A service available since September 10
The South Korean company XPERTINC, which specializes in real-time subtitling solutions based on smart glasses, has introduced its AI glasses into the Sejong Center's experiential tour program. According to the company itself, as reported by ETNews, the C-BIZ service has been applied since September 10 to the Sejong Backstage Tour, the initiative that takes visitors into the theater's interior spaces, behind the stage and into the rehearsal rooms of artistic companies, under the guidance of a narrator. The company says it has used it on five occasions so far.
How the system works
C-BIZ uses AI-based voice recognition to recognize the guide's words and converts them into subtitles in the language chosen by the participant, displaying them on a smartphone screen or smart glasses. With this introduction, real-time subtitles and multilingual translation are added to the voice narration already available in Korean and English. According to the company, the result is that people with hearing disabilities can follow the explanation in Korean and foreign visitors can follow it in their own language, without the need for dedicated interpreters.
The tour lasts about 70 minutes and is divided into three routes: STORY, which traces the theater's history and the events surrounding its opening; SYMBOL, dedicated to the building's symbolic value and the surrounding landscape; SHOWCASE, which allows visitors to learn about the stage and rehearsal spaces. Participants follow the narration through the glasses and can observe interior spaces and stage production areas not accessible to the general public.
Accessibility and stated prospects
XPERTINC maintains that the application creates a barrier-free cultural experience environment, that is, one capable of reducing constraints related to language and hearing. A company representative stated that theaters are places where information passes mainly through the voice and that subtitle glasses can help broaden access to culture. The same source indicates an intention to extend the service to theaters, exhibition halls and public institutions, so that more users can access information and culture without language or disability-related barriers. The company also specifies that it wants to expand its scope, starting from technology that combines AI voice recognition and smart glasses, toward communication support for people with hearing disabilities, multilingual conversations, international events and artistic and cultural enjoyment.
Some elements remain to be independently verified: the actual number of participants reached, the quality of voice recognition in noisy environments such as backstage, and how visitors choose the language. The cited data come from the company and the outlet ETNews and are not confirmed by other sources in the available material.
