including IP-Relay services, TDD/TTY devices, and Text over IP. Real-time text allows the other person to read immediately, without waiting for the sender to finish composing his or her sentence/message. This allows conversational use of text, much like a hearing person can listen to someone speaking in real-time.

Captioned telephony

Captioned telephony is the streaming of real-time text captions in parallel with speech on a phone call. This is used by people who are hard of hearing to allow them to have the full benefit of listening as best they can, hearing all the intonation etc. in speech, yet have the captions for those words they cannot hear clearly enough. In the United States, captioned telephony is one of the free relay services that is available to anyone who is hard-of-hearing. Originally developed for use on the analog phone systems (where it requires a special phone) it is now available over IP using standard devices.

Use in collaboration

Collaborative real-time editing is the utilization of real-time text for shared editing, rather than for conversation. Split screen chat, where conversational text appears continuously, is also considered real-time text. Some examples that provide this as a service are

Apache Wave Google Wave, later known as Apache Wave, was a software framework for real-time collaborative editing online. Originally developed by Google and announced on May 28, 2009, it was renamed to ''Apache Wave'' when the project was adopted by the Ap ...

and its fork SwellRT, Etherpad, the editor Gobby, and most notably

Google Docs Google Docs is an online word processor included as part of the free, web-based Google Docs Editors suite offered by Google, which also includes: Google Sheets, Google Slides, Google Drawings, Google Forms, Google Sites and Google Keep. Go ...

Captioning, transcriptions and other uses

Real-time text is used in

closed captioning Closed captioning (CC) and subtitling are both processes of displaying text on a television, video screen, or other visual display to provide additional or interpretive information. Both are typically used as a transcription of the audio po ...

and when captions are being streamed live continuously during live events. Transcription services including

Communication Access Real-Time Translation Communication access realtime translation (CART), also called open captioning or realtime stenography or simply realtime captioning, is the general name of the system that stenographers and others use to convert speech to text. A trained operator ...

and TypeWell frequently use real-time text, where text is streamed live to a remote display. This is used in

court reporting A court reporter, court stenographer, or shorthand reporter is a person whose occupation is to capture the live testimony in proceedings using a stenographic machine, thereby transforming the proceedings into an official certified transcript b ...

, and is also used by deaf attendees at a conference. Also, real-time text provides an enhancement to

text messaging Text messaging, or texting, is the act of composing and sending electronic messages, typically consisting of alphabetic and numeric characters, between two or more users of mobile devices, desktops/laptops, or another type of compatible comput ...

on mobile phones, via real-time texting apps.

Real-time text protocols

Real-time text protocols include Text over IP (ToIP) designed around

ITU-T The ITU Telecommunication Standardization Sector (ITU-T) is one of the three sectors (divisions or units) of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). It is responsible for coordinating standards for telecommunications and Information Co ...

T.140,

IETF The Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) is a standards organization for the Internet and is responsible for the technical standards that make up the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP). It has no formal membership roster or requirements an ...

RFC 4103, RFC 5194, and XMPP Extension Protocol XEP-0301.

Total conversation

According to

Multimedia Recommendation F.703, total conversation defines the simultaneous use of audio, video and real-time text. An instant messaging program that can enable all three features simultaneously would be compliant. Real time text is an important part of it.

History

Real-time text is also historically found in the old UNIX talk, BBS software such as

Celerity BBS Celerity BBS was a descendant of the freely distributed source of TCS BBS 1.43, and ultimately nearly completely rewritten. Origin It originally began as a project of Brendon Woirhaye (The Byter) and David Hicks (Moebius) in 1990 to quickly modif ...

, and older versions of ICQ messaging software.

References

External links

realtimetext.org - Real Time Text Taskforce (R3TF)

realjabber.org - Animation of what real-time text looks like / Information on XEP-0301

Total Conversation by IVèS

Total Conversation in the cloud
{{DEFAULTSORT:Real-Time Text IMS services

Text Text may refer to: Written word * Text (literary theory), any object that can be read, including: **Religious text, a writing that a religious tradition considers to be sacred **Text, a verse or passage from scripture used in expository preachin ...