Panel

Time: 16:00 – 17:00, Saturday, December 9, 2023

Room: East & Central

Title

“Beyond Text: Inclusive Human Communication with Language Technology”

Theme

The scope of communication extends far beyond textual interactions. This panel converges experts from diverse fields, including sign language, multilingual conference interpretation, empathetic speech-based dialog systems, virtual reality, and embodied agents, who will discuss how advancements in language technology can help shape the future of inclusive communication, and at the same time what NLP can learn from various fields of communication.

Panelists

Ms. Lourdes de Rioja

Freelance Conference Interpreter, Belgium

  • Background: Spanish conference interpreter with experience at the European Commission, European Parliament, and European Court of Justice.
  • Projects: Author and producer of SCICtrain for the European Commission, editor and designer of False Friends online Dictionary, co-creator of AIIC Conversations.
  • Education: Master’s in Political & Corporate Communication (The George Washington University & Universidad de Navarra, Spain), European Master’s in Conference Interpreting (Universidad de La Laguna, Spain).
  • Languages: Interprets in English, French, Danish, Swedish, and Catalan.
  • Membership: International Association of Conference Interpreters (AIIC).

Dr. Abraham Glasser

Gallaudet University, USA

  • Position: Assistant Professor in Science, Technology, Accessibility, Mathematics, and Public Health.
  • Education: Undergraduate and Ph.D. in Computing and Information Sciences (Rochester Institute of Technology).
  • Research Interests: Virtual and augmented reality, accessible technology for deaf and hard of hearing, automatic speech recognition, inclusive technology.
  • Achievements: United States Deaf Chess Champion.

Prof Chengkuo Lee

National University, Singapore

  • Position: Associate Professor, Dept. of Electrical and Computer Eng.
  • Education: M.S. in Materials Science and Engineering (National Tsing Hua University, Taiwan), Ph.D. in Precision Engineering (University of Tokyo, Japan).
  • Research: Augmented tactile-perception and haptic-feedback rings, sign language recognition and communication system with smart triboelectric glove, VR interface.
  • Contributions: Over 250 papers, 9 US patents in MEMS, NEMS, Nanophotonics, and Nanotechnology.

Prof María Inés Torres

UPV/EHU, Spain

  • Position: Professor of Computer Science.
  • Achievements: Founder of the Pattern Recognition and Speech Technology research group, editor of three books.
  • Research Interests: Speech technologies, spoken dialog systems, and language resources, with a focus on the Basque language.

Monojit Choudhury

MBZUAI, Abu Dhabi

  • Position: Professor of NLP.
  • Education: PhD and BTech in Computer Science and Engineering (IIT Kharagpur).
  • Research Interests: NLP, multilingual models, computational ethics, AI for social good.
  • Previous Roles: Principal researcher at Microsoft, professor of practice at Plaksha University, adjunct faculty at IIIT Hyderabad.
  • Additional Roles: General chair of the Panini Linguistics Olympiad, founding co-chair of the Asia Pacific Linguistics Olympiad.