Dutch-based company, Speaksee has launched Soundshape 1 Pro, a plug-and-play system that provides real-time captioning and multilingual translation for events.
The AI-powered system integrates with existing AV setups to deliver live subtitles with over 95% accuracy and latency of less than one second. It connects using three cables audio, power and internet and attendees access captions by scanning a QR code on their smartphones.
The system can translate speech into more than 100 languages, allowing attendees to select their preferred language. It handles various regional accents and distinguishes between multiple speakers in panel discussions using colour-coding.
Captions can be displayed on attendees’ personal devices or projected onto presentation screens.
The London Marathon, Glasgow Caledonian University and Westminster Chapel are already using the technology.
Speaksee alleges the system is up to ten times cheaper than hiring human interpreters and up to seven times more affordable than other translation software.
Jari Hazelebach, founder of Speaksee and Soundshape, said: “Many organisations still don’t have a solution to truly include deaf people, those who are hard of hearing, and non-native speakers, and the technology that is used often comes with delays and errors. At Speaksee, it is our mission to make inclusion the standard in every place where large groups of people come together. With Soundshape 1 Pro, we are a big step closer to reaching that goal.”
Marc van Kaam, general director of Luxor Theater Rotterdam, commented: “With Soundshape 1 Pro, we now have a tool that allows deaf and hard-of-hearing visitors to fully experience selected programs. In this way, we hope to make a valuable contribution to the accessibility of our theatre.”
