SmarTerp: Applying the user-centered design process in a Computer-Assisted Interpreting (CAI) tool

The SmarTerp project is an Innovation Activity funded by the European Union in the framework of the EIT Digital BP2021 to develop a Remote Simultaneous Interpreting system endowed with Computer-Assisted Interpreting (CAI) tools. The sector of CAI tools has seen a rise in interest since the COVID-19 pandemic spread. Although the interpretation market has seen a relatively steady increase in demand over the years, the conferences and the simultaneous interpretation have been conducted traditionally on-site, requiring Conference Organizers to manage the physical transfer of the needed interpreters to the conference location. COVID-19 and the advancements in telecommunication technologies now forced and allowed, the interpretation market to welcome in the landscape CAI solutions that allow to accomplish a technological turn on the way the interpreter professionals experience remote working and the way interpretation services are provided. In this changing context, SmarTerp tries to assess and fulfill the needs of their clients, such as Conference Organizers (CO) and Language Service Providers (LSP), as well as including their users, Oral Language Interpreters (OLI), and Sign Language Interpreters (SLI). Likewise, the SmarTerp agenda focuses on accessibility and inclusion of Visually Impaired OLIs and Deaf people that will experience the result of the interpretation services.