In the project, it is aimed to give technical training of standard machine parts by AR technology to hearing-impaired people that work in the metal sector in order to increase technical knowledge and increase communication in the production line. In addition, the guideline will be created in order to reduce the negative and prejudiced attitude of the companies and to provide equal opportunities to target group to have a career in the company. The project starts with research for identifying standard machine part in the production line and problems of firms and target group. After that, sign language is created for the standard machine elements. The sign language is translated into the e-book that is based on AR technology. The training content will be created for standard machine element that encompasses which sector standard machine element is used, what for, which part of the production line and its basic mathematical calculation. Also, the guideline is created for the firm to set goals for the target group and to increase awareness on them in order to give the equal career opportunity to them in the company. Sign language and training translate into AR Technology which is compatible with cellphone, laptop, and computer. After these activities are completed, the implementation stage starts. The implementation takes place at the pilot company that has a decent amount of hearing impaired employees. After that, the impact of this AR based e-book, curriculum and guideline on the hearing-employed employees, firms and the communication between them is measured. After the impact analysis, the dissemination activities take place in order to share the innovation in metal industry at as many countries as possible within Europe and more.
The objectives of the project were several: The project is aimed to create a technical sign language and give technical training on standard machine parts by AR technology to hearing-impaired people that work in the metal sector in order to increase technical knowledge and increase communication in the production line. In addition, the guideline will be created in order to reduce the negative and prejudiced attitude of the companies and to provide equal opportunities to the target group to have a career in the company. The project starts with research for identifying standard machine parts in the production line and problems of firms and target groups. After that, sign language is created for the standard machine elements. The sign language is translated into an e-book that is based on AR technology. The training content will be created for the standard machine element that encompasses which sector standard machine element is used, what for, which part of the production line, and its basic mathematical calculation. Also, the guideline is created for the firm to set goals for the target group and to increase awareness of them in order to give them equal career opportunities to them in the company. Sign language and training translate into AR Technology which is compatible with cellphones, laptops, and computers. After these activities are completed, the implementation stage starts. The implementation takes place at the pilot company that has a decent amount of hearing-impaired employees. After that, the impact of this AR-based e-book, curriculum, and guidelines on the hearing-employed employees, firms, and the communication between them is measured. After the impact analysis, the dissemination activities take place in order to share the innovation in the metal industry in as many countries as possible within Europe and more. The specific aims can be listed as follows: Providing Technical Sign Language to literature Developing an e-book integrated with Augmented Reality (AR) Developing Technical Skills of hearing-impaired employees Ensuring the Sustainability of hearing-impaired employees’ Employment Providing them with Career Opportunities by developing their technical and behavioral skills Extention activities to all Metal industries both in Turkey and the EU.
The necessity behind this project was made clear through the initial analysis (1-https://voc2deaf.com/proje-dokumanlari/#dearflip-df_331/1/ and 2- https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/download/article-file/1857484) It was clear that The Deaf and Hard of Hearing (DHH) employees existed across several institutions in each of the countries contributing to the project and the in-house and other types of vocational training and in-house and other forms of communication were hindered severely by the lack of resources and material for the end-users specified. Not only this but another issue of career advancement opportunities were also lacking. Thus material to serve employers in the metal sector with DHH employees so they could advance and make full use of the capabilities and capacities of these individuals was an important aspect. Though listed secondly the material produced within the scope of the project including a sign language easy access, multiaccess resource (mobile application and web site) the testing material developed within the project would be of great assistance for self-improvement and self-advancement of the DHH either working actively in the sector or others wishing to enter the sector. It was important that the material produced serves a wide spectrum of end-users including written material to be accessed by the hearing impaired, the sign language videos to be accessed by the DHH and the 3D models to be accessed by all end-users at varying levels of experience in the sector or previous experience.