An electronic device for a first user comprising: communications circuitry for establishing a video communication with another electronic device of a second user; and a conversion module for receiving a sequence of images of the second user communicating as part of the video communication, and for analyzing the sequence of images based on a moving change in the orientation and velocity of image features to generate text corresponding to a communication portion of the second user; wherein the electronic device further comprises: a display for displaying to the first user the text substantially in real time and simultaneously with the sequence of images corresponding to the text of the communication portion of the second user; wherein the conversion module comprises a lip reading module and the sequence of images is a sequence of images of the second user's facial features, wherein the lip reading module is configured to analyze the sequence of images of the second user's facial features to generate the text and wherein the lip reading module is configured to detect a combination of a moving orientation of a facial feature, velocity of movement of a facial feature, and optical flow changes over consecutive images of the sequence of images to analyze the sequence of images to generate the text. communications circuitry for establishing a video communication with another electronic device of a second user; and a conversion module for receiving a sequence of images of the second user communicating as part of the video communication, and for analyzing the sequence of images based on a moving change in the orientation and velocity of image features to generate text corresponding to a communication portion of the second user; wherein the electronic device further comprises: a display for displaying to the first user the text substantially in real time and simultaneously with the sequence of images corresponding to the text of the communication portion of the second user; wherein the conversion module comprises a lip reading module and the sequence of images is a sequence of images of the second user's facial features, wherein the lip reading module is configured to analyze the sequence of images of the second user's facial features to generate the text and wherein the lip reading module is configured to detect a combination of a moving orientation of a facial feature, velocity of movement of a facial feature, and optical flow changes over consecutive images of the sequence of images to analyze the sequence of images to generate the text. a display for displaying to the first user the text substantially in real time and simultaneously with the sequence of images corresponding to the text of the communication portion of the second user; wherein the conversion module comprises a lip reading module and the sequence of images is a sequence of images of the second user's facial features, wherein the lip reading module is configured to analyze the sequence of images of the second user's facial features to generate the text and wherein the lip reading module is configured to detect a combination of a moving orientation of a facial feature, velocity of movement of a facial feature, and optical flow changes over consecutive images of the sequence of images to analyze the sequence of images to generate the text.