Sign Languages In The Screen (SLITS)

The difficulty of acess of the sign of language in the visual media, for example: Netflix and Youtube. 

The availabity of the sign of language in some contents (or in all of them), precisely presented by a different kind of "subtitles", a small box above the (for example) movie.

How many deafs (and all the people who need the sign of language to comunicate) can understand videos about math? Or The famous (and iconic) science show The Beakman's World? How can we just ignore this situation? I believe this project can change the way they see the world, and the way they learn some subjects in school.

According to the National Deaf Center (NDC), in the United States in 2017, 53% of the deafs were employed. This means more than half of the hei community are employed. But in the less developed countries, like Brasil, the education of the deaf is a big problem. Our sign language (LIBRAS) has just 16 years, and the consequences are real. With a bad system of inclusion in the area of education, the people need the sign language to develop their community, but they don't have the opportunity to do so. The main point of this project is to give a better look to visual media and to make more opportunities to the population who are so excluded in our society, having their civil rights in battle for years. Above all, they come rising up, fighting for themselves. As a quote from J. Schuyler Long’s book “ The Sign Language: Manual of sign “ says "As long as there are two deaf people on the face of the earth and they meet, signs will be used".

I am learning LIBRAS and I know that this community already has a part of me. Because now that I know how to communicate with them effectively, it makes me think about their difficulties, because if it is difficult for me (a listener) to learn sign language, imagine for a deaf, deaf-mute. The solution will make them learn better, discover new things about the world and find themselves more easily in our society.

My solution is based directly with the actual development of the visual technology, like the 360° videos or the 3D reality, but in a simpler way. The solution is about a small box with a person translating the whole video (for example in YouTube) or movies, series (example: Netflix). This "box with simultaneous video" will be available in the subtitles area. In all the cases, sign language speakers will have to volunteer (to be the interpreters), and I can see how much this will help their community. They are excluded, they can't enjoy most of their facility sense: the vision. With the vision, they can communicate with each other and with people, who are not a part of their community. So, why can’t we use the existent media platforms and help them to integrate in our society? There is always a possibility of a weak solution. But as small as they can be, they will definitely make a revolution in the deaf/deaf-mute community, because they have a lot of limitations related to the kind of content they wanna see, and the practice of watching those kind of contents, will make them learn faster and better.

The inovation begins, simultaneously, when two videos are centered on the same screen. Which is something we’ve never seen, and the second video (the small box with the interpreter) can be moved in the middle or corners of your device, if it is interfering the "principal screen". This technology is like the "picture-by-picture" (actually used by Netflix), but more complex. The principal screen will be showing the content and the secondary screen will be showing the translation in sign language, at the same time.

The technology of picture-by-picture can be adapted to be more of a  "video-by-video" technology. It can be made by a platform in a screen, you can choose who will be in the video for a while. The grand question is about how we will make this work. The secondary video will be part of all the stream system, but, it will be hidden, like the subtitles, and when the person chooses the option of the sign language, a display will appear and the person will be able to choose what kind of sign language they want (because every language has it owns signs)

Carlos Skliar, a Brazilian deaf said once: "I write in a language that isn’t mine”, and: "I think in LIBRAS (Brazilian Sign Language)". He's right, his mother’s main language is the “ sign language, not portuguese. The Portuguese grammar is not mine,but the LIBRAS grammar is. All the society believes that the deaf, deaf-mute community have enough, but they don't have the appropriate content and support to learn it. And less to learn and teach. Now, imagine if they become able to watch movies, series, online class videos, sort of a distance graduation for deafs! Just with an "extra" screen that will be translating everything this people cannot hear. In which ways and purposes is this going to impact their lives? It will free them, from being only limited by a presencial interpreter. It will help them to become more independent, included and with much more access to things.

I'm not exactly here because I haven’t finished the LIBRAS classes. But I'm learning a lot about it’s culture and the language of this community. Because I need to understand them to help them to be included in our society; In a year from now, if the project is applied effectively, the solution will be available to every deaf, deaf-mute person who has internet; In a matter of five years, I can only imagine this method of "screen-by-screen" in a TV.

I just want to help people, I want to include them, and be the best person I can be. My goal in the next year is to think about another project, and try to help another community, like the refugees in the Brazilian education. In five years, I see myself helping people more effectively, because I will officially be an adult, and probably will be done with college, so I will be able to help people based on my profession as well, including the nature. I try to help our planet, I try me best actually, but deep down, I know I can do so much better to help and support this matter.

I think my age is a huge barrier, because I'm really young (16) and I will be 17 in September. Another barrier, a dangerous one, is the financial barrier. My country is going through a hard time, my father no longer has a job, so the investment in the project for me may be a little difficult to reach.

A nice way to overcome some of these barriers is to prove I can be a good volunteer, even if I'm young, I can be a good person, I can be a good human who is just trying to save the world. And as the financial barrier, I believe my father will acquire a new job soon.

Just me.

Because I'm trying to help, I'm trying to learn about the bicultural aspect of the deaf people, how they live and how hard it is to be a deaf in my country. I just want to help them. And I'm learning one of the sign languages, and above all, I have the support of my LIBRAS teacher and the interpreters community.

I'm not currently teaming up with any organization. It’s really hard to make a inclusive ideia work here in Brazil. The governement of our country doesn’t  care about the eductaion of the deaf people, and they don't care about the thecnology that can help their communities.

The product in this solution is the acess. the acess of information. The beneficients will be the sign language speakers, who don't have acess to any kind of content in the actual visual media. This solution, if applied, will be able to persue and reach big visual media enterprises like Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime and YouTube. It is just a solution to give them more inclusion and knowledge.

The best solution for the financial stage of the work is with donations. The idea is to bring free access to the people who don't have money and to those who don’t have the access of the visual media in their community.

The Solving process of this solution can help with the financial barrier, related to the first step of the SLITES. Because, after the first step, we will be able to make the project go on, and to give and deliver the consistency of it, with donations and feedback of the partners.

Both, YouTube and Netflix have good potentials to make the SLITES work as they should to help the inclusion process. The organizations who will be making new types of development of screens like "picture-by-picture" will be the most important part of this process. In order to create a partnership with these organizations, I think the best way to do it is to show simulations of how the SLITES work, and how they can help a lot of people, and to show how this is will be a new business for them, because they will get a new public.

• Firstly, the prize will help directly the visibility of the SLITES. With this particular process, we can easily find partners . With enough visibility, the world will be able to see how this matter can change the access of a community with information;

• So, the prize will help, mostly, the problems related to the financial barriers. With all the money, we can invest in new sorts of technology, create good prototypes and test it in streamings or videos, available on the internet.