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.

<< Background >>Despite international efforts and legal actions to address the inequities the Deaf face in their daily lives and education, the problems they encounter continue to exist and there is still a need to raise the awareness of society about the Deaf-related issues. Due to the lack of enough number of certified and qualified sign language interpreters, the Deaf face communication problems in their lives. For example, in Turkey, there are about 3.5 million deaf/hearing impaired individuals but only about 250 certified sign language interpreters, which is way below to meet their communication needs. Thus, there is dire need to start or multiply the number of sign language interpreting undergraduate programs and certificate programs to increase the number of qualified sign language interpreters, which consequently create significant employment opportunities for the Deaf. Moreover, due to the language barrier, the Deaf experience serious problems in their school lives and only a limited number of deaf individuals can have access to higher education, which deprives them one of the basic human rights, equal access to education, and decreases their employment opportunities. Subsequently, effective means are to be suggested to make the Deaf pursue their education, especially at the tertiary level. Finally, to get an on-going large scale public attention to the Deaf-related issues, effective means of awareness raising need to be realized.Sweden and Finland, on the other hand, have for a half-a-century now supported research on sign languages and linguistic accessibility of their deaf people ensured their deaf citizens' access to sign language interpreting services, to education in sign language and, provided sign language interpreter (SLI) training, first in vocational, later in higher education. Nevertheless, the education systems in SLI do vary in these two Member States and there are notable discrepancies in SLI education systems across the EU. In Turkey, on the other hand, we have made technological advances in sign language recognition that could be applicable in higher education regarding Nordic sign languages. – Exchanging best practices in the field of SL research and interpreting among the three applicants with diverse profiles of expertise, - involving newcomers and more experienced organisations - would provide us important knowledge to upgrade and adapt our SLI education to modern requirements.<< Objectives >>Considering the objectives of the project, first a sign language coordination network is suggested to coordinate data-driven approach for initiating and/or revising curriculum for sign language interpreting in order to increase both the number of sign language interpreting undergraduate programs and certificate programs, and qualified sign language interpreters. The coordination network will also be responsible for a common disciplined sign language education curriculum across countries, which also form the basis of proposed sign language prep school to make students have enough competence to follow sign language- medium instruction. Likewise, to solve their inequity problem in education, the artificial intelligence (AI)-based infrastructure which can interpret from sign language to text/speech and from text/speech to sign language will be investigated. Via this infrastructure, more accessible written language in education could be hypothesized in future in regular classes.Finally, a deaf and sign language center is planned to be established to coordinate studies and efforts to raise awareness about the Deaf community, and function as an academic body to study sign language teaching, sign language interpreting, and technological innovation that could promote the Deaf to become independent and successful.<< Implementation >>To realize the objectives, needs, analysis, and context analysis, including international and national legal issues, will be considered. Besides, the body of knowledge and experience accumulated in the world and especially in the participating countries are shared to exploit to realize the objectives of the project. For this end, curriculum-related practices of Finland and Sweden will be utilized to initiate sign language interpreting undergraduate curriculum. Similarly, sign language teaching curriculum and practice in Turkey, Finland, and Sweden will be examined to start a sign language prep school program and recalibrate the existing educational programmes. Besides, to coordinate all the curriculum studies, steps will be taken to provide a model for an academic coordination network between the three countries. As for the AI-based infrastructure, the infrastructure developed so far in Turkey, will be transferred to a Finnish context, exploiting its corpus and visual data basis on language. Similarly, the research center will be established to handle activities and studies concerning social and academic aspects of the Deaf-related issues.<< Results >>At the end of the project, European Sign Language Coordination Network will be formed which will provide a common framework for sign language education and sign language interpreting programs. Moreover, AI-based infrastructure will be improved, piloted and evaluated in Finland, which can later be exploited in other countries. Via, the research center it is expected to transform all the Deaf-related activities and studies at the international level making them a joint academic and social venture.