aRTIFICIAL iNTELLIGENCE for the Deaf

ended

aiD pursues cross-disciplinary breakthrough innovation that builds and extends upon the latest academic research advances. Its overarching goal is to offer a comprehensive suite of solutions catering to deaf people communication needs. aiD has the following objectives: 1) Create multi-modal, high-accuracy deep learning models for deaf/hearing people interactive communication. 2) Develop deep network compression techniques for scaling the developed models to mobile devices. 3) Implement application pilots of immense practical importance that will be evaluated by the end-users. 4) Promote global-scale excellence in science by supporting the Consortium partners to become leading experts in their field and transfer their acquired expertise to research institutions, companies and the public. Our considered pilots deal with realistic operating environments that allow for end-user engagement and a solid exploitation plan: (i) an AR news service; (ii) an Automated Relay Service for emergencies; and (iii) an Interactive Digital Tutor application. We pursue technological development on multiple technological frontiers: signal processing, signal perception and generation via advanced ML, creation of virtual SL signals in an AR environment, and scalability of the developed technologies on commodity mobile devices, accessible to the vast majority of potential users. To achieve these objectives, aiD implements an inter-sectorial secondment program for Experienced Researchers (ERs) and Early Stage Researchers (ESRs) that fosters knowledge exchange between academic experts and industrial leaders in bleeding-edge technological fields. The social significance and bleeding-edge nature of our endeavors has resulted in the aiD consortium having already attracted the strong interest and commitment of a number of important supporting institutions. These will provide: i) a large end-user base; ii) deep knowledge of deaf people needs; and iii) vast dissemination and exploitation avenues.