Barrier-free access to media content for deaf people /
Currently, TV, movie and internet media content is translated into sign language in a time-consuming and rather a costly studio production process with real actors. As a result, the demand for such content exceeds the supply by far. The Austrian social enterprise Signtime has set the mission to improve the inclusion of deaf people by developing an innovative software solution that produces video content in sign language semi-automatically with the use of animated avatars. SiMAX includes translation software plus a database that spans the basic vocabulary of the German, Austrian and – to some degree – the US-American sign languages. The working prototype is the only operational, barrier-free solution for sign language content communication in the market right now. In addition, it has already been successfully implemented with a number of clients. With support from FASE, Signtime secured a financing round to further develop and regionally expand this highly scalable and impactful business model.
The case study (in English):