Could your innovation improve the cinema experience for people with hearing loss?

Funding is available to stimulate new innovations in subtitling for people with hearing loss to enable a more integrated cinema experience.

An estimated 11 million people in the UK (about one in six) experience hearing loss, a number expected to rise to 15.6 million (about one in five) by 2035. The Technology Challenge Fund has been established to help catalyse innovation in technology that will allow people with hearing loss to have a more inclusive cinema experience. Up to £75,000 is available to support innovative projects in this competition.

The UK Cinema Association (UKCA) has tracked the development of ‘closed caption’ subtitle systems, where subtitles are only seen by the individual audience member, via either a personal screen or a pair of specially-adapted glasses. Slow take-up of these devices has led to the launch of the fund, through which the UKCA ‘wishes to cast the net of potential partners further than just the cinema sector to involve those working in the wider technology and academic sectors’.

Projects are expected to develop and test a working prototype in a ‘real life’ cinema environment with end user feedback.

The closing date for applications is Friday 28 September 2018.

Find out more and apply here.