54
BOGOTA, COLOMBIA

Innovative technology for universal communication designed to involve the (hearing) challenged

  • Upload
    elastix

  • View
    536

  • Download
    0

Embed Size (px)

Citation preview

BOGOTA,  COLOMBIA  

ACCENT  ON  ACCESSIBILITY  

[email protected]  

Mira  Georgieva  

This  talk  will  not  include  technical  tweaks  and  secrets.    

 No  developers  were  harmed  during  the  make  of  

this  presentaGon.  (MAYBE)  

V  I  E  W  E  R  ’S  A  D  V  I  S  O  R  Y  

I  work  with  this  guy  

A.  Currently  available  technology  B.  The  world  of  the  deaf/hard  of  hearing  C.  Business  insights  D.  PracGcal  examples  E.  WaveAmp  Open  Source  F.  Wrap  up  (if  we  have  Gme)  

RIGHT  /  DERECHO  LEFT  /  IZQUIERDA  

GUIDE  ME  TO  THE  BOTTLE  OF  WATER    

GUÍA  ME  A  LA  BOTELLA  DE  AGUA  

Advance  resides  in  mutual  collaboraGon.

without  the  help  of  others,  people  who  need  guidance  to  complete  basic  tasks,  would  not  make  it.  

Before  I  started  working  on  this  project,    I  knew  nothing  about  the  challenges  I  had  to  address.  

 But  as  I  went  on  and  on,  I  realized  that  

I  do  not  have  to  do  much.      

My  business  already  provides  accessibility  features.    They  are  simply  not  presented  as  such…  

 Your  business  provides  accessibility  features.  

Your  PBX,  your  hardware,  your  so[ware  –  they  provide  accessibility  features.  

THESE  BREAKTHROUGHS  TRANSFORM  THE  LIVES  OF  MILLIONS  OF  PEOPLE  AROUND  THE  WORLD.  

ACTUALLY,  THEY  TRANSFORM  ALL  OF  US  AND  ALL  OF  OUR  LIVES  ENTIRELY.  

ASLAN

Meet  ASLAN!  • ASLAN  stands  for  Antwerp's  Sign  Language  ActuaGng  Node  • ASLAN  is  an  AutomaGc  Sign  Language  Interpreter  • ASLAN’s  body  is  3D  printed!  • Used  during  lectures  and  presentaGons  in  class  rooms  …or  even  during  presentaGons  like  this  one  

Brain-to-text

• The  paGents  read  sample  text  aloud  during  the  study  • machine  learning  algorithms  extract  the  most  likely  word  sequence  from  the  signals  

• automaGc  speech-­‐to-­‐text  methods  create  the  text  output  • word  error  rates  –  as  low  as  25%  • The  Brain-­‐to-­‐Text  system  might  lead  to  a  speech-­‐communicaGon  method  for  locked-­‐in  (unable  to  communicate)  paGents.  

Siri | Cortana | Google Now

•  Imagine  all  this  combined.    •  Now  imagine  all  this  combined  with  your  knowledge,  with  your  experience,  with  your  so[ware,  with  your  hardware.  

•  You  would  think  that  all  this  knowledge  results  in  evolved  communicaGon.  

•  You  would  think  that  all  this  changes  the  way  we  communicate.  It  makes  the  way  we  communicate  look  a  bit  outdated,  doesn’t  it?  

•  You  would  think  that  we  should  be  able  to  communicate  without  boundaries,  deaf,  blind,  young,  old,  smart,  silly,  no  mafer  the  language,  no  mafer  the  culture.  

Yes,  but  no.  And  that  is  the  reason  I  am  here  today.  

WELCOME  TO  THE  WORLD  OF  DEAF  Know  what  you  are  gehng  involved  into  

   

The  world  is  built  around  the  hearing  and  the  seeing,  it  is  not  enGrely  comfortable  for  people  with  challenges.  

In  order  to  understand,  we  would  need  to  relate  to  the  actual  pracGcal  problem.  

 Did  I  say  a  PROBLEM?  

There  are  some  upsides  (concentraGon,  relax)  along  the  downsides  (gates  changing,  crosswalks)!  

 DEAFNESS  IS  NOT  A  PROBLEM    

closed  fully-­‐funcGonal  cultural  society    enGrely  separate  from  the  closed  society  of  the  hearing  

DEAF  /  HARD  OF  HEARING  HEARING  

1  

MISUNDERSTANDINGS  OCCURING  WITH  BOTH  HEARING  AND  DEAF  

CONFUSION  OF  THE  TEXT  MESSAGE  we  guess  the  tone,  the  mood,  the  enGre  meaning    INTONATION  defines  the  manner  of   the  message  and   is  visually  accompanied  by  different  facial  expressions  and  gestures  to  ease  and  ensure  that  the  message  is  actually  processed.    EMOTION    emoGon  cannot  be  transmifed  with  email  or  text  in  its  enGrety.  CAPS  LOCK  and  punctuaGon  are  o[en  used  to  emphasize    

You  may  see  that  even  without  any  physical  challenges    and  with  all  the  means  of  communicaGon,    

we  are  sPll  not  enPrely  able  to  understand  each  other.  

COMMUNICATION  ONLY  HAPPENS  IF  WE  UNDERSTAND  EACH  OTHER  

The  main  difference  between  non-­‐visual  communicaGon  (wrifen  and  telephone)  and  visual  (f2f  and  video)  is  that  the  visual  requires  us  to  be  EMOTIONALLY  INVOLVED.  

   DIFFERENT  SITUATIONS  REQUIRE  DIFFERENT  APPROACH  

2  

HARD  OF  HEARING  

DEAF  

DEAF  AND  MUTE  

…and  a  variety  of  mixes:  hearing,  mute,  deaf,  hard  of  hearing…  

HEARING  LOSS  AFFECTS      

communicaGon,  cogniGon,  behavior,  social-­‐emoGonal  development,  academic  outcomes,  vocaGonal  opportuniGes.  

DEAF  PEOPLE  CAN  DO  ANYTHING…EXCEPT  HEAR  

3  

The  answer  is:  Yes    

…and  no.    

Are  you  able  to  choose  whether  to  adopt  accessibility  features?  

Accessibility features are not only applicable as such, they are pretty much the future of communication.

•  There  is  no  obligatory  standard  yet  that  regulates  how  much  of  accessible  our  stuff  should  be.  

 •  You  are  sGll  free  to  decide  whether  you  would  adopt  accessibility  features.  

But  are  you  really…    • Based  on  the  staGsGcs,  I  conclude  that  if  you  do  not  adopt  at  least  parGally  some  accessibility  features,  you  might  be  sooner  or  later  running  out  of  business.  

0,2%  COLOMBIAN  POPULATION  IS  DEAF  =  AT  LEAST  1  DEAF  FRIEND  ON  FACEBOOK  

1  BILLION  AFFECTED  BY  NOISE  POLLUTION  

5%  OF  THE  WORLD  POPULATION  360  MILLION  PEOPLE  HEARING-­‐CHALLENGED  

ARE  WE  ALL  GOING  DEAF  ?  

WHY  YOU  WANT  YOUR  

APPS/SERVICES/PRODUCTION  

ACCESSIBLE  

WHY  YOU  WANT  THEIR  

APPS/SERVICES/PRODUCTION  

ACCESSIBLE  

OTHERS DON’T

It  could  be  that  they  do  not  relate  to  the  challenges  (their  business  is  blooming  and  they  do  not  need  this  extra  customer  flow).    

 BUT    

ACCESSIBILITY  IS  BECOMING  A  REQUIREMENT  AND  NOT  A  NECESSITY    

Although  not  legally  obligatory,  accessibility  is  pushed  by  large  manufacturers  (such  as  Apple  for  example)  and  looks  like  that  some  

steps  towards  it  becoming  a  standard  are  made.    

Others  might  believe  that  there  is  no  money  in  accessibility  (or  it  is  too  large  of  a  hassle  to  consider  it)    

 BUT    

ACCESSIBILITY  CAN  BE  FUNDED    1)  government/union  funding,    2)  crowdfunding  of  part  of  your  product/project  (think  social  and  

viral,  think  your  exisGng  clients  and  channel  partners),    3)  collaboraGons  with  other  players  on  the  market,    4)  verGcals  and  horizontals,    5)  cross-­‐pollinaGon  with  other  products,  services  and  technology.  

Others  may  think  that  it  is  a  very  hard  market    

BUT    

ACCESSIBILITY  WILL  PROVIDE  YOU  WITH  A  NOBLE  RECURRING  PAYABLE  AND  PATIENT  USER  STREAM    

 We  are  all  very  aware  how  much  it  costs  to  have  a  limited  choice  and  what  the  value  of  anything  that  provides  improved  quality  of  living  is.  

Others  might  believe  that  there  is  no  business  value  to  accessibility    

ACCESSIBILITY  IS  HIGHLY  RESPECTED,  WELL  ACCEPTED  AND  WILL  INCREASE  YOUR  BUSINESS  AWARENESS  

 The  most  sustainable  business  is  the  business  with  social  value.  

There  are  many  business  examples  here  involved  with  social  anything,  from  social  funding,  social  acGviGes,  to  social  media  itself.  

PROVDE  ACCESSIBILITY  FEATURES  

…WITHOUT  DOING  MUCH  

1.  DOES  IT  SERVE  A  PURPOSE  2.  RECOGNIZE  EXISTING  FEATURES  3.  PRIORITIZE  ADDITIONAL  FEATURES  FOR  BROADER  AUDIENCE  4.  RESEARCH    

CompeGGon  is  an  outdated  unsustainable  concept.  5.  LEGAL  MATTERS  /  PATENTS    

(the  only  serious  issue)  6.  FUNDING  /  DEVELOPMENT  TIME  CONTRIBUTION    

Reach  out  to  other  companies  7.  OPEN  SOURCE    

(sensiGve  topic)  8.  PROPOSITIONS  NOT  SOLUTIONS    

No  one  needs  fixing!  9.  RAISE  AWARENESS  

THE  LAZY  ACCESSIBILITY  GUIDE  TO  CHANGING  THE  WORLD  

CURRENT  STATE  OF  THE  ACCESSIBILITY  WORLD  

meh.  

PRACTICAL  SUGGESTIONS  

ACCESS  TO  SERVICES  

Imagine  that  you  are  deaf  and  your  credit  card  got  stolen.  You  want  to  contact  your  bank  to  block  the  card.  

 TOO  MANY  COUNTRIES  DO  NOT  ENFORCE  ACCESSIBILITY  ACCESS  TO  

EXTREMELY  IMPORTANT  SERVICES.    

So  all  you  can  do  is  choose  one  of  the  following  opGons…  

WHO  WANTS  …  THE  INCONVENIENT  TRUTH  

DEAF  USER  

DEAF  USER  

HEARING  USER  

DEAF  AGENT  

DEAF  AGENT  

HEARING  AGENT  

YOUR  CALL  IS  IMPORTANT  TO  US….  

…and  a  variety  of  hearing,  mute,  deaf,  hard  of  hearing…  

THERE  IS  NO  ONE  PERFECT  SOLUTION  

• USE  WIDEBAND  AUDIO  extends  the  frequency  range  for  the  audio  signals    

• USE  NOISE  REDUCTION  filtering  unwanted  noises  –  removing  white  and  surrounding  noises    

• USE  EQUALIZER  already  deliver  some  frequency  modificaGon  to  correct  the  “bad”  frequencies  and  to  deliver  conGnual  sound  Nopes:  1)  non-­‐customizable  –  they  opGmize  to  the  standard  hearing  limits,  2)  do  not  take  into  consideraGon  both  years  

HARD  OF  HEARING  

THE  SMALL  ACCESSIBILITY  GUIDE  TO  CHANGING  THE  WORLD  

WHAT  CAN  WE  DO  BETTER  

WHAT  CAN  WE  DO  BETTER  

ADVANCED  EQUALIZER  /  Wave  Amplifier    MODIFIES  db  AND  Hz  for  opGmal  hearing  

STANDARD  ALGORITHMS  

CAN  BE  APPLIED  DIRECTLY  TO  THE  SERVER  

THIS  IS  HOW  NORMAL  SPEECH  SOUNDS  LIKE  

THIS  IS  HOW  HEARING  LOSS  SOUNDS  LIKE  

THIS  IS  WHAT  THE  APPLICATION  DOES  FOR  THE  HARD  OF  HEARING  

LOAD  AN  EXISTING  AUDIOGRAM  /  START  THE  TEST  TO  CREATE  ONE  

MILD  HEARING  LOSS  AUDIOGRAM  

STANDARD  PLAYBACK  VS  AMPLIFIED  

• VIDEO  FEATURES            (video  call  center)  support  video  calls  /  detect  incoming  video  visual  IVRs  video  queues  (not  yet  supported?)    

• CHAT    • CHAT  +  VIDEO  

THE  SMALL  ACCESSIBILITY  GUIDE  TO  CHANGING  THE  WORLD  

DEAF  USER   DEAF  AGENT  

• CAPTIONED  SERVICES  VOICE  TO  TEXT  PHONES  WITH  CAPTIONS  

• VRS  (INTERPRETER)  

DEAF  USER   HEARING  AGENT  

THE  SMALL  ACCESSIBILITY  GUIDE  TO  CHANGING  THE  WORLD  

WHAT  CAN  WE  DO  BETTER  

• VIDEO  WIDER  CONTROL  OVER  THE  CAMERA,  ZOOM  HIGH  FPS  AND  HIGH  RESOLUTION  EMOTION  DETECTION  (FACIAL  EXPRESSIONS/TONE)  

AUTOMATIC  SIGN  LANGUAGE  INTERPRETER  ?  

YOU ?

ACCENT  ON  ACCESSIBILITY  

[email protected]  

Mira  Georgieva