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Live TV subtitling through respeaking with remote cutting-edge technology

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Abstract

This article presents an original system for live TV subtitling using respeaking and automatic speech recognition. Unlike several commercially available live subtitling solutions, the technology presented in this article comprises a speech recognition system specifically designed for live subtitling, realizing the full potential of state-of-the-art speech technology. The enhancements implemented in our remote live subtitling system architecture are described and accompanied by real-world parameters obtained during several years of deployment at the public service broadcaster in the Czech Republic. This article also presents our four-phase respeaker training system and some new techniques related to the whole life cycle of live subtitles, such as a method for automatic live subtitle retiming or a technique for live subtitle delay elimination. This article can serve as an inspiration for how to deal with live subtitling, especially in minor languages.

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Notes

  1. The accuracy of live subtitles produced by respeaking is assessed using the formula (N - E - R) / N * 100, where N is the total number of words in live subtitles, and E and R represent edition and recognition errors, respectively. Three different severity of errors are considered. A NER value of 100 indicates that the content was subtitled entirely correctly. Subtitles with an accuracy rate over 98% are considered acceptable with the NER model. However, a human analysis of the NER results is determinative.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by European structural and investment funds (ESIF) (No. CZ.02.1.01/0.0/0.0/17_048/0007267).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of West Bohemia, Univerzitní 8, 301 00, Pilsen, Czech Republic

    Aleš Pražák, Josef V. Psutka, Vlasta Radová & Josef Psutka

  2. SpeechTech, s.r.o, Hodonínská 61, 323 00, Pilsen, Czech Republic

    Zdeněk Loose

Authors
  1. Aleš Pražák
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  2. Zdeněk Loose
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  3. Josef V. Psutka
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  4. Vlasta Radová
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  5. Josef Psutka
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Correspondence to Aleš Pražák.

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Pražák, A., Loose, Z., Psutka, J.V. et al. Live TV subtitling through respeaking with remote cutting-edge technology. Multimed Tools Appl 79, 1203–1220 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11042-019-08235-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11042-019-08235-3

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