ALTEN and Accès’Signes LSF join forces to develop AI and 3D technology for fully accessible audiovisual content for deaf and hard-of-hearing people
ALTEN, a global leader in engineering and IT services, is partnering with the association Accès’Signes LSF (French Sign Language) to develop an unprecedented technological solution: the automatic translation of audiovisual content into French Sign Language (LSF). Based on artificial intelligence, 3D modeling and linguistic expertise, this project aims to reduce barriers to access to information for deaf and hard-of-hearing people.
A societal and technological challenge
In France, nearly seven million people are deaf or hard of hearing. For many of them, LSF remains the most effective mode of communication, far beyond subtitles. Yet to date, no large-scale solution exists to automatically translate videos into LSF.
Steve Peguet, Scientific Director at ALTEN, states: “This project addresses an unprecedented technological challenge: translating a visual and spatial language such as LSF. The challenge is as much scientific as it is societal. Through the collaboration between our teams and Accès’Signes LSF, we are creating the conditions for genuine accessibility to content, whether for media, public announcements or everyday uses.”
Jackie Galleron, President of the Accès’Signes LSF Association, explains:
“For many deaf people, LSF is the only fully accessible language. Direct access to information in LSF is not a convenience, but a fundamental right, at the heart of issues of equality and recognition of Deaf culture. With ALTEN, we aim to develop tools that respect the richness of LSF, designed to support and strengthen the work of professionals and interpreters.”
A project structured around three technological pillars
The development is based on three parallel workstreams:
- An AI dedicated to translating French into LSF (gloss): LSF has a specific syntax, distinct from French. To meet this challenge, teams are working on the creation of a specialized corpus. This includes several hundred sentences translated into gloss, notably drawn from political debates, a particularly demanding field from a linguistic standpoint.
- The creation of a reference audiovisual dictionary: the partners plan to develop a collection of several thousand filmed signs, captured using multiple technological devices. These data make it possible to generate animations that comply with the grammar and visual constraints of LSF.
- The development of a 3D signing avatar: the objective is to obtain an avatar capable of faithfully reproducing the gestures, facial expressions and body positions specific to LSF.
Perspectives beyond media
While the initial area of experimentation focuses on video content (programs, debates, conferences), ALTEN and Accès’Signes LSF aim to extend these uses to a wide range of sectors: transportation (station or airport announcements), public services, live events, streaming platforms, and physical or digital reception interfaces, among others.
The partnership is also engaging with international technology players with a view to integrating, in the longer term, real-time computing solutions enabling instant translation on a large scale.