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The Nippon Foundation Releases Handbook App for Learning Japanese, Hong Kong and Yangon Sign Languages (2) [2023年10月13日（Fri）]
The SignTown Handbook app, which the foundation launched on September 10 as the second stage of Project Shuwa (sign language), acts as a simple dictionary, making it easy to search for and learn signs. Sign language is a language for mutual understanding among deaf people, and an environment in which sign language can be used is essential to promoting the participation of deaf people in society. The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, adopted by the United Nations in 2006, clearly states: “‘Language’ includes spoken and signed languages and other forms of non-spoken languages.” In Japan, the Basic Act for Persons with Disabilities as amended in 2011 recognizes sign language as a language. Despite this, understanding of sign language and deaf people is not sufficiently advanced, with barriers to the use of sign language limiting the participation of deaf people in various aspects of society. However, when public officials have held televised press conferences with sign language interpreters during disasters, this has raised awareness and increased interest in sign language, creating an ideal opportunity to promote sign language. The SignTown Handbook app was launched ahead of the International Day of Sign Languages on September 23, which was designated by the United Nations on December 19, 2017, to raise awareness of the importance of sign language in the full realization of the human rights of people who are deaf. September 23 is the date on which the World Federation of the Deaf (WFD) was established in 1951. The WFD is the world’s oldest organization involved with disability issues at the global level, and promotes the use of sign language to enable deaf people to participate in society. Currently, the WFD consists of organizations of deaf people from roughly 130 countries around the world. Roles of Project Shuwa participants: ▼The Nippon Foundation Overall project management Expertise regarding sign language and deaf people Development funding ▼The Chinese University of Hong Kong Joint overall project management Academic oversight of sign language linguistics Collection of training data for Hong Kong Sign Language Expertise regarding deaf people ▼Kwansei Gakuin University Collection of training data for Japanese Sign Language Expertise regarding deaf people Kwansei Gakuin University, founded in 1889, established the Sign Language Research Center (SLRC) in April 2015 as the first institute researching sign language at a Japanese university, and has been active in conducting the research since 2016 with support from The Nippon Foundation. ▼Google Project concept proposal Research and development of sign language recognition technologies using artificial intelligence (End) |
The Nippon Foundation Releases Handbook App for Learning Japanese, Hong Kong and Yangon Sign Languages (1) [2023年10月12日（Thu）]
Screen shots from the SignTown Handbook mobile app. Ahead of the International Day of Sign Languages on September 23, The Nippon Foundation released a sign language learning app which serves as a simple dictionary making it easy to search for and learn signs. The SignTown Handbook app represents the second stage of the foundation’s Project Shuwa (sign language) jointly undertaken with the Chinese University of Hong Kong in collaboration with Google and Kwansei Gakuin University. We launched the project in 2019 and released the SignTown sign language learning game in 2021 during the project’s first stage with a view to increasing the number of people engaged in sign language interpretation and supporting more active participation of deaf people in a wide range of activities. The SignTown Handbook, a free app released on September 10, also ties in with the theme of the 2023 International Day of Sign Languages, “A World Where Deaf People Everywhere Can Sign Anywhere!” It can be used as a tool to enable both deaf and hearing people to learn sign language and to have simple conversations in sign language. The SignTown Handbook includes not only Japanese and Hong Kong sign languages, but also Yangon sign language with more than 800 individual entries. A mobile app has been developed in addition to the web-based version for use on smartphones and tablet devices as well. For more than 50 years, The Nippon Foundation has been supporting the development and promotion of sign language, focusing on training sign language interpreters and building schools where students can learn sign language. The aim has been to have sign language recognized and promoted throughout society while making it clear that sign languages are equal in status to spoken languages. The SignTown learning game has been used by more than 70,000 people, who have been introduced to it through children’s books, school textbooks and as part of comprehensive learning programs in elementary schools. Project Shuwa uses information and communications technology (ICT) and artificial intelligence (AI) to develop educational materials that make it easy for people to start learning sign language. An ordinary camera attached to a personal computer or a smartphone can only recognize images in two dimensions. By using special sign language recognition technologies equipped with ICT and AI, it is possible to recognize three-dimensional sign language movements including special actions such as body movements, facial expressions, leaning forward and the shape of the mouth. SignTown Handbook web version SignTown Handbook mobile app Apple (iPhone・iPad) (external site) (To be continued) |
Congratulations to Mr. Koji Yakusho on Winning Best Actor at Cannes for His Role as a Toilet Cleaner in Tokyo [2023年06月12日（Mon）]
Congratulations to Mr. Koji Yakusho on winning the best actor award at the 76th Cannes Film Festival for his role in the film “Perfect Days” directed by legendary German director Mr. Wim Wenders. The film is a deeply moving tale about a man who seems utterly content with his simple life as a public toilet cleaner in Tokyo. Mr. Yakusho became the second Japanese actor to win the prize, following Mr. Yuya Yagira, who won it at age 14 in 2004 for “Nobody Knows.” Mr. Yakusho jokingly said: “I wonder if I have finally caught up with Yagira.” "Perfect Days" was filmed “fast and furious” in Tokyo in October 2022 by Mr. Wenders, who is widely known for producing such masterpieces as “Paris, Texas" in 1984, "Wings of Desire" in 1987, “Buena Vista Social Club” in 1996 and “Pina” in 2011. Mr. Yakusho appears in most scenes of the 124-minute movie in which he plays a sanitation worker named Hirayama who cleans some of the 17 public restrooms renovated in Shibuya Ward in central Tokyo. The toilets were installed under the “The Tokyo Toilet” (TTT) project launched in 2020 by The Nippon Foundation with the backing of the Shibuya municipal government and Mr. Koji Yanai, director of Fast Retailing, which operates the UNIQLO clothing retail chain in many countries. Mr. Yanai played a key role in inviting Mr. Wenders, one of the giants of European cinema, to direct the film, bringing a breath of fresh air to the Japanese film industry. The toilets were designed by 16 internationally-renowned architects, including laureates of the Pritzker Architecture Prize (often referred to as “architecture’s Nobel”) such as Mr. Tadao Ando and Mr. Shigeru Ban, with the aim of changing people's perceptions of public toilets as smelly, dark, dirty, and dangerous and making them accessible to everyone regardless of gender, age, or disability. The film’s release date in Japan has yet to be decided. But apparently on the strength of Mr. Yakusho winning the best actor award, “Perfect Days” has sold out worldwide, according to Variety, an American entertainment magazine. The Match Factory is handling international sales. North American rights went to Neon and France to Haut et Court. Further sales include U.K./Ireland/Latin America/Turkey (MUBI), Australia/New Zealand (Madman), Benelux (Paradiso), China (DDDream), Italy (Lucky Red), Spain (A Contracorriente), Switzerland (DCM), Baltics (A-One Baltics), Bulgaria (Art Fest), CIS (A-One), Czech Republic and Slovakia (Aerofilms), Former Yugoslavia (MCF), Greece (Feelgood Entertainment), Hong Kong (Edko Films), Hungary (Cirko), Israel (Lev Cinemas), Poland (Gutek), Portugal (Alambique), Romania (Bad Unicorn), Scandinavia (Future Film) and Taiwan (Applause). When I was chairman of the Foundation of Japan Motor Boat Racing Association in the late 1990s, we ran TV commercials starring Mr. Yakusho, which caught on well with viewers. Under the TTT project, the last of the 17 public toilets, designed by Mr. Sou Fujimoto, design producer of the 2025 Osaka Kansai World Expo site, was opened to the public on March 24. One of the toilets that Hirayama, played by Mr. Yakusho, cleans in the film was designed by Mr. Shigeru Ban. Featuring transparent glass walls, it created a stir around the world when it was unveiled in August 2020. Transparent when the toilet is unoccupied, the glass turns opaque when the doors are locked. The see-through design allows potential users to tell from the outside if the facilities are clean and whether or not someone is inside. I would like to take this opportunity to express my heartfelt gratitude to the 16 designers and all the others involved in this project, including the staff of The Nippon Foundation, for their painstaking efforts to complete the toilets by the end of this March despite all the difficulties caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. I also salute the cleaning staff who clean the restrooms three times a day for keeping them in pristine condition. It takes diligent maintenance work by sanitation workers to ensure that people can use the toilets safely and comfortably. I sincerely hope that many people across the world will see the movie and discover these “small sanctuaries of peace and dignity,” as Mr. Wenders describes the Tokyo public toilets that feature in the movie. For details of The Tokyo Toilet project (TTT), please visit its website. |
The Nippon Foundation Invests a Further $2 Million in the Valuable 500 for Business Disability Inclusion [2023年05月08日（Mon）]
The Nippon Foundation has reaffirmed its commitment to disability inclusion worldwide by investing a further $2 million in the Valuable 500, a network grouping CEOs of 500 global companies committed to including persons with disabilities in business. As the sole Global Impact Partner, the foundation made history in 2021 by investing $5 million in the Valuable 500, the largest single investment ever in disability inclusion in business. The latest investment brings the total to $7 million. Launched at the annual gathering of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, in January 2019, the Valuable 500’s membership includes Apple, Deloitte, Dentsu, Fujitsu, Google, Hitachi, HSBC, Microsoft, Nestle, NTT Group, P&G, The Coco-Cola Company and Sony. Mr. Ichiro Kabasawa, executive director the foundation, commented: “Investing in the activities of the world's 500 most successful and well-funded corporations is a contradictory decision for a non-profit organization like The Nippon Foundation. However, we are making this investment because we know that ensuring systematic change is what truly is needed, and we are confident that the Valuable 500 will bring about success.” I decided to support the Valuable 500 as thus far there has not been much visible progress in the employment of persons with disabilities worldwide, no matter what declarations or decisions the United Nations or international conferences have made. I believe the involvement of these global business leaders can be a “game changer” to create employment for the world’s 1.2 billion persons with disabilities and develop products and services for them. “If businesses don’t change, the world will never change. This is a lesson we have learned through our activities over the years,” Mr. Kabasawa added. The business network will maximize this investment and harness the power of collective actions across the 500 global businesses. This will be achieved by focusing on three pillars: Representation, Leadership and Inclusive Reporting. Each pillar is developed and delivered in partnership with several iconic companies among the likes of Google, Sony and Verizon. These companies represent some of the largest brands in the world and will invest in products and services that will affect system change−materially improving disability inclusion within business. With over 10% (53) of the Valuable 500 membership being headquartered in Japan, the Valuable 500 and The Nippon Foundation will be convening Japanese businesses to discuss how they can continue to improve disability inclusion within business. Ms. Caroline Casey, an Irish social entrepreneur who is visually impaired and is the founder of the Valuable 500, stated: “Central to this work is tackling one of the greatest barriers to change−the lack of disability data in business. It is our ambition that all our companies will be reporting on disability performance in their annual reports against a harmonized set of metrics. Thus, enabling us to hold ourselves to account and create new frameworks for driving system change.” In January 2023, the Valuable 500 published a white paper titled “ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) and Disability Data: A call for inclusive reporting” co-funded and developed with Allianz of Germany and the London Stock Exchange Group. The white paper recommends five global standardized Disability Inclusion Key Performance Indicators−Workforce Representation, Goals, Training, Employee Resource Groups and Digital Accessibility. The culmination of member companies’ efforts will be showcased at the world’s first accountability event on disability business performance in Tokyo on the U.N. International Day of Persons with Disabilities on December 3, 2025. I sincerely hope that the Valuable 500 will be able to develop fair, transparent and effective standardized disability inclusion indicators and report on disability performance against a harmonized set of metrics in their annual reports. This would encourage them to employ many more of the world’s 1.2 billion persons with disabilities, paving the way for an inclusive society in which people with disabilities can actively participate without discrimination. |
100 Performers with Disabilities Shine at TCF THE CONCERT 2022 with Ms. Katy Perry [2022年12月21日（Wed）]
The entire ensemble joined the stage with Ms. Katy Perry to perform a high-energy version of Firework for the finale of the “True Colors Festival (TCF) THE CONCERT 2022” in Tokyo on November 19-20, 2022. The Nippon Foundation proudly presented “True Colors Festival (TCF) THE CONCERT 2022,” in Tokyo on November 19-20, inviting global pop star Ms. Katy Perry as its special guest. On the first night, I went to Tokyo Garden Theater to see Ms. Perry perform alongside a line-up of about 100 internationally acclaimed singers, dancers and musicians with disabilities from 12 countries. Delivering over 2.5 hours of high-energy entertainment and emotion on two consecutive nights, the concert was also livestreamed for free, allowing audiences to join from across the world. THE CONCERT 2022 is the culminating event of TCF, the festival series that the foundation has put on throughout Asia, including Vietnam, Myanmar, Laos and Singapore, since 2006 in celebration of diversity and inclusion under the banner “One World One Family.” Said Ms. Katy Perry: “I’m so proud to be here, to play at True Colors Festival, a celebration of inclusion and artists, first and foremost, and to watch human beings defy the odds and be their best selves. Being able to participate in something so positive and uplifting and for a really good cause, I’m so proud to be on stage with you!” True to its commitment to be inclusive, this was the most accessible concert ever staged by TCF, with a suite of accessibility features including Japanese Sign Language (JSL), International Sign (IS), real-time subtitles, audio description and personnel on standby at the venue for all guests in need of assistance. The JSL and IS signers often stole the show with their high-energy and emotive signing of not just words, but also dance and instrumentals. The live crowd went wild when another guest performer Ms. Kyary Pamyu Pamyu, a Japanese talent, singer, and model, took to the stage in an explosion of pink with her message of We are One. But it was the finale that drew the loudest applause, when the entire ensemble joined the stage with Ms. Katy Perry to perform a high-energy version of Firework. Mr. Ichiro Kabasawa, executive director of The Nippon Foundation and senior executive producer of the concert, said: “Everyone in the audience could see these performers were chosen for their talent first and foremost, and I hope we were all inspired to overcome our own challenges and achieve our dreams as they have.” Creative and music director Dr. Sydney Tan said: “I wanted this concert to open minds and hearts, so it was not just about showcasing the enormous musical talents of the performers, but sharing their unique stories.” The Nippon Foundation has long supported the rights of people with disabilities by working to create an inclusive society that empowers people of all abilities to live their lives with dignity and to pursue their dreams. I believe the concert achieved its objective of helping create a world where real inclusion means people with disabilities are recognized, respected and celebrated for their unique abilities and talents in a way that made it possible for so many people in Japan and around the world to experience and be touched by. |
Megastar Katy Perry to Join 100 Performers with Disabilities at TCF THE CONCERT 2022 on November 19-20 (2) [2022年09月27日（Tue）]
Speaking at a press conference on September 7, 2022, to announce The Nippon Foundation’s decision to present “True Colors Festival (TCF) THE CONCERT 2022” at Tokyo Garden Theater on November 19-20. At the September 7 press conference to announce Ms. Katy Perry as a special guest at “True Colors Festival (TCF) THE CONCERT 2022” set for November 19-20 in Tokyo, I said it is no exaggeration that the concert is the “Performing Arts Paralympics,” adding: “It will be the world’s largest concert created with artists with disabilities. The title includes the words ‘One World One Family,’ which expresses the philosophy that we at The Nippon Foundation hold dear in our activities.” “Performing arts have the power to appeal directly to the senses, something that is difficult to convey in words. As an organizer, nothing would make me happier than for you to think about people who have different characteristics and personalities from your own and find it interesting that we live together in this world,” I added. Mr. Ichiro Kabasawa, managing director of The Nippon Foundation and senior executive producer of TCF THE CONCERT 2022, said: “Singers, dancers and performers have each turned what is considered by the public as a disability into their own strong individual personality. 100 of the world’s top performers will gather in Tokyo to transmit a new sense of values from Japan to the world.” “You will be surprised, you will laugh, you will be in tears, and at the end you will go home feeling enriched. I promise you that kind of experience,” he added. Mr. Sidney Tan, TCF THE CONCERT 2022 executive producer, said: “Once we let go of the very idea of ‘limitation’ within us, we can experience incredible talents and abilities that will amaze us,” adding: “In addition to showing a great performance at the concert, I wanted to give a glimpse into the amazing lives of the artists. I am looking forward to the time when I feel like I am part of One World One Family.” Mr. Harry Sugiyama, general emcee of THE CONCERT 2022, asked: “Beyond the emotional depths of the artists’ performance, the question may come to mind: Are we as Japanese able to create a diverse society? Are we accepting people of all races, genders, ages, and faiths, and maximizing the potential of everyone? “I hope that this two-day event will be a time for as many people as possible to be proud of their own ‘True Colors’, and to appreciate that it is natural to accept others’ ‘True Colors’ too." Mr. Kenta Kambara, the sole performer attending the press conference, noted he was invited to take the stage at TCF THE CONCERT in 2019, but the event was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. “So, I’m excited that the time has finally come after three years!” Mr. Hiromasa Ototake, TCF ambassador since 2019, who was born with a congenital limb disorder and has used a wheelchair since childhood, said: “I believe that entertainment and the performing arts can be a powerful force in moving society without even needing an explanation to convey diversity. I think it’s wonderful that people who are not interested in diversity but who like dance, music, and musicals can be awakened to new values by experiencing the True Colors Festival.” Another TCF ambassador, ryuchell, known as one of key influential figures for the genderless fashion subculture, said: “When I first became an ambassador, I created a T-shirt with the concept of ‘Believe in your TRUE COLOR’ with the message that everyone should recognize their own colors. People tend to think that being flashy is your personality, but I think it’s okay to have a variety of colors that are unique to you, whether it’s white, black, or colorful. I’m really looking forward to seeing all the different colors from around the world at this concert.” (End) With True Colors Festival ambassador ryuchell, known as one of key influential figures in the genderless fashion subculture. Dancer Mr. Kenta Kambara, the sole performer attending the press conference. From left, True Colors Festival ambassadors Mr. Hiromasa Ototake, ryuchell and Mr. Harry Sugiyama, general emcee of TCF THE CONCERT 2022. |
Megastar Katy Perry to Join 100 Performers with Disabilities at TCF THE CONCERT 2022 on November 19-20 (1) [2022年09月26日（Mon）]
Global superstar Ms. Katy Perry will co-star with 100 performers with disabilities from 12 countries at True Colors Festival THE CONCERT 2022 The Nippon Foundation will present in Tokyo on November 19-20, 2022. The Nippon Foundation will present “True Colors Festival (TCF) THE CONCERT 2022,” in Tokyo on November 19-20, inviting global pop star Ms. Katy Perry as its special guest. She will take the stage at Tokyo Garden Theater alongside an international line-up of about 100 internationally acclaimed singers, dancers and musicians with disabilities from 12 countries, I announced at a press conference on September 7 together with Mr. Ichiro Kabasawa, executive director of the foundation and senior executive producer of the concert. THE CONCERT 2022 is the culminating event of TCF, the festival series that the foundation has put on throughout Asia, including Vietnam, Myanmar, Laos and Singapore, since 2006 in celebration of diversity and inclusion under the banner “One World One Family. Ms. Perry commented in a video message: “What moved me to participate in the True Colors Festival was the spirit and uniqueness of the festival’s message and the opportunity to share the stage with all these diverse artists. I’m excited to be back in Tokyo to perform at this inspiring event.” True to TCF’s commitment to be inclusive, THE CONCERT 2022 will provide a suite of accessibility features that will enable as many people as possible to experience the concert. These features include Japanese and international sign language interpreters, real-time subtitles, audio description and personnel on standby at the venue for all guests in need of assistance. This will be the first time that so many accessibility features are being included at a TCF event. Among the other artists are virtuoso violinist Adrian Anantawan (Canada); inclusive dance troupe BOTAN & DAZZLE (Japan); vocalist & 2nd runner up of The Voice, Italy Federico Martello (Italy), vocalist Harumi (Japan); international dance crew ILL-Abilities (multi-national); dancer Kenta Kambara (Japan); vocalist & clincher of the Golden Buzzer on America’s Got Talent Mandy Harvey (U.S.); Tokyo NAKAMA Dancers (Japan); Grammy-nominated vocalist and guitarist Raul Midón (U.S.); vocalist & winner of the 2016 Karaoke World Championships Ryota Kaizo (Japan); rapper and Internet sensation Sparsh Shah (U.S.); choir The Soulmatics (Japan); bionic pop artist Viktoria Modesta (UK); internationally decorated dancers We Are One (India); rapper and composer Wheelsmith (Singapore); and four artists who performed in the award-winning Channel 4 2016 Paralympics trailer, We’re the Superhumans, which has been viewed more than 10 million times to date: drummer Alvin Law (Canada), pianist Rachel Starritt (U.K.), multi-instrumentalist Johnatha Bastos (Brazil) and vocalist Tony Dee (Australia). All the artists will be performing on both nights of November 19-20. (To be continued) At a press conference on September 7, 2022, (from left) Mr. Ichiro Kabasawa, executive director of The Nippon Foundation; True Colors Festival (TCF) ambassador Mr. ryuchell; general MC Mr. Harry Sugiyama; dancer Kenta Kambara; TCF ambassador Hiromasa Ototake; and the author. THE True Colors Festival CONCERT 2022 logo. |
Participating in Early-Hours Virtual Conference with Global CEOs on Disability Business Inclusion [2022年07月22日（Fri）]
At 2:30 a.m. on June 21, 2022, I attend a virtual conference via Zoom with 8 CEOs representing The Valuable 500 on including persons with disabilities in business through access to jobs, products and services. Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, online or virtual international conferences are the new norm. Of course, nothing beats physical communication. In-person conferences provide greater networking opportunities and allow conversations to flow naturally and smoothly. But virtual international conferences eliminate the need to travel, thus cutting costs and saving time, and reduce the event’s carbon footprint. They also make global reach and participation possible. At 2:30 a.m. on June 21, I took part in an international virtual conference via Zoom joined by 8 CEOs of the world’s largest companies, including Mr. Tim Cook, Global CEO of Apple (U.S.); Mr. David S. Taylor, Executive Chairman of the Board at Procter & Gamble (U.S.); Mr. Oliver Baete, Global CEO of Allianz (Germany); and Mr. Tim Davie, Director-General of BBC (U.K.). They represent The Valuable 500, a business network grouping CEOs of 500 global companies committed to including persons with disabilities in business through access to jobs, products and services. The Nippon Foundation joined the business initiative in January 2021 as a Global Impact Partner by providing support totaling $5 million over three years in line with the foundation’s signature policy of aiming to create an inclusive society in which people with disabilities can actively participate without discrimination. I decided to support The Valuable 500 as thus far there has not been major visible progress in employing persons with disabilities globally whatever declarations or decisions the United Nations or international conferences have made. I believe the involvement of these global business leaders can be “a game changer” to create employment for the world’s 1.2 billion persons with disabilities and develop products and services for them. The global purchasing power of persons with disabilities, their families and friends, is said to total $13 trillion, a market bigger than China. Launched by Ms. Caroline Casey, an Irish social entrepreneur who is visually impaired, at the annual gathering of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, in January 2019, the initiative aims to promote reforms that will enable persons with disabilities to demonstrate their potential social, business and economic value. To attend the 2:30 a.m. conference on June 21, I had a few hours’ sleep in The Nippon Foundation’s nap room before joining the world’s top business leaders across the globe. The nap room enables our staffers to stay overnight to cope speedily and effectively in the event of natural disaster. So far, I have barely had an opportunity to work with the world’s top business leaders. But I am convinced now that The Valuable 500 CEOs will become true game changers, determined to create jobs for people with disabilities and develop and produce goods and services catering to them. The other CEOs who joined the June 21 virtual conference were Mr. Hans Vestberg, Global CEO of Verizon (U.S.); Mr. Bret Taylor, Global Co-CEO of Salesforce (U.S.); Ms. Sharon Thorne, Global Chair of Deloitte (U.K.); and Mr. Carmine Di Sibio, Global CEO of EY (U.K.). |
The Nippon Foundation Launches World’s First Online Sign Language Learning Game SignTown (2) [2021年10月25日（Mon）]
SignTown was developed as an easy and enjoyable way for both deaf and hearing people to learn and experience sign language. We hope people will be encouraged to work on their sign language and use it in their daily lives. In addition to being able to act as interpreters in social and work situations, this could encourage more people such as doctors, teachers and store employees to communicate with their patients, students and customers who are deaf using sign language. I believe the launch of SignTown is a great step in the direction of a more inclusive society as it will lay a solid foundation for the further development of a sign language recognition model while, at the same time, raising public awareness about sign language and promoting the social inclusion of the deaf community. Players are supposed to make signs in front of a camera to complete every task required in relation to daily activities, such as packing their bags for a trip, finding a hotel to stay in, or ordering food at a café. In response, the AI-powered recognition model will give immediate feedback on their signing accuracy. Cute hand-shaped characters scattered throughout the game will also explain to users the concepts of sign language and deaf culture. In this way, both hearing and deaf people can learn sign culture and deaf culture, and sign languages in Japan and Hong Kong, in a fun and relaxing manner. Previous models of sign language recognition have not yielded a satisfactory accuracy rate because linguistic analysis of sign language has not yet been fully utilized in analyzing the visual-gestural language data. In sign language, apart from hand movements, other gestural information such as body movements, facial expressions, head positions and movements, and mouth shapes play an equally important role in grammar. Exclusion of any of these parameters in a sign, a phrase or a clause could result in ungrammatical or uninterpretable messages. While sign languages vary from one country to another, phonetic features like handshapes, orientations and movements are universal, and the number of possible combinations is finite, hence recognition models are possible. Our project team has successfully constructed the first machine-learning-based model that can recognize 3D sign language movements, and track and analyze hand and body movements as well as facial expressions using a standard camera. The next move in the project is to generate a sign dictionary that not only incorporates a search function but also provides a virtual platform to facilitate sign language learning and documentation based on AI technology. The Nippon Foundation’s ultimate goal is to develop an automatic translation model that can recognize natural conversations in sign language and convert them into spoken language using the cameras of commonly used computers and smartphones. I am hopeful that people will play with SignTown and someday be able to use sign language in their daily lives, lowering barriers to employment for persons who are deaf and hard of hearing. Now that the Tokyo Paralympics Games this summer have given added momentum to global efforts toward a more inclusive society, it would be wonderful if more deaf and hearing people to learn and experience sign language with SignTown. (End) |
The Nippon Foundation Launches World’s First Online Sign Language Learning Game SignTown (1) [2021年10月22日（Fri）]
The entry page of the world’s first multi-language online sign language learning game SignTown launched by The Nippon Foundation on September 22, 2021. The Nippon Foundation has officially launched the world’s first multi-language online sign language learning game SignTown developed in collaboration with The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK), Google and Kwansei Gakuin University. The launch was announced at a press conference on September 22 which came on the eve of the International Day of Sign Languages on September 23, adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in December 2017, as a day to call for the recognition and importance of sign language. With the support of artificial intelligence (AI)-based sign language recognition, SignTown is an online game in which players are placed in a fictional town where sign language is the official medium of communication. Since the launch of the beta version in May this year, over 8,500 people in Japan and Hong Kong have used the site, leading to various improvements based upon their feedback, paving the way for the official launch. In my opening remarks at the media event, I noted that Japan has ratified the 2006 U.N. Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which states that “governments are to recognize sign language as an official language in the Constitution and/or special legislation, ensure professional interpreter services, and guarantee education to deaf people in their sign language.” But in reality, Japan has a long way to go to reach that stage. “Making more people conversant in sign language would lower barriers to employment of persons who are deaf and hard of hearing,” I said. I was followed by Ms. Ikumi Kawamata, a staff member of The Nippon Foundation, who is deaf. She played a central role in the foundation’s collaboration with CUHK, Google and Kwansei Gakuin University, which is based in Nishinomiya, western Japan, in initiating and developing the SignTown project. In her presentation, she used sign language with spoken interpretation to provide background on sign language and an overview of the SignTown project. She explained that 5% of the world’s population has some degree of hearing loss and that 70 million people−close to 1% of the world’s population−use sign language. Ms. Kawamata explained that, like a spoken language, sign language enables people to convey and understand emotions and nuances that are lost when communicating by written text alone. For these people, sign language is more than just a means of communication, it embraces culture and manners and is an integral part of their identity. We were then joined by popular 19-year-old YouTuber Chloe of Yurima Girl, who is deaf and fluent in Japanese sign language, who demonstrated SignTown. After setting the camera to synchronize AI recognition, she chose the module for Hong Kong sign language and learned signs that would be useful for ordering in a café and checking into a hotel. Ms. Chloe commented: “The site is enjoyable to use and the side-by-side replay function is particularly helpful. This is the first time I have seen sign language recognition and was impressed by the technology.” She is interested in traveling to other countries and hopes that SignTown will be expanded going forward to include more countries’ sign languages. (To be continued) Speaking at a press conference to release the world’s first multi-language online sign language learning game SignTown on September 22, 2021. A screen shot of SignTown sign language recognition. Ms. Ikumi Kawamata of The Nippon Foundation uses sign language with spoken interpretation to provide an overview of the SignTown project. Popular YouTuber Chloe of Yurima Girl demonstrates SignTown. |
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60% of Japanese Youths Favor Free University Education, Half Support More Online Universities: Poll
