Visions FCU branches pilot wearable closed-captioning device

Its Endicott office is among them         

ENDWELL, N.Y. — Visions Federal Credit Union (FCU) says it is piloting a device called “Badger” at select locations, including its branch in Endicott.

The device is meant to “enhance accessibility of branch services,” Visions FCU said in its Sept. 1 announcement.

Endwell–based Visions is also testing Badger at branches in Mahwah, New Jersey and in Muhlenberg, Pennsylvania.

Developed by Satellite Displays, Inc., Badger is described as a “smart device” that can provide closed captions for conversations in real time. The size of a traditional name badge — and functioning as such when not in use — the device receives audio and converts it to text in real-time on the screen’s display.

For Mike Williston, co-founder & CEO of Satellite Displays, developing Badger was personal. 

“My grandmother was deaf, my dad has severe hearing loss, and my sister and I have moderate hearing loss,” Williston said in the Visions news release. “It wasn’t until my father was in the hospital and having trouble communicating with the nurses and doctors that we realized what a need there was for a device like Badger. Having a Badger would have made it easier for caregivers to communicate with my father by providing real time closed captions.”

Williston eventually began speaking and exhibiting Badger at an accessibility and inclusion conference in upstate New York, catching the eye of LaToya Pryce, culture and inclusion officer at Visions FCU. 

“Members who are hard of hearing or experiencing hearing loss should receive the same exceptional member service that we offer everyone else,” Pryce said in the release. “This technology could help us extend an equitable experience to all.”

Visions says it began partnering with Long Branch, New Jersey–based Satellite Displays earlier this year to “strategize” on how best to deliver the device to the credit union’s teller lines. As a financial institution, Visions says it “understands that it has a particular responsibility” not only to accessibility through technology, but also its members’ security. 

“Badger is a real time-only unit,” Pryce said. “Our members will benefit from the increased accessibility without the worry that their conversations or sensitive information will be saved.”

After piloting the smart badge with speech-to-text in English, Visions plans to test the Badger’s capabilities with real time translation to support their growing membership in other languages. 

As Pryce put it: “Just imagine, eliminating all language barriers from our branch services.” That’s the direction the credit union is going in, she added.