DOT TRANSLATE. THE FIRST BRAILLE TRANSLATOR BASED ON AI.

Short List
TitleDOT TRANSLATE. THE FIRST BRAILLE TRANSLATOR BASED ON AI.
BrandDOT INCORPORATION
Product/ServiceDOT TRANSLATE
Category A01. Innovative Technology
Entrant SERVICEPLAN GERMANY Munich, GERMANY
Idea Creation SERVICEPLAN GERMANY Munich, GERMANY
Production PAULUS.CO Seoul, SOUTH KOREA
Additional Company CLOUDANDCO Seoul, SOUTH KOREA
Additional Company 2 HYPERINTERACTIVE Hamburg, GERMANY
Additional Company 3 MOBY DIGG Munich, GERMANY
Credits
Name Company Position
Alexander Schill SERVICEPLAN GERMANY Global Chief Creative Officer
Eric Ju Yoon Kim Dot Incorporation CEO
Jae Seong Joo Dot Incorporation CDO
Ki Sung Dot Incorporation CTO
Ahrum Choi Dot Incorporation Director of Social Impact
Jimin Ryu Dot Incorporation Global Partnership Manager
Yeong Kyu Yoo cloudandco / Dot Incorporation Creative Director / CEO
Ki Hwan Joo Dot Incorporation Designer
Franz Roeppischer SERVICEPLAN GERMANY Creative Director
Lorenz Langgartner SERVICEPLAN GERMANY Creative Director
Saurabh Kakade SERVICEPLAN GERMANY Creative Producer
Eduardo Alvarez SERVICEPLAN GERMANY Art Director
Carolina Soto SERVICEPLAN GERMANY Junior Copywriter
Dieter Pries HYPERINTERACTIVE Technical Director
Bozhidar Yovchev HYPERINTERACTIVE AI Director
Anton Petrov HYPERINTERACTIVE AI Engineer
Vasil Vasilev HYPERINTERACTIVE Data Analyst
Daniel Kuhnlein Standardabweichung Creative Code
Maximilian Heitsch Moby Digg Creative Direction
Niklas May Moby Digg Concept
Marco Kawan Moby Digg UI Design
Sebastian Haiss Moby Digg Animation
Kyungsin Kim Paulus Co. Ltd Producer
Dahoon Chung Paulus Co. Ltd Director
Yongsang Cho Paulus Co. Ltd DOP
Handong Ryu Paulus Co. Ltd Cinematographer
Young Woo Choi cloudandco Designer
Nara Ok cloudandco Graphic Designer
Julie Kang Serviceplan Korea CEO
Jihyun Seo Serviceplan Korea Art Director
Yujin Ko Serviceplan Korea Senior Account Manager
Yerim Kim Serviceplan Korea Account Executive
Yoon Seo Serviceplan Korea Copywriter

Why is this work relevant for Innovation?

285 million blind and visually impaired people worldwide have limited access to information: Only 3% of all text content is available in braille. Because translation is so complex that it requires input by human experts, which makes it not accessible for individuals and not profitable for publishers. Dot Translate is the first braille translator based on AI. It can translate any digital text to braille most accurately on its own. Because it’s being trained with millions of most accurate human translations.

Background

While we are all used to having access to almost any content, the situation is very different for the 285 million blind and visually impaired people worldwide: Only 3% of all text content is available in braille, because translation is so complex that it requires input by human experts, which makes it not accessible for individuals and not profitable for publishers in most cases. There is no alternative to braille, especially when it comes to education: 90% of people who can’t read braille are unemployed. Braille translation is highly complex: Grade 2 Braille – the standard for longer text – relies heavily on contractions, which makes it 50% shorter. This inevitably leads to ambiguity, where exact meaning depends on context and up to five consecutive rules to be followed for a single word. So far, even the best existing software requires additional input by human experts.

Describe the idea

Dot Translate is the first braille translator based on AI. It can translate any digital text to braille on its own, at near-human accuracy. Because it’s being trained with millions of most accurate human translation samples / data to understand context. Dot Translate is accessible through an intuitive web interface, Dot devices and other digital braille devices. It can translate a wide range of formats and sources: type, e-pub, pdf, txt, doc, rtf, html and even voice. Through the bookmark feature, users can directly translate and format whole websites. Dot Translate can be integrated by third party services and products. But most importantly: While existing braille translation software costs up to $700, Dot Translate is free to use. This is important, because due to the nature of Machine Learning and a feedback tool, usage increases the accuracy.

What were the key dates in the development process?

2013 Start Development Dot Core Technology 2014 Company Incorporation First Patent Granted 2016 Dot Mini Prototype 2017 Dot Translation Engine Development Dot Mini Beta 2018 First 1000 Dot Mini units delivered to Kenya and India together with South Korean development agency KOICA Latest Patent Granted Dot Translate Beta 2019 Dot Mini Global Launch Dot Translate Global Launch

Describe the innovation / technology

Dot Mini combines innovative hardware with innovative software – the Dot Translation Engine: The 16 Cell Active Braille Display is built with the innovative (70 patents) Dot actuator technology, uniquely based on magnetism, which reduces size, weight, power consumption and price by up to ten times. Full audio support with speaker, headphones and microphone allows multisensory experiences. Intuitive control elements including directional pad, select, menu and scroll buttons, as well as voice recognition, make interactive applications like text editing, bookmarks and notes, as well as calculation, coding and even games possible. The Dot Translation Engine enhances rule-based translation with AI: Grade 2 Braille translation comes down to understanding the context of the word and finding the shortest accurate contraction. For accuracy, Dot Translation Engine relies on a character-based word model based on a sequence to sequence neural network, trained with millions of character sequences from most accurate human translations. Then a beam search algorithm looks at the most promising candidates from the first step and determines the shortest accurate translation. Together, these two methods result in the shortest, most accurate translation in the specific context.

Describe the expectations / outcome

Dot Translate reaches near-human accuracy, surpassing existing translators and continuously getting better. It can translate whole documents in a few seconds. Dot Translate has so far translated over 10 million words and is supported by organizations serving millions of blind and visually impaired people worldwide.