DFPRI3701 – RESEARCH INTEGRATION

by

Annie (Lumi) Szu-Yu Chen

Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree

BACHELOR OF DESIGN (AUDIO-VISUAL)

in the subject

DFPRI370

at

INSCAPE EDUCATION GROUP

SUPERVISOR: DR MARY-ANNE POTTER & MS NIELMARI WILSON

NOVEMBER 2019
Table of Contents
Problem Statement ................................................................................................................................. 4
Introduction ............................................................................................................................................ 5
Chapter 1: Context and Requirements ................................................................................................... 6
1.1 Research Approach: ...................................................................................................................... 6
1.2 Statistics of Hearing Loss: ............................................................................................................. 7
1.3 Target Audience: ........................................................................................................................... 7
1.4 Infrastructure Specification .......................................................................................................... 8
1.5 Location Case Study ...................................................................................................................... 8
Chapter 2: Design Process and Justification ........................................................................................... 9
Design Brief Infographic .................................................................................................................... 10
2.1 Problem Identification ................................................................................................................ 11
2.2 Research ...................................................................................................................................... 11
2.2.1 Desktop Research ................................................................................................................ 12
Existing technology facilitating the hearing-impaired in general: ................................................ 12
Existing technology facilitating the hearing-impaired in cinemas: ............................................... 13
2.2.2 Survey Questionnaire ........................................................................................................... 14
Conclusion ..................................................................................................................................... 14
2.3 Conceptualisation ....................................................................................................................... 15
The solutions: ................................................................................................................................ 15
Cinema Partnership....................................................................................................................... 16
Insurance Company Partnership...................................................................................................... 16
Magazine Core Choice: ................................................................................................................. 17
The integrated campaign: ............................................................................................................. 18
2.4 Design and Production ................................................................................................................ 19
Production..................................................................................................................................... 19
Funding ......................................................................................................................................... 20
2.5 Ethics ........................................................................................................................................... 20
2.5.1 Professional Ethics (Should I expand more or would this be sufficient?)............................ 21
2.5.2 User rights and legal constraints relating to context ........................................................... 22
2.5.3 Participant Rights ................................................................................................................. 22
Conclusion ......................................................................................................................................... 22
Chapter 3: Significance of Design.......................................................................................................... 23
Conclusion ............................................................................................................................................. 24
Reference List........................................................................................................................................ 25
Appendixes………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………27

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 List of Figures

Figure 1 Brand South Africa (2015). 2015 Research Report [Image]. Retrieved 8
https://www.brandsouthafrica.com/governance/developmentnews/researc
h-backs-up-south-africa-s-good-story

Figure 2 Chen (2019) Infographic created by Lumi Chen depicting the main steps 10
of the design brief [Image] Created by Lumi Chen

Figure 3 HearingTracker. (2019). Different Hearing Aid Brands [Image]. Retrieved 12

from https://www.hearingtracker.com/best-hearing-aid-brands-in-2019

Figure 4 LimpingChicken.com. (2015). Sony’s Access Glasses caption obscuring 13

face [Image]. Retrieved from
https://limpingchicken.com/2015/03/17/samuel-dore-what-i-thought-of-
sonys-subtitled-glasses-for-cinemas/

Figure 5 Instagram.com. (2019) A question taken from Lumi Chen Survey [Image]. 14
Retrieved from http://instagram.com

Figure 6 North. (2018). Focals Glasses [Image]. Retrieved from 15

https://www.bynorth.com/focals

Figure 7 Ster-Kinekor. (2016). Ster-Kinekor Vision Mission [Image]. Retrieved from 16

https://www.sterkinekor.com/content/vision-mission/overview

Figure 8 Discovery (n.d). Discovery Insure Logo [Image]. Retrieved from 16

https://www.discovery.co.za

Figure 9 Popular Mechanics (2018). GfK MRI Spring 2018 Report [Image]. 17
Retrieved from
http://www.popularmechanicsmediakit.com/r5/home.asp#overview

3
Problem Statement

Within the context of audio-visual entertainment, it is evident that film is a massive part of
human experience. Artists and creators have been using this medium to convey messages
and stories (Cloete, 2017). The film industry has progressed over many years. To this day,
their film works are displayed in large theatre rooms and especially on big screens with
surround sound audio. A vast majority of the world would use their free time to go and escape
from their lives for two hours or so as a form of entertainment (Kael, 2001).

However, using audio-visual and big screen cinemas as a medium requires the human being
to use both their visual and auditory senses to gain the full experience. With diseases and
physical conditions becoming more prevalent, the human senses are being dulled and
negatively impacted, resulting in many disabilities (World Health Organisation, 2018). The
World Health Organisation (2018) claims that “[r]ates of disability are increasing due to
population ageing and increases in chronic health conditions, among other causes”. Many
amenities in the modern world still do not accommodate people with disabilities as they are
the minority that gets overlooked. In the context of cinema, this means that it is difficult for
certain groups of people around the world to be able to experience the entertainment of big
screenings fully. One of the groups of people that are not able to find enjoyment in cinema-
watching are people that suffer from hearing impairment. This generalises the focused
problem statement:

Hard of hearing/deaf cinema-goers will always struggle to attain the same quality of
audio-visual experience when watching new releases that come into commercial
cinemas.

The following research questions will be addressed in solving this problem:

- In what environment and scope do the hard of hearing and deaf community experience
the problem?
- How does the problem affect the hard of hearing and deaf community?
- What approaches are taken when researching the solutions?
- What solutions are already available in the world and cinematic context to facilitate the
hearing-impaired? What are the drawbacks and advantages experienced by the
users?
- Would my user group be willing to attend the cinemas if there were technology for them
to use to improve their cinematic experiences?

4
Introduction

The first silent narrative films were captured around 1903 (Foster, 2014). These films were
black and white films that contained no sound and only title cards between scenes (called
intertitles) when dialogue was spoken. As technologies evolved, they started incorporating
colour and audio in the 1920s (Foster, 2014). However, ever since the development and
transition into the sound era, the captions on screens were removed, and the narrative ceased
to be inclusive. This causes the hearing-impaired community to have trouble when attending
movie theatres. Only in the 1970s were subtitles created; however, it was only for television
programs (NCI, n.d.). When a new film is released into the commercial cinemas, they would
have to wait months for the DVD release to view it with subtitles. If they were to watch it in the
cinemas, they would miss out on plotlines and dialogue due to not being able to pick up on
certain sounds or any sound at all.

The reason why I have chosen this problem is that I have experienced this problem first hand.
I suffer from severe hearing loss, unable to function efficiently in the real world if I do not wear
my hearing aids. Even when wearing hearing aids, I find it challenging to understand a lot of
essential plotlines and dialogue at the movies when watching movies or any of audio-visual
product. I also do not like to wait for an extended period to buy a DVD just for the subtitles. I
find myself losing interest in a good movie just because I could not hear the audio clearly. It is
a recurring issue that I have come across ever since I was a child. This ends up being
psychologically challenging as I cannot enjoy the movie or join my peers in their discussions.
I believe that the facilities in accommodating for the hard of hearing in cinemas is lacking and
should be changed.

This research document aims to explore the various aspects of solution-building as follows:

The first chapter discusses the problem statement in its context of where the problem
originated and why it became a problem. It also discusses the approaches in which the
research follows for the ideation of solutions. The target market is then created based on
previous findings.

The second chapter discusses the design process and lays out the analysis in its respective
sections. It explains the process in the considerations of formulating solutions as well as the
ethical concerns revolving around it.

The final chapter discusses the impact of solutions conceptualised in resolving the problem
statement.

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Chapter 1: Context and Requirements

In the pages that follow, the user groups will be discussed in the cinema context. There will
be an evaluation of standard protocols in cinemas as well as problems that arise in that
protocol. There will also be a section explaining the research approaches taken as well as the
analysing of possible challenges when applying the solutions. The paper will then formulate
the target audiences based on the segmentation and statistics in the local South African
context. In the final sections of this chapter, the infrastructure specifications and location of
the case study will be determined and justified.

The chapter starts by addressing the “abilities versus disabilities” in the cinematic context. As
explained in the introduction chapter, the audience is expected to use both their auditory and
visual senses to experience the narrative that happens on screen. There are no captions and
only moving pictures accompanied by sound effects, dialogue and music. Audience members
with good hearing and eyesight can enjoy this experience and understand the narrative flow
without any hindrances. However, members with any levels of hearing loss are not able to
understand the story due to the dialogue being muffled or overlapped by the other sound. This
leads to the hearing-impaired audience losing interest in the movie and end up confused and
disgruntled from missing out. They would not be able to join in with their peers on the “normal”
after-movie buzz because of their “disability.” Among other factors, this is an additional
negative psychological effect that the hearing-impaired and deaf community experience in
their lives.

1.1 Research Approach:

In light of the user group assessment, we can study the type of approaches to solving the
problem statement. The problem can be approached by being grouped into coloniality and
contextual design.

Coloniality is when a specific group extends itself over others to gain power or benefits (Khon,
2006). It could be the coloniality of the hearing community taking priority, causing problems
and inconveniences inflicted on the hard of hearing/deaf to be overlooked.
In this sense, the hearing-impaired community are the ones in “lesser power”; not having the
same level of recognition as the others. My design approach is to remove the coloniality aspect
by providing the same benefits and experience for everyone.

6
Contextual design refers to the design collecting data about a specific user group and utilising
it to create a user-centred design. My design approach could also be approached in the
contextual sense of being user-orientated in designing specifically for the hearing-impaired
users.

Possible challenges when applying this solution would be the technical constraints of modern
technologies that may hinder the potentiality of the solution. There would also be a lot of
complications in the context of South Africa’s financial and lifestyle development states as well
as only being able to focus on a specific class of people living in this country.

1.2 Statistics of Hearing Loss:

According to reports from the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) in 2001, stats
showed that 0,7% of the population suffered from severe hearing loss (StatsSa.co.gov, 2001).
That is 1 in 250 people living in South Africa. However, in the world, there are at least 5% of
the population with hearing problems. That is at least 1 in every 10 people in the world (World
Health Organization, 2016).

1.3 Target Audience:

There are several types of hearing impairment, ranging from different frequencies of hearing
loss (Nordqvist, 2018). I defined the target market by generalising the hearing-impaired
community in two separate groups; the lighter end of the spectrum and the heavier end of the
spectrum.

The lighter end of the spectrum refers to those that can hear most or some sound but lose out
on some frequencies. They require the use of cochlear implants or hearing aids. The heavier
end of the spectrum refers to those who can hear little to no sound at all. They do not use the
hearing assist devices (Chisolm PhD, 2014). People of all ages have hearing loss, as this is
not a specific age demographic condition (Medbroadcast, 1996).

I have also classified the target market based on the living standards measurements given by
the South African Advertising Research Foundation. This measuring tool “is a mean of
segmenting the South African Market, and groups the population according to their living
standards.” (SAARF, 1993). Using the tool, I found that my user group living standards were
classified in the LSM group 7 low or higher.

7
 Figure 1. 2015 Research Reported. Adapted from Brand South Africa, by Brand South Africa, 2015,
https://www.brandsouthafrica.com/governance/developmentnews/research-backs-up-south-africa-s-good-story

1.4 Infrastructure Specification

The type of system I have decided to use for the solution approach is the technological
approach. This is because as technology evolves, it has become one of the most critical
factors in aiding with human advancement. Humans are unknowingly creating and investing
in synthetic relationships with the technology that they use in their everyday lives. The
solutions that assist the hearing-impaired are technology-based, continually changing and
being modified with the decade’s new cutting-edge discovery. This confirms the decision to
continue with the research in technological systems for optimal solution approaches.

1.5 Location Case Study

The case study location that I have chosen is in public, commercial cinemas that display new
release films as a source of entertainment. This is because the setting of my research is within
a cinematic context to actively solve problems that the hearing-impaired encounter when
watching commercial films in public.

I decided to choose research into South African’s two main cinemas Ster-Kinekor and Nu
Metro for a local context on the state of the country’s entertainment systems in regards to
disability assistance. I also chose to do the location case study on global cinematic solutions
to see what inspirations and suggestions that I may draw from them.

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Chapter 2: Design Process and Justification

In the previous section, the research approaches, user group and justifications have been laid
out in solving the design problem. In this section, the results and findings to the research
questions will be discussed and evaluated. The 6-step design process will be followed to
ensure that the project is manageable in their respective sections.

The steps followed are:

1. Problem Definition
2. Research Development
3. Ideation
4. Solution and Concept Development
5. Evaluation and Feedback
6. Improvements

In light of the 6-step design process, the infographic on the next page was created as a
summary and guide of the design brief. The design process will also be represented in the
following key sub-headings:

2.1 Problem identification

2.2 Research
2.3 Conceptualisation
2.4 Design and Production

9
Design Brief Infographic

Figure 2. Infographic created by Lumi Chen depicting the main steps of the design brief by Lumi Chen
(Self-Generated), 2019

10
2.1 Problem Identification

As a recap, the design problem states that the hearing-impaired community are unable to fully
enjoy the full entertainment experience provided when watching new releases in commercial
cinemas. It was mentioned in the earlier sections that the reason why I had chosen this design
problem was due to experiencing the issue personally. Whenever I attend the new, major
releases that have been long-anticipated by the fanbases, I always notice that I miss out on a
lot of the dialogue. This causes confusion and disappointment since I would feel that I was
being left behind due to my condition. The after-movie buzz does not improve things as I could
not join in on conversations with my peers due to missing out on information during the film.
This led to reflections about the state of audio-visual entertainment and the considerations for
people that require assistance in hearing. I had noticed that I had not encountered any
movements from South African cinemas to aid this design problem. It had come to my
realisation that this was a problem that was dismissed easily.

2.2 Research

When approaching the problem, I researched by creating a qualitative study of experience

revolving around the hearing-impaired community. I decided to look into the customer
experience map. This map would be useful in the sense of understanding what type of
experiences the deaf community have when they attend the cinemas. I collected research in
the number of hearing-impaired people residing in South Africa to understand the scope within
the South African context. I also asked the question of what technologies and options are
available in the world that already tries to facilitate the hearing-impaired. I also researched the
drawbacks and the advantages that they provided. This way, I was able to think about how
we can improve on the existing solutions as well as integrate other implementations for this
problem. I then moved onto concept planning, iterations and finally settled down on a
prototype. While the concept may still require adjustments and several improvements, it helps
to see the solution as a final big picture before going into the specific technicalities.

The methods mentioned are sectioned as follows:

2.2.1 Desktop Research

• Existing technology facilitating the hearing-impaired in general

• Existing technology facilitating the hearing-impaired in cinemas

2.2.2 Survey Questionnaire

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2.2.1 Desktop Research

Existing technology facilitating the hearing-impaired in general:

With technology improving every year, hearing institutions and audiologists provide Bluetooth
supported hearing aids and cochlear implants. These devices are also available in South
Africa. Brands such as Siemens, Widex, and Sivantos offer hearing aids and implants that
support Bluetooth technology (Qian, Louzou, Dorman, 2003). These Bluetooth supported
systems allow the hearing impaired to stream live sounds directly from their phone or TV. It is
the idea of rebroadcasting digital audio directly into their hearing device (Widex, undated).

Technologies readily available for the hearing impaired (as researched by Harvard Health
Publishing):

- Hearing Aids
- Cochlear implants
- Bone-anchored aids

Bluetooth Hearing Aid solution brands (taken from HearingChoices.com.au):

- Starkey
- Resound
- Widex
- Phonark
- Signia (personal hearing aid)

Figure 3. Different Hearing Aid Brands. Adapted from Bailey, AUD, by HearingTracker.com, 2019,
Retrieved https://www.hearingtracker.com/best-hearing-aid-brands-in-2019

12
 Existing technology facilitating the hearing-impaired in cinemas:

In first world countries such as America, the hearing impaired were provided with a couple of
options when visiting the public cinemas. Sony’s Entertainment Access Glasses provided the
hearing-impaired with private closed-captioning glasses (Fincher, 2012). The Access Glasses
were spectacles that one would wear and see subtitles on the bottom in front of them. The
glasses even came with audio jacks that could be directly plugged in with earphones.

However, there are several problems. The audio and closed captioning could not be used
together. Other common problems were the comfort of these glasses as they were bulky and
had wires attached. People with both poor eyesight and hearing impairment had issues
viewing the captions, and the film itself as the lenses were not created to their vision (the
glasses were made only for those with 20/20 perfect vision) (Dore, 2015). The captions follow
on the glasses, which means that wherever you look, it will always be there on the lens.
Sometimes they would also be obscuring the character’s face. This made it poorly made and
distracting (Dore, 2015).

General reviews stated that they were non-user-friendly (Collected from Youtube and personal
blogs)

- If you’re wearing hearing aids or implants, they are incredibly uncomfortable (Shannon,
2017)
- Had too much weight and could not adjust (Jackson, 2017)
- Can get headaches if you do not have 20/20 vision (Swinbourne, 2015)

Figure 4. Sony’s Access Glasses caption obscuring face. Adapted from LimpingChicken.com, by Dore, 2015,
https://limpingchicken.com/2015/03/17/samuel-dore-what-i-thought-of-sonys-subtitled-glasses-for-cinemas/

13
2.2.2 Survey Questionnaire

The questionnaire was created as an evaluation of my design process and solutions (Please
refer to Appendix A). It was created as an affirmation if users are interested in solutions and
options to be readily hosted by cinemas to enhance cinematic experiences for the hearing-
impaired. However, it was difficult reaching the hearing-impaired community in South Africa,
as many were quite sensitive in sharing experiences revolving around the matter. This forced
me to widen my demographic and ask internationally. I placed my questionnaire on a hearing-
impaired forum and had received 80% of my international hearing-impaired participants agree
with the question in whether they would be interested in devices that improved their cinematic
experience. This supported my drive in creating the solutions.

I also asked a general question of whether participants enjoyed using closed captions/subtitles
while viewing subtitles. 63% of the replies were yes, leaving it with 37% of the responses with
no. This was interesting in the fact that the majority of the participants were of the hearing-
community from South Africa. Perhaps they would be interested in investing in solutions that
are to be created.

DO YOU LIKE SUBTITLES/CC WHILE

WATCHING VIDEOS/FILMS? (SA)

Yes No

37%
63%

Figure 5. A question taken from the Instagram Survey. Adapted by Lumi Chen
Instagram, Sept, Retrieved from https://www.instagram.com

Conclusion

The most important aspects of the research to bring into conceptualisation are the
considerations of existing technologies to improve. It is also important to note that in the
questionnaire conducted, the majority of the hearing-impaired participants are interested in
solutions for improvements within audio-visual entertainment. Further research was done in
the justifications of the choices made in during conceptualisation. This will be discussed in the
next section.

14
2.3 Conceptualisation
The solutions:

I have created two different products as part of the execution of the solution. The reason why
is I had decided to consider the different levels on the spectrum of hearing loss. This is so I
could facilitate those who do and do not use the hearing devices.

The base solution is an application called Movox. The first solution facilitates the lighter
spectrum of hearing loss. It uses Movox to support streaming the movie audio directly into the
Bluetooth supported hearing device. The app only works in selected partnered cinemas. The
cinemas of today use digital formats instead of the traditional reel projectors to display their
films (Sudhakaran, 2013). This means that the Bluetooth function could be integrated with that
device to allow the option for hearing-impaired customers to connect the movie audio to their
hearing devices. Certain brands of hearing aids and cochlear implants have integrated
Bluetooth options, which means that there is a partnership between the audiology solutions
companies as well as the selected cinema brand.

The second product is an AR (augmented reality) integrated smart glasses. People that prefer
subtitles may also want to invest in these glasses. The Movox smart glasses work in the same
way as the existing Sony’s Entertainment Access Glasses, however, they are improved by
working wirelessly and combined with AR technology. They would act as if the subtitles were
displayed with the movie as a DVD would, but only the glasses wearer could see it. The
captions would be viewed directly on the bottom of the screen and not move wherever the
glasses or wearer is turned by utilising AR-based concepts. These smart glasses would be
integrated with the Bluetooth app, allowing it to work wirelessly. They would also be in the
same design as the Focals Smart Glasses (Canadian startup North), making it lighter and
more comfortable to wear.

Figure 6. Focals Glasses. Adapted from North, by North, 2018, Retrieved from
https://www.bynorth.com/focals

15
Cinema Partnership

The cinema Ster-Kinekor would be the best-chosen cinema to have this partnership with
Movox as they have already done campaigns that supported the disabled such as their Vision
Mission, #OpenEyes campaign (making it possible for Philani to see again) (Ster-Kinekor,
2016). With the history of supporting the visually-impaired people, I feel that they would be
willing to help improve the experiences of the ones that cannot hear.

Figure 7. Ster-Kinekor Vision Mission. Adapted from #OpenEyes, by Ster-Kinekor,

2016, Retrieved https://www.sterkinekor.com/content/vision-mission/overview

Insurance Company Partnership

Ster-Kinekor is also already partnered with Discovery Insurance Company, which allows their
client to claim medical aid when purchasing hearing aids and cochlear implants
(Discovery, n.d).

This meant that the benefits in buying the devices would also include the option of Ster-Kinekor
supported Bluetooth film streaming and smart glasses captioning. Perhaps these glasses
would not only be for the big screen and could also be used for home entertainment if your
friends and loved ones disliked subtitles.

Figure 8. Discovery Insure Logo. Adapted from Discovery Insure, by Discovery, n.d,
Retrieved https://www.discovery.co.za

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Magazine Core Choice:

Popular Mechanics – Their audience overview states: “…when technology is speeding at a

record pace and Americans are once again leading the world in craftsmanship and innovation,
Popular Mechanics is the blueprint for the modern world” (Popular Mechanics, 2018)

It seemed like a good idea to also introduce the new technology through this magazine as
they are very technological-based and are all about cutting-edge advances in human lives.

Their user profile suggests that most of their readership are above 21+, meaning that it would
require the ad placements in the magazine would reach those with a basic understanding of
technology.

Figure 5. GfK MRI Spring 2018 Report. Adapted by Popular Mechanics, 2018,
Retrieved http://www.popularmechanicsmediakit.com/r5/home.asp#overview

17
The integrated campaign:

Assuming that the products of the solutions exist today and are available, the integrated
campaign is created to make people aware that this technology is available. It is also to entice
people to try out the cinema experience again. The main goal of the campaign is to introduce
and sell the solution.

The core concept of my campaign is the Movox Test Run Campaign. It is a weekend or two
in which the cinema hosts a test run day for the Movox application and devices. Assistants will
greet participants that attend this event at the Movox booths set up in the cinema lobbies.
These assistants will explain the process of the technology and help with the set-up of the test
run accounts and the connections, able to answer any question needed.

The participants will then be able to decide whether they would want to use the solutions
further before upgrading their accounts to the full version and paying the necessary fees.

The campaign assets would include:

• Logo and application design

• Advertisements and explainer videos
o Played during the campaign day
o Short version played before other commercial movies as an advertisement
• AD boards placed around the cinema lobbies
• Audiologist/Insurance companies to send emails introducing the technology as part of
their package
• Social media ads
o Instagram
o Facebook
o Websites
o Magazines (e.g: Popular Mechanics)
• Brochure explaining the technology and process
• Assistant specific t-shirts

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2.4 Design and Production

In summary, the concepts to be executed are the solutions based on the two spectrums of
hearing loss as well as an integrated campaign that allows participants to test out the solutions
before investing in the products. The solution for the lighter end of the spectrum is integrating
the existing Bluetooth technology in hearing devices and expanding it into the cinematic level.
The solution for the heavier end of the spectrum is the smart glasses that display the captions
with the use of AR functionality.

With the solutions and campaign conceptualised, there must be pacing in execution. The
following section is devoted to explaining the production timeline, cost consideration, as well
as expectations in the deliverables.

Production

The solution for the lighter end of the hearing loss spectrum can be executed without the need
for mass production. The concept revolves around operating a phone application and uses
Bluetooth connectivity to connect with the host machine/program in the projector room. There
would only need to be phone application and Movox host machine production and design. It
is quite an easy process to create a phone app these days as there are many platforms
available (such as Appery.io and Mobile Roadie) for public use (Krol, 2018). The only
remaining difficulty is implementing the Bluetooth connectivity processing to the Movox host
program that can be applied in the digital projectors that Ster-Kinekor cinemas use
(Vermeulen, 2013). This would require a lot more technical refining should the solutions be
approved past the iteration phase.

The concept for the heavier end of the hearing loss spectrum needs further evaluation. There
is an obvious drawback in terms of the cost of production and distribution as the mechanics
revolving around smart glasses are still quite advanced when levelling it to the baseline of
everyday technology. It was researched that Thomas P. Caudell invented the term 'augmented
reality' in 1990 (Caudell & Mizell, 1992). “The first properly functioning AR system was
probably the one developed at USAF Armstrong’s Research Lab by Louis Rosenberg in 1992”
(Interaction Design Foundation, 2019). 1992 was only 26 years ago from today, meaning that
there are still a lot of improvements needed for AR. Google had officially released their product
of Google Glasses in 2013. The technology specifications were also expensive as it required
the latest, sophisticated parts for the processing of the invention (Google, 2013). This puts the
production for the Movox smart glasses in uncertainty as the concept did not seem practical
with further evaluation.

19
Funding

The selections for funding candidates that would most likely be willing to support these
solutions would be linked to my core cinema and insurance company choice. In the design
process and justification section, the local South African cinema Ster-Kinekor and Discovery
Insurance were chosen for partnership and investment. As previously identified, Ster-Kinekor
is an ideal cinema to host the Movox solutions as they have experience in creating campaigns
that aid the disabled community. The Discovery Insurance company are already in partnership
with Ster-Kinekor, automatically creating the relationship.

In the previous sub-section, it was mentioned that the Movox smart glasses were not practical
due to the cost of production. The average price of general-purpose smart glasses is around
R9000 to R15 000 (Martin, 2019). It is already an extra cost that the audience complains about
when buying standard 3D movie glasses (Hannaford, 2011). There is no information disclosing
the pricing of production for Sony’s Entertainment Access caption glasses (AbleData, 2016).
However, in consideration that it would require processing chips that host AR as well as
Bluetooth connectivity, the cost would still be at lowest around R6000 (Kleinman, 2018.)

2.5 Ethics

While working through the design process, some ethical constraints and considerations need
to be laid out to ensure that all parties involved in the process and finalisation are morally
covered. As designers, the ethics of design must be followed to allow the users to feel engaged
and compelled to use the presented solutions.

The specific ethical considerations are broken up into the following sub-sections:

2.5.1 Professional Ethics

2.5.2 User rights and legal constraints relating to the context

2.5.3 Participant Rights

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2.5.1 Professional Ethics

In applying professional ethics to the design brief, the four principles of moral life identified by
philosophers Tom Beauchamp and Jim Childress were considered (Beauchamp & Childress,
2013).

1. Autonomy (Respect for persons)

This is acknowledgement and respect of a person in their decision-making based on

their values and beliefs. To act with autonomy is always to speak the truth, respect the
privacy of others, and protect confidential information (Jahn, 2011). To apply this into
design ethics, I must respect myself and my fellow hypothetical team members in their
choices of design within the solutions and campaign and that they are designing in the
light of honesty and good intentions.

2. Justice

Justice refers to the equal distribution of benefits, risk, treatment, costs and resources.
In the design team, it is important to treat each other the same and not to single one
out for unfair or extra special treatment during the design process. However, this may
apply outside of the team in terms of the fair distribution amongst the users.

3. Non-maleficence

The term non-maleficence is primarily not to harm. As a designer, it is important to

ensure that any design that is done does not induce harm physically and
psychologically.

4. Beneficence

This relates to “providing others with benefits and contributing to their welfare” (Bishop,
n.d). To apply this in the ethics of design, it is to be able to provide better designs for
the benefit of others. As a designer, it is also important to uphold your teammates by
encouraging them to do better and work alongside them instead of a competitive and
insecure manner.

21
2.5.2 User rights and legal constraints relating to context

While using digital apps, users are rightfully cautious about their online safety and privacy.
The solutions would not take any of the user’s information for any other use other than
registration purposes and payment. There will be security measures on the application to
ensure that any sensitive information such as insurance details, credit card details, personal
information will not be lost or stolen. Users will also have the right to retract their information
and payment from the application. However, they will have to forfeit the use of the application.

The application will only have the ability to detect hearing devices and Movox hosts and will
not be able to connect to any other sort of devices this protecting the users from inappropriate
usage. There should also be security measures to ensure that there can be no other third-
party applications and programs that are not associated with Movox to prevent piracy of
movies.

2.5.3 Participant Rights

All participants of my surveys conducted voluntarily completed the forms. They have the right
to withdraw at any stage without any penalty or future disadvantage whatsoever. You also
have the right to withhold any information. No personal, biographical information will be
disclosed to preserve their anonymity. Once the research has been submitted for examination,
the questionnaires will be destroyed. The participants have also checked in the survey that
they give full consent for the researcher to use the given answers for the benefit of their study.

Conclusion

In summary, this chapter has covered all the significant ethical and legal issues that ensure
the solutions conceptualised will be successful when presented to the public. Through the
analysis of ethical consideration for both the designers and users, this confirms that the
solution addresses the problem in following a precise and systematic process from problem
identification to the iteration process. All rights of the designers, users and research
participants are protected in the interest of their wellbeing and moral upkeep.

22
Chapter 3: Significance of Design

The process to reach the general concept of the solutions started by formulating the design
problem and exploring the context. The target audience was drawn out from the context,
narrowing down the scope of the problem. The background and component research was
conducted as a start to conceptualising the solutions for the design problem. The solutions
were constructed, leading up to the evaluation and finally, the impact of the hypothetical
resolutions.

If my solutions are successful, the psychological effects of the members of the hearing-
impaired community will be improved. They would not be excluded from one of the main
activities of human leisure. With film being an important storytelling method and entertainment,
watching it on big screens is undoubtedly something very different.

With these two products striving to improve the cinema experience of the hearing impaired,
the community would be able to watch the audio-visual stories with ease. They would be able
to hear and understand the film more clearly, optimising their cinematic and narrative
experience. They would enjoy the new releases at the same time as the other audiences
without needing to wait for the home releases. This leads to the users being able to join in with
their peers in discussions and feel less excluded by condition.

These solutions also help not to disrupt those that do not require hearing assistance or
subtitles. They are personalised only for those who do need it and do not hinder the other
experiences in any way. The products help to solve the issue of coloniality in society by
providing the same benefits to all those equal.

If the campaign is successful, it will push the solutions further in marketing and technological
advancement. Participants usually would not want to invest in a product they have not tried.
The test run is to give them a sample of what type of improvement they can benefit from. It
would provide them with a better understanding of what the process is and how the technology
works. With assistants around to support the users, it would provide them with more ease and
familiarity when using the products on their own.If the campaign is successful, the participants
would be eager to invest in the full package and fully utilise the products to enhance their
cinematic experience.

23
Conclusion

In conclusion, there is still an on-going issue that needs to be addressed within entertainment
facilities. Within the public cinemas, the hearing-impaired are unable to enjoy the full
experience of film when watching new releases. This leads the hearing-impaired community
to feel left out and excluded from one of the primary sources of entertainment.

Through research to formulate solution approaches, narrowing down target markets in the
South African context, as well as investigating existing technologies, the base solution of the
Movox application was created to solve the design problem. Within Movox, the two solutions
were created to accommodate for the two separated, generalised hearing spectrums to ensure
that the scope is well-rounded and complete. The application uses the existing Bluetooth
technology in hearing assist devices and expands them on a cinematic level. It also has the
concept to improve the designs of the current caption glasses to enhance the integrated
experiences further.

Partnerships were selected to their best reasonings along with the campaign being created
for the ideal introduction and ease of understanding. Finally, the research paper rounds up the
information and solution, describing the impact of the solution as an argument as to why the
solutions could be successful.

Though there are still many technicalities to be addressed, I believe that the proposed
solutions could lead to the enhancement of the experiences to those that need the extra aid.
It has the potential to include and improve cinematic experiences for the hearing-impaired so
that they are not dismissed by society just for their “condition.”

24
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sheets/detail/disability-and-health

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Swetachandan, G. (2010). CINEMA AS A MEDIUM OF COMMUNICATION.

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https://www.theguardian.com/film/2001/sep/05/artsfeatures.arts

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Chisolm, T. (2014). The Spectrum of Hearing Impairment. Hearing Loss And Healthy Aging. Retrieved
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http://www.nationalacademies.org/hmd/~/media/Files/Activity%20Files/PublicHealth/HearingLossA
ging/1-9%20Chisolm%20pdf.pdf

Hearing Loss and Deafness - Causes, Symptoms, Treatment, Diagnosis - MedBroadcast.com. (2019).
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https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/colonialism/

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cinemas-and-screened-a6740146.html

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John, W., Optional, J., & Coubrough, M. (2019). What format do movie theaters now use?. Retrieved
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26
 Appendix A

Questionnaire questions later formatted for online use (Asked internationally on selected deaf
forums: AllDeaf.com and Forum.hearingtracker.com and also on Quora)

27
 Appendix B

Questionnaire answers analytics (Asked internationally on selected deaf forums: AllDeaf.com

and Forum.hearingtracker.com and also on Quora)

Quick Instagram Survey – Majority of participants were hearing and from South Africa
(Created earlier on in the year)

28
Report: Final Research Project

Final Research Project

by Annie

General metrics
35,555 5,574 351 22 min 17 sec 42 min 52 sec
characters words sentences reading speaking
time time

Score Writing Issues

97 53 53
Issues left Critical Advanced

This text scores better than 97%

of all texts checked by Grammarly

Plagiarism
This text seems 100% original. Grammarly found no matching text on
the Internet or in ProQuest’s databases.

Report was generated on Saturday, Nov 2, 2019, 3:02 PM Page 1 of 28

Report: Final Research Project

Writing Issues
53 Clarity
31 Passive voice misuse
22 Intricate text

Unique Words 22%

Measures vocabulary diversity by calculating the unique words
percentage of words used only once in your
document

Rare Words 43%

Measures depth of vocabulary by identifying words rare words
that are not among the 5,000 most common English
words.

Word Length 5.2

Measures average word length characters per word

Sentence Length 15.9

Measures average sentence length words per sentence

Report was generated on Saturday, Nov 2, 2019, 3:02 PM Page 2 of 28

Report: Final Research Project

Final Research Project

Problem Statement
Within the context of audio-visual entertainment, it is evident that lm is a
massive part of human experience. Artists and creators have been using this
medium to convey messages and stories (Cloete, 2017). The lm industry has
progressed over many years. To this day, their lm works are displayed in large
theatre rooms and especially on big screens with surround sound audio. A vast
majority of the world would use their free time to go and escape from their lives
for two hours or so as a form of entertainment (Kael, 2001).
However, using audio-visual and big screen cinemas as a medium requires the
human being to use both their visual and auditory senses to gain the full
experience. With diseases and physical conditions becoming more prevalent,
the human senses are being dulled and negatively impacted, resulting in many
disabilities (World Health Organisation, 2018). The World Health Organisation
(2018) claims that “[r]ates of disability are increasing due to population ageing
and increases in chronic health conditions, among other causes”. Many
amenities in the modern world still do not accommodate people with
disabilities as they are the minority that gets overlooked. In the context of
cinema, this means that it is dif cult for certain groups of people around the
world to be able to experience the entertainment of big screenings fully. One of
the groups of people that are not able to nd enjoyment in cinema-watching
are people that suffer from hearing impairment. The statement generalises the
focused problem statement:
Hard of hearing/deaf cinema-goers will always struggle to attain the same
quality of audio-visual experience when watching new releases that come into

Report was generated on Saturday, Nov 2, 2019, 3:02 PM Page 3 of 28

Anni
e(Lumi
)Chen