Baidu brings Paralympics to hearing impaired

China Daily

4th March 2022

Baidu brings Paralympics to hearing impaired

By FAN FEIFEI

Baidu AI Cloud, the cloud service arm of Chinese tech giant Baidu Inc, launched an AI-powered sign language platform on Thursday capable of generating digital avatars for sign language translation and live interpretation within minutes, amid efforts by China to beef up efforts to build a barrier-free environment.

Released by Baidu AI Cloud's digital avatar platform Xiling, the sign language platform aims to help break down communication barriers for people with hearing impairments by dramatically boosting the accessibility of automated sign language translation.

Baidu's AI sign language anchors are capable of providing real-time news service for audiences with hearing issues and allowing them to enjoy the excitement of the Beijing 2022 Paralympic Winter Games, through collaboration with China Media Group.

The new technology affords AI sign language anchors with a greater capacity for being understood in sign language expression, providing an accurate and coherent presentation, the company said.

Official statistics show hearing disabilities affect 27.8 million people across the nation. However, there are no more than 10,000 sign language translators.

https://global.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202203/04/WS62216abaa310cdd39bc8a401.html