This prototype focuses on enhancing the comprehension of media content through subtitles. The prototype, called Adaptive Subtitles, allows viewers to customize real-time subtitle display for different speakers based on their preferences and viewing context. The research demonstrates that providing viewers with granular controls and structured onboarding can significantly enhance their overall viewing experience.

Background

Subtitles can help improve the understanding of media content. People enable subtitles based on individual characteristics (e.g., language or hearing ability), viewing environment, or media context (e.g., drama, quiz show). However, some people find that subtitles can be distracting and that they negatively impact their viewing experience. We explore the challenges and opportunities surrounding interaction with real-time personalisation of subtitled content.

To understand how people currently interact with subtitles, we first conducted an online questionnaire with 102 participants. We used our findings to elicit requirements for a new approach called Adaptive Subtitles that allows the viewer to alter which speakers have subtitles displayed in real-time. We evaluated our approach with 19 participants to understand the interaction trade-offs and challenges within real-time adaptations of subtitled media. Our evaluation findings suggest that granular controls and structured onboarding allow viewers to make informed trade-offs when adapting media content, leading to improved viewing experiences.

Video Demo

Related Academic Publications

Benjamin M. Gorman, Michael Crabb, and Michael Armstrong. 2021. Adaptive Subtitles: Preferences and Trade-Offs in Real-Time Media Adaption. In Proceedings of the 2021 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI ‘21). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, Article 733, 1–11. Link to Paper on ACM Digital Library