A Deaf-Centred Art-Science Approach to Community Engagement in Raised Flooring

A Deaf-Centred Art-Science Approach to Community Engagement in Raised Flooring

Raised access flooring systems have long been a practical solution for modern commercial and office environments, offering unparalleled design flexibility, accessibility, and technology integration. However, the deaf and hard of hearing communities are often overlooked in the development of these systems, despite being key stakeholders. That is, until now.

Using a unique art-science collaboration, the team behind the SignON project has pioneered a new approach to engaging deaf, hard of hearing, and hearing audiences with the emerging technology of sign language machine translation (SLMT). By placing SLMT within the context of a live theatrical performance, they have sparked insightful discussions that directly inform the project’s research and development.

Centering the Deaf Community’s Perspectives

Historically, sign language technologies have been developed by hearing scientists with little input from deaf researchers or community representatives. This frequently results​ in solutions that are unusable and do not meet the community’s true needs. To address this, the SignON project adopted a co-creation methodology, led by the European Union of the Deaf, that prioritized ongoing engagement with deaf and hard of hearing stakeholders throughout the project.

“Deaf audience members reported higher levels of trust in deaf researchers than hearing researchers,” notes Shaun O’Boyle, a SignON team member. “This resonates with calls for deaf leadership in sign language AI research due to the influence of positionality and the increased likelihood of biases in projects led by hearing non-signing researchers.”

By centering the deaf community’s perspectives from the outset, the SignON team was able to develop SLMT use cases and design features that better reflected the community’s needs and preferences. For example, feedback on the SignON app prototype led to changes such as adjusting the avatar’s hand size and focusing on travel and hospitality use cases.

An Art-Science Engagement Approach

To further engage deaf, hard of hearing, and hearing audiences with SLMT, the SignON team adapted a co-creation method developed by Association TRACES as part of the SISCODE project. The result was a live theatrical performance titled “All the World’s a Screen” that incorporated elements of machine vision and machine translation.

“We chose this method because it was developed through co-creation, it showed promise as a method of community engagement, and it would complement more formal engagement methods such as focus groups and surveys,” explains O’Boyle.

The performance featured deaf theatre performers translating selected Shakespearean texts into Irish Sign Language (ISL), while the audience observed a live pose analysis, automated transcription, and the original script displayed on a large screen. As an encore, the audience was invited to view the performance through Google Lens, experiencing the “AI as co-spectator” concept.

Following the performance, the audience engaged in a discussion facilitated by the SignON team. “The depth of engagement and the complexity of themes that emerged during the audience discussion indicate that an art-science approach to deaf community engagement — when led by deaf artists — is valuable within a SLMT co-creation process,” says O’Boyle.

Insights from the Audience Discussion

Three key themes emerged from the post-show audience discussion:

1. Centering Irish Sign Language: Deaf audience members expressed excitement and pride at seeing Shakespeare performed in their native language, ISL. This demonstrated the importance of centering sign language, rather than relying on interpreting, in order to engage deaf and hard of hearing audiences.

2. Limitations of Machine Translation: Audience members, both deaf and hearing, pointed out the inaccuracies and current limitations of the automated captioning and image recognition technologies used during the performance. This sparked valuable discussions about the challenges SLMT must overcome to be truly useful for the deaf community.

3. The Future of Sign Language Technologies: Deaf audience members raised complex questions about whether SLMT will ever be able to fully capture the nuances and variations of sign languages, especially those that are not well-documented. This led to thoughtful dialogues about the role of interpreters and the security of their jobs in the face of technological advancements.

“By integrating AI technologies into the performance, we sparked a conversation about their limitations,” says O’Boyle. “The feedback from deaf and hard of hearing audience members was in line with the feedback received through SignON surveys and roundtables, demonstrating the value of this approach.”

Evaluating the Process

To reflect on the effectiveness of this art-science engagement approach, the SignON team used the Equity Compass, a practice-focused evaluation tool developed by Informal Science Learning experts. This tool helped the team identify their strengths and areas for improvement across four key dimensions: challenging the status quo, working with and valuing minoritised communities, embedding equity, and extending equity.

The team found that they were strong in prioritizing deaf and hard of hearing communities, transforming power relations in favour of the deaf community, and mainstreaming equity throughout the project. However, they noted room for improvement in terms of redistributing resources directly to the deaf community and ensuring long-term engagement and impact.

“While this was a short-term exploratory project, we propose that engagement such as this will be essential if we are to navigate sign language technology research ethically, and it should always be led by deaf experts, artists, and community representatives,” concludes O’Boyle.

By placing deaf and hard of hearing perspectives at the centre of the process, the SignON team has demonstrated the value of an art-science approach to community engagement. This model not only sparked meaningful discussions about the future of SLMT, but it also challenged traditional power dynamics and highlighted the need for deaf leadership in this critical field. As raised access flooring continues to evolve, it is clear that this community-driven, interdisciplinary approach will be essential for ensuring these systems truly serve the needs of all users.