15 June 2023, 2nd International Workshop on Automatic Translation for Signed and Spoken Languages, Tampere, Finland

Machine Translation (MT) is a core technique for reducing language barriers for spoken languages. Although MT has come a long way since its inception in the 1950s, it still has a long way to go to successfully cater to all communication needs and users. When it comes to the deaf and hard of hearing communities, MT is in its infancy. The complexity of the task to automatically translate between SLs or sign and spoken languages, requires a multidisciplinary approach.

The rapid technological and methodological advances in deep learning, and in AI in general, that we see in the last decade, have not only improved MT, recognition of image, video and audio signals, the understanding of language, the synthesis of life-like 3D avatars, etc., but have also led to the fusion of interdisciplinary research innovations that lays the foundation of automated translation services between sign and spoken languages.

The AT4SSL workshop aims to open a (guided) discussion between participants about current challenges, innovations and future developments related to the automatic translation between sign and spoken languages. To this extent, AT4SSL will host a moderated round table around the following three topics: (i) quality of recognition and synthesis models and user-expectations; (ii) co-creation - deaf, hearing and hard-of-hearing people joining forces towards a common goal and (iii) sign-to-spoken and spoken-to-sign translation technology in media.