Video Relay Service for Deaf people using WebRTC

Abstract

This paper reports on an experimental open source video relay service prototype that helps Deaf people communicate with hearing people by accessing a third party sign language interpreter on a mobile device. Deaf people are disadvantaged in many ways when communicating with the hearing world in real world scenarios, such as hospital visits and in cases of emergency. When possible, Deaf people can enlist the assistance of a family member, community worker or sign language interpreter to assist with such scenarios, however this assistance is pre-arranged and Deaf people would prefer on-the-fly assistance. Our application will assist Deaf people to contact any available sign language interpreter to facilitate communication between the Deaf person and a hearing person using a split screen model, effectively creating a three-way conversation between the Deaf person, the hearing person and the sign language interpreter. The prototype was developed using the WebRTC platform, with JavaScript for browser operability and hardware platform independence. Our hope is that the research can be used to persuade mobile network operators of the need for free or heavily discounted data connection to relay services for Deaf mobile customers.