(This is a repost from an idea originally posted on July 4, 2020. You can read more of our original ideas in our archive.)
Problem: For deaf individuals, the only way to watch television is through subtitles. Currently, these subtitles are rendered in text.
Solution: Supplementary subtitle company that specializes in providing images and videos of sign-language subtitling to provide more inclusive access. These subtitles could be automatically generated through speech or existing subtitle text and would open up a new era of new-age captions.
Today, “subtitles are ubiquitous. We come across them daily when watching videos on phones or tablets, laptops or television, including the big cinematic screen when we can get to a cinema. Subtitles are used in virtually everything now from video games and apps, corporate promos, You Tube videos, demos, educational and training videos, titles for live performances, such as opera or bilingual theatre, online tutorials, reported speech on TV, museum or art exhibits and ‘ad infinitum.’” Moreover, in recent years subtitles are beginning to be accepted and acknowledged broadly by filmmakers. The 2020 Oscar award winner Parasite showed that subtitled films have begun to grow on audiences: As explained by director Bong Joon-ho, once audiences “overcome the one-inch-tall barrier of subtitles” they will be introduced to so many amazing films, further noting that we use only one language: – “the cinema.”
The next barrier to overcome is perhaps the 1-inch by 1-inch box of recorded subtitles with signers representing language through hologram-like floating bodies overlaid on the screen. Ultimately the translation economy “has grown up to 40% in the past three years and is expected to surpass $2.5 billion by 2021.” Part of the value of this technology would have to go beyond just subtitling to provide more streamlined services (perhaps through AI) to use subtitles as a positive force in language learning, easier communication, and cost reductions.
Monetization: Selling the service to media companies in the OTT (over-the-top) industry (i.e. selling to film and television companies that deliver content via the internet).
Contributed by: Michael Bervell (Billion Dollar Startup Ideas)