Gallaudet University and AppTek Announce the Public Unveiling of GoVoBo at CES 2022 - Introducing the First Universal Automatic Captioning and Translation Application Designed to Create Equality for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Users

MCLEAN, Va. and WASHINGTON, Dec. 16, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Gallaudet University's Technology Access Program (TAP) and AppTek, a global leader in artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) for automatic speech recognition (ASR), neural machine translation (NMT), natural language understanding (NLU), and text-to-speech (TTS) technologies, today announced the public unveiling of the GoVoBo application to be held at the 2022 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas (Booth #60527, Venetian Expo). GoVoBo was created by and for deaf and hard of hearing users in response to community feedback surrounding the lack of a user-centric automatic captioning tool that could deliver complete communication access.

Dr. Patrick Boudreault, Gallaudet's Manager of Knowledge Translation, captured the foundation of this application by saying, "As members of the deaf and hard of hearing communities with first-hand experience, we take their needs very seriously. Our focus is to bring innovative communication solutions for everyone under the deaf and hard of hearing lens. The GoVoBo team is committed to continually incorporating user feedback into the product." Dr. Christian Vogler, Director of Gallaudet's Technology Access Program, adds: "Accessible communication for all is part of Gallaudet University's DNA. We are excited to see GoVoBo continue Gallaudet's proud tradition of advancing communication access."

The GoVoBo application will provide users the freedom to use any online meeting service without the need to configure caption services for each meeting individually. GoVoBo automatically transcribes spoken content in real time, using the latest in AI-enabled speech recognition technology embedded in a customizable easy-to-use application. At the end of each session, users will have an editable and exportable transcript, so they can focus on the meeting attendees and interaction, rather than looking away to take notes. The live translation feature provided by AppTek's neural network machine translation allows users to instantly translate their conversation and the conversations of foreign speakers, providing the ultimate freedom to communicate with the world.

Mudar Yaghi, AppTek Chief Executive Officer, said, "We are humbled to work with the team at Gallaudet and support their mission to build the gold standard of automatic captioning and translation for deaf and hard of hearing users. Gallaudet has deep ties to the user community and a deep understanding of the scientific research behind conversational AI. AppTek will continue to innovate in concert with the demands and needs of the users."

Gallaudet and AppTek have a history of working together to improve the informativeness of automatic captions for both live broadcast television and meetings. AppTek is a leader in AI and deep learning for natural language processing, cognition and understanding, and has strengths in research and development and collaboration to provide more tailored solutions for specific customer segments. Gallaudet brings decades of research on accessibility, communication technology usability, and the deaf and hard of hearing communities to the project. The collaboration between AppTek and Gallaudet through the GoVoBo application will continue to push the cutting edge of technology to meet user demands of the community.

For more information and the chance to claim one of the 200 free early-adopter accounts, visit us at CES 2022 in Las Vegas (Booth #60527, Venetian Expo) on January 5, 2022.

GoVoBo was in part developed with support by the Consumer Technology Association Foundation, and in part under a grant from the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR grant number 90RE5020). NIDILRR is a Center within the Administration for Community Living (ACL), Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The contents of the GoVoBo appplication do not necessarily represent the policy of NIDILRR, ACL, HHS, and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government.

For more information about GoVoBo, please visit www.govobo.io.

Gallaudet University, federally chartered in 1864, is a bilingual, diverse, multicultural institution of higher education that ensures the intellectual and professional advancement of deaf and hard of hearing individuals through American Sign Language and English. The university enrolls over 1,600 students in more than 40 undergraduate majors, as well as many graduate programs at the master's and doctoral level. It also conducts research in a variety of disciplines, including educational neuroscience, bilingual education, sign language linguistics, psychology, technology and accessibility, Deaf studies, and Black Deaf studies. For more information, please visit http://www.gallaudet.edu.

AppTek is a global leader in artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) technologies for automatic speech recognition (ASR), neural machine translation (NMT), natural language processing/understanding (NLP/U) and text-to-speech (TTS) technologies. The AppTek platform delivers industry-leading, real-time streaming and batch technology solutions in the cloud or on-premise for organizations across a breadth of worldwide markets such as media and entertainment, call centers, government, enterprise business, and more. Built by scientists and research engineers who are recognized asamong the best in the world, AppTek's solutions cover a wide array of languages, dialects, and channels. For more information, please visit http://www.apptek.com.

Media contacts
Robert Weinstock
Gallaudet University
[email protected]

Michael Veronis
Applications Technology (AppTek)
2024138654
[email protected]

SOURCE AppTek