A lot of people never really think about the idea of sign-language interpreters until they see them first-hand. It’s simply a concept most of us don’t have to worry about for our own benefit, and thus something that doesn’t naturally come to mind. When you’re putting on an event that involves any sort of speaking or presentation though, the need for an on-stage interpreter is clear. It is both a means of ensuring that everyone in the audience is able to understand what’s happening on stage, and a simple matter of inclusivity. 

5 Reasons Your Event Needs An Interpreter

Looking into the idea a little bit more deeply though, Languagers provides five specific reasons your event should have an ASL interpreter…. 

1 - More People Are Hard of Hearing Than You Guess

It’s easy to fall under the impression that there simply aren’t that many people who suffer from debilitating hearing loss. Perhaps you don’t have a close family member or friend who is hard of hearing; maybe you don’t know anybody with this sort of affliction, save a few people with age-related hearing loss. This may be the case for many of us, but it doesn’t change the fact that there are probably more people who are hard of hearing than you would guess. 

The official numbers on deafness and hearing loss indicate that some 466 million people around the world have “disabling hearing loss.” That’s a fairly sizeable portion of the population, and while a significant number of the people affected are children, the bottom line is that you may be more likely to be holding an event with some hard-of-hearing guests than you realize. If you have several hundred people in a room, it’s not altogether unlikely that someone there is deaf, or close to it. 

2 - Many of These People Are Discriminated Against

Among the many people who suffer from disabling hear loss, it’s also an unfortunate fact that many experience various forms of discrimination, including in professional settings. Information regarding communication services and the deaf indicates that one out of every four deaf people has left a job due to discrimination — and a whopping 70% of deaf people “don’t work or are underemployed.” 

If you’re in a professional situation in which you’re tasked with hosting an event, it’s your responsibility to do what you can to ensure you don’t further these troubling statistics. An interpreter can help you to be more inclusive, and — if the event is work-related — can help any deaf guest to enjoy something closer to an even playing field. 

3 - You Never Know Who You’re Missing

We’ve discussed the need to include deaf individuals for their own benefit, and as a matter of responsibility (and basic decency). But it will also benefit your organization. Simply put, you never know who you might be missing if you hold an event without an interpreter. An attendee who’s hard of hearing may just be the customer, partner, or contact you’ve been hoping to meet — and without an interpreter, he or she might never get your message. 

4 - Communications Are Making a Comeback

Another benefit to you and your organization comes from the fact that good communication is — for lack of a better word — trendy. In an age when so much of our day-to-day activity involves generic messaging, automated functions and the like, consumers have actually come to care quite a lot about how businesses present themselves and communicate. 

This is reflected clearly in the demand we see in related careers. According to statistics for students pursuing a bachelors in communications, more than 17,000 jobs in public relations are expected to be added by 2028, and various advertising and marketing positions are now paying median salaries in the six-figure range. These are all indications that companies are recognizing the value of strong communications these days — and having interpreters at live events is part of all of this. Essentially, by expanding a communication effort to be this inclusive, you’re putting forth the impression that your company is comprehensive and proactive in tis messaging. It’s a good professional image to establish. 

5 - Apps Aren’t There (Yet)

One last reason to include a live interpreter is that the apps for this sort of thing just aren’t quite there yet. We’ve covered the rise of AI-driven interpreter apps, and it’s true that some of them already exist. However they’re far from perfect at this stage — not to mention they’re not particularly well known just yet. 

So, while it’s always tempting to assume these days that people have apps to help them get by, there’s still a need in this space for human interpreters. A trained, live professional conveying an event’s messages in ASL will simply be more valuable to guests than any app. 

 

 

Will ASL Interpreter Apps Eventually Replace Human Interpreters?

Imagine living in a world where no one speaks your language. As it is, this is how life can feel every day for many deaf people. However, hope is on the horizon.

At present, Google is developing pioneering new ASL interpreter technology. More specifically, ASL apps that can record a deaf person using American Sign Language, before translating hand interpretation into text and audio. The only question is, will apps eventually make human interpreters obsolete?

 

Meet Google’s AI ASL Interpreter

To be clear, when we say that Google is developing ASL interpreter technology, we don’t mean the kind of apps that translate text people type into images of ASL hand motions.

As reported by the BBC in 2019, Google research engineers Valentin Bazarevsky and Fan Zhang, are helping develop AI technology that translates real ASL hand signs (in real-time), into text and audio. This will make it possible for any deaf person to communicate naturally in ASL with anyone with a smartphone.

 

How Does Google’s ASL Interpreter Technology Work?

How Google’s ASL interpreter technology works is simple. Using similar AI technology to that powering Google Translate, apps will use smartphone cameras to record the hand motions of people speaking using ASL hand interpretation. These signs will then be translated to text or audio.

For non-deaf people to converse just as easily, ASL apps will also allow users to type text, which then gets converted to ASL via a 3D animated character on device screens. Surprisingly, though, this technology isn’t anything new.

 

Some Scaled-Down ASL Apps are Already Available

At present, apps like Hand Talk already make it possible to convert typed text into ASL hand signs. In 2018, an app called GnoSys also launched in India, that can translate recorded hand signs into text and audio and vice versa.

Sadly, while ASL interpreter technology does already exist, combing all the capabilities Google has into a single smartphone application is proving to be a little tricky.

One stumbling block that Google still needs to overcome, concerns the fact that its ASL interpreter technology can only partially interpret conversations. At present, for example, Google’s AI can’t detect facial expressions as well as it can hand motions. Neither can apps cope with the speed at which some people sign.

 

When Will Google’s American Sign Language Translator be Ready?

While there are still technical challenges to resolve with real-time ASL interpreter apps, it is likely that apps will start reaching consumers in the very near future. The only question is, will apps eventually become so advanced that they make human ASL interpreters obsolete?

 

ASL Interpreters Don’t Need to Worry Just Yet

Are you an ASL interpreter worried about one day being replaced by a machine learning algorithm? If so, there is no need to worry just yet.

As many businesses find when translating documents with Google Translate, AI translations can be good, but they’re rarely perfect. It will, therefore, still be necessary to hire real-time human ASL interpreters and translators for quite some time yet.