New device uses closed-captioning on TVs to bleep or substitute foul words

By Doug Bedell / Staff Writer of The Dallas Morning News
Published 02-02-1999

Question: When does Beavis and Butthead become Beavis and Jerk?

Answer: When you filter your television viewing through a little black box called TVGuardian.

The device, which took the Video Accessory Innovations Award at the recent Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, is designed for parents who are tired of waiting for the federally mandated V-chip technology. The V-chip someday will allow parents to prohibit viewing of videos and television programs based on a rating system.

Using hidden closed-captioning designed for the hearing impaired, TVGuardian has beaten the government to the punch.

Instead of blocking the picture from a broadcast or video, this device only blocks audio whenever potentially offensive language steams by. Depending on the positioning of its slide switches, TVGuardian substitutes a nonoffensive word in the scrolling caption at the bottom of your screen. Or it can just leave the on-screen character mute. Viewers won't know what is being said.

Phrases or words such as "for heaven's sake," "oh crud" and "man" are among the most common replacements. These alternatives are supposed to offer the same essential meaning, although sometimes the result is quite confusing.

In early versions, for example, Dick Van Dyke became Jerk Van Gay in the captioning.

But inventor Rick Bray of Rogers, Ark., and his team have worked hard to sanitize language streaming from the living room television without being too disruptive. New models of TVGuardian contain a " tolerant" setting that allows '90s colloquialisms such as "butt."

The "strict" setting is designed to pick out about 100 words and phrases - "all questionable language, including derogatory references to race, religion and sexual preference," according to Principle Solutions, Mr. Bray's company.

The idea came to Mr. Bray, a former real estate software developer, on a vacation trip with his two children.

"We rented a video that should have been good family fun, but it was one of 'those' videos," he said recently during a break at an appearance for Christian booksellers. "It bothered my wife and me for quite a while. It frustrated us.

"I just got tired of waiting for somebody else to do something about this problem."

Under federal rules that evolved slowly, all television manufacturers must incorporate V-chip technology in their sets by Jan. 1. However, the V-chip will allow only complete blocking of shows based on a rating system recently compiled by a consortium of industry specialists.

TVGuardian, available for a base price of $149.95, allows normal viewing of programs without potentially offensive words being heard.

Awaiting patent

The first manufacturing run of 10,000 units is selling fairly well, Mr. Bray said. But the real market may open when his patent on the technology is approved, and he can sell it directly to TV manufacturers as an add-on.

"I would say our sales are good so far, but we're not in any regional or national retailers yet," he said. "We have a ton of people interested in this, but not a whole lot will go out and buy it as a separate accessory."

Originally, Mr. Bray considered using voice-recognition software to achieve his goals. But that technology just isn't up to snuff, he said.

Closed-captioning was already being streamed through signals on most network shows, so Mr. Bray began to experiment with a device that would read the audio text before the picture hit the television screen.

Although about 15 curse words or racial slurs are used often in the movies, Mr. Bray created a compendium of about 100 words and phrases using resources such as George Carlin's famous "Seven Words You Can' t Say on TV" routine, a curse word dictionary and texts available at the Screenit Web site (www.screenit.com), which previews shows and movies for parents.

Words such as God became particularly problematic because they are used in both prayer and cursing. An episode of Seinfeld, for example, was blanked out when Cosmo Kramer entered the room, yelling, "God, what's wrong with you people!"

During that same episode, the device allowed characters to freely discuss condoms, say, "Wham, bam. Thank you, ma'am" and discuss sexual habits.

"It's not perfect," Mr. Bray said. "We still watch things and say, 'Maybe we should have used another word here.'"

Screw proved to be troublesome, for example. The substitute word employed by TVGuardian is doodle. "When I say, 'I screwed up,' that' s fine for me, but when I use 'screwing around,' it's not," Mr. Bray said.

"Doodle makes a little bit of sense to substitute, but sometimes you just have to laugh at the replacement words as they show up in different contexts," he said. "Anyway, the 'strict' setting where that would be used is designed to be a better-safe-than-sorry alternative, so it's going to pick up anything and everything that is potentially offensive."

Generally, less than 60 seconds of an entire movie rated PG or PG-13 are blanked out by TVGuardian, Mr. Bray said. Commercials and promotional previews for upcoming network television shows - both of which are not normally closed-captioned - provide the biggest headaches for Mr. Bray and his team.

"We've found those two areas often have the most offensive words, " he said. "The sad thing is that commercials are often the worst."

Some limits

The technology does have some limitations.

"But this isn't something intended to protect kids from all the bad language they're going to be exposed to," Mr. Bray said.

"It's just a tool to help support parents in setting standards within their homes."

Parents find that their children really don't mind the occasional blanked-out words, he said. At Mr. Bray's home, in fact, his 13- and 11-year-old children have found they're able to watch some rented videos that wouldn't have been permitted before.

In fact, some video rental stores have shown a great interest in providing TVGuardian as a rental option for $8 or less.

In any event, Mr. Bray intends to continue producing his product even after the V-chip is installed in most new televisions. Blocking out all potentially offensive or violent programs just isn't an acceptable option in today's world, he said.

"It's all about being a parent," he said. "And we need all the help we can get."

For more information, see the Web site www.tvguardian.com or call 1-888-799-4884.

© 1999 The Dallas Morning News All Rights Reserved ©1998 The Dallas Morning News

 
 

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