Innovation
Streaming service leverages AI to release accessible films for visually impaired viewers
In May 2024, Tencent and China Library for the Blind jointly launched Barrier-Free Theater, a free online movie-streaming service for visually impaired users. The accessible versions of films function like radio dramas, providing detailed narration and spoken descriptions to help people visualize what they can't see. Tencent Video’s large-scale AI model boosted production efficiency, reducing the time it takes to make a film accessible from 30 to 10 days. Barrier-Free Theater is set to release over 600 popular titles, including YOLO, The Long Season and The Three-Body Problem.
Trend bite
Initiatives promoting more equitable access to entertainment are on the rise; for another example, see JBL Quantum Guide Play, which uses echo location-like technology to make first-person shooter gaming more accessible for low-vision individuals. In the same way subtitles have become a hygiene factor for movies and TV shows, accessibility features could become a default for all future media and entertainment content. AI will accelerate this shift — both Tencent and JBL relied on AI to adapt one content format (visual) into another (audio).
More broadly, this shift will ripple beyond entertainment. Instead of adding accessibility as a nice-to-have final layer, brands will be expected to develop offerings with accessibility in mind from the start. Is your brand ready to rise to the challenge?
More broadly, this shift will ripple beyond entertainment. Instead of adding accessibility as a nice-to-have final layer, brands will be expected to develop offerings with accessibility in mind from the start. Is your brand ready to rise to the challenge?
Spotted by: Acacia Leroy
