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Re:Show HN: AI Dub Tool I Made to Watch Foreign Language Vid... by mannycalavera42 on Wednesday February 28, 2024 @03:23AM (#39535421)
it's a lovely parenting story. Let me tell you there is also a huge opportunity for the opposite use case. My elderly parents speak only one (non-Eglish) language. I would love to have a (cheaper) way to provide my parents with translated videos with the addition of (translated) subtitles. Subs are important because elderlies can have hearing issues great work, inclusivity is love
Re:Show HN: AI Dub Tool I Made to Watch Foreign Language Vid... by felixarba on Wednesday February 28, 2024 @03:33AM (#39535477)
I second this! I was recently looking into a way to build something like this for my grandfather, but wasn't even sure where to start from the hardware side.

I wanted to have hardware plug into TV receiver, generate subtitles for live TV program and then play it back on TV. Delay would likely be less than a minute but even a few minutes is not a problem really.

Many people with a hearing problem would benefit from this and with AI getting so good at Speech-to-text, this can be done for quite a large population.

If anyone has a recommendation on where to start with this, I'd appreciate it! Was thinking of using Whisper for subtitle generation, but not sure about hardware that can take in, and output HDMI and run this software

Re:Show HN: AI Dub Tool I Made to Watch Foreign Language Vid... by leobg on Wednesday February 28, 2024 @03:52AM (#39535599)
I keep thinking about something similar. Also hardware. Also for my grandparents.

My grandma is 95. Her vision is bad. Even using the phone (I'm talking old school landline) is getting hit and miss, because she can't see the buttons.

Years ago, I set her up with an Echo Show. That works well enough for her to say "Call Leo". But Alexa is dumb. Sometimes, she'll mishear something and start playing music. Or start a monthly subscription... :)

So what I'd like:

- box - screen - far-field mic array - AI backend

You could do a number of things with it:

- manage a grocery shopping list (AI will notice duplicates and other oddities and ask) - communicate with the outside world (initiate calls, send emails and faxes, including to local businesses) - optional human oversight and/or permission settings (preventing the AI, say, from ordering groceries for more than $50 a week without a family member approving the order)

Something like your "subtitle mode" could also work:

"Listen to what is currently being spoken in the room (including the TV), and display it on the screen".

My grandma has her TV running all day. So maybe one could ditch the screen and make it a "set top box". Add an IR port to it, so it can control also the TV itself. Something like that might work.

Re:Show HN: AI Dub Tool I Made to Watch Foreign Language Vid... by leobg on Wednesday February 28, 2024 @03:42AM (#39535539)
I'm generating translated subtitles internally, before generating the voice-over. Also, generating those subtitles is way, way cheaper. If someone just wants the subtitles, I could offer them.

Bigger question is: What device are your parents using, and what content sources? Because I'd need to be able to download the audio, and inject the subtitles. With a regular TV, I wouldn't know how to do that.

Re:Show HN: AI Dub Tool I Made to Watch Foreign Language Vid... by mannycalavera42 on Wednesday February 28, 2024 @03:51AM (#39535595)
Android device (either phone or tablet) that they can then send over to a chromecast

the chromecast could be a nice to have, not super necessary. they can put the tablet on a table close to them

Re:Show HN: AI Dub Tool I Made to Watch Foreign Language Vid... by mannycalavera42 on Thursday March 07, 2024 @06:02PM (#39635713)
just realised I didn't answer the second part of the question, what content sources: mainly youtube