48 Hour Inclusive Design Challenge at Design Korea, 9-11 December 2010, organised by The British Council Korea with the Korean Institute of Design Promotion
Team Ipop
Team leader: Matthew Harrison (Studiohead)
Design partner: Shin Sukbo
The issue
The team's design partner, Shin, is profoundly deaf and really enjoys going to the cinema. However, he cannot hear any part of the soundtracks of the films.
Research
So they all went to see a Korean romantic comedy to try and understand the limitationsof Shin's experience they wore headphones throughout the film so could not hear the sound. Only the interpreters watched the filmʻnormally.ʼ
The result had a profound effect on all of them. They were not able to follow the story of the film, it was harder to recognise characters or project personalities around them and became a very boring experience after half-an-hour. They did not have the emotional responses of other viewers, especially when the rest of the audience laughed, and to their greatsurprise it gave a feeling of loneliness during the film.
The team's ad-hoc research was validated by Mr Shin, who also found the movie uninteresting and fell asleep halfway through! In contrast, the interpreters enjoyed the movie more than they had expected, and found it funny.
Design opportunity
The team found an opportunity to provide a richer experience within the cinema for all visitors by creating a virtual personal space using technology to deliver user specific information and interaction. This could include subtitles in any language, and 4D touch-based effects that represent and enhance the acoustic experience.
Design for All
The addition of subtitles to any movie, within a personal space is of benefit to hearing impaired people, but also has much wider implications as it allows people in any country to access the cinema. It also provides a new and broad medium for language learners, matching the soundtrack and film script of their native language and the language they are learning.
Product description
The product is made up of three elements:
Other practical advantages
Having subtitles in your own personal space allows them to effectively be displayed off-screen. This allows them to be bigger and clearer, increasing legibility and also for them to be animated to reflect the emotions of the actual speech. The product would be a high-street purchase rather than provided by the cinem and could also be used at home to watch films and DVDs.
