ATU668 – Translate Live with Jennifer Quigley

Hi, this is Jennifer Quigley and I’m the Vice President of Business Development here at Translate Live, and this is your Assistive Technology Update.

Hello and welcome to your Assistive Technology Update, a weekly dose of information that keeps you up to date on the latest developments in the field of technology, designed to assist individuals with disabilities and special needs. I’m your host, Josh Anderson, with the Indata Project at Easterseals Crossroads in beautiful Indianapolis, Indiana. Welcome to episode 668 of Assistive Technology Update. It is scheduled to be released on March 15th, 2024. On today’s show, we’re super excited to welcome Jennifer Quigley, VP of Business Development for Translate Live on the show to tell us all about Translate Live and how it can help individuals with all kinds of needs with face-to-face communication. We thank you so much for listening today. Let’s go ahead and get on with the show. Listeners, so much of our world revolves around communication in healthcare, business or really just going about our daily lives. Communication is how we get our points across, our needs met and to accomplish pretty much anything. A barrier to understanding due to disability or language differences can make a huge impact on individuals’ lives. Our guest today is Jennifer Quigley from Translate Live, and she’s here to tell us all about their solutions to make communication a little easier for all individuals. Jennifer, welcome to the show.

Hey Josh, thanks so much for having me today.

Yeah, I am excited to get into talking about the technology and all the cool stuff. But before we do that, could you start us off by telling our listeners a little bit about yourself?

Oh, absolutely. I’d love to. So my name’s Jen Quigley. I am the VP of Business Development, as I mentioned, here at Translate Live. Grew up, born and bred in New Jersey, still here. And just a little bit about my background, so I’ve been in disability services for about 30 years now. So I started off, went to school for teaching at University of Delaware, then couldn’t find a teaching job when I came back to Jersey, so I went to school for interpreting for the deaf. Started my career as a job coach for Lexington Vocational Services in Jersey, which is affiliated with Lexington School for the Deaf in New York. Then my career led me to become the director of the Hard of Hearing and Deaf Program at Goodwill of New York and New Jersey. I was there for several years. So working with individuals with all disabilities, not only deaf and hard of hearing actually, placing them on jobs and providing job coaching and support.

And that led me then to actually full circle. I came back to Lexington and I was the director of Lexington Vogue Services here in Jersey for several years. Unfortunately, we closed down a couple of years ago. COVID destroyed the program, but I was actually running an interpreting agency, an ASL interpreting agency, when I met Peter Hayes, who is our CEO of Translate Live, and actually the founder and creator of the Instant Language Assistant that we’re going to talk about today. So I met him, I saw the Instant Language Assistant and I said, “This thing is going to change the lives of deaf, hard of hearing and deaf-blind people around the world.” And I said, “I’m quitting my job and I’m coming to work for you.” So that was over two years ago, and never looked back. It’s been quite the journey and every day we are, like I said, changing lives. I meet the most incredible people who are doing incredible work all over the world as far as accessibility and loving it every day. So I really appreciate you having us on to talk about the ILA today, Josh.

Yeah. And I cannot wait to get into talking about it. So I guess let’s start with maybe big picture. Can you tell us what is Translate Live?

Yeah, absolutely. So Translate Live, back to Peter Hayes, so the CEO, he actually founded Stratus Video, if you are familiar Stratus Video, it was sold in 2020, it’s now under a different name, but he founded the company. It is an interpreting platform which is still used all over the world for ASL interpreting. So if you go into a hospital as a deaf person and you request an ASL interpreter, often they’ll bring out the cart with the ASL interpreter on the screen. That’s what he founded. So Stratus, he ended up selling it several years ago and brought all his knowledge to create Translate Live. So that was about 2018. He started Translate Live, and basically the gist of it was he wanted to create something that was fully accessible, a way for deaf, hard of hearing, deaf-blind individuals to communicate with anybody and was basically like, “Okay, the onus should not be on that person with a disability going into a government agency or a place of business. That is the responsibility of the business or the organization, not the person with the disability.”

So he created the Instant Language Assistant, we call it ILA, I-L-A, the app, specifically for that reason, for deaf, deaf-blind and hard of hearing individuals, for communication. So he then was working with the government and they were like, “Okay, well the app is great, it’s awesome, but what if somebody doesn’t have their own device or their phone dies or they don’t have connectivity? Please just build something that’s always ready, out of the box, ready to go. You don’t know who’s walking in the door.” So that’s when he built the ILA Pro, which is a two-sided device that he then added languages to it. So not only is it for deaf and hard of hearing individuals, but now we have almost 200 languages and dialects. So it can help anybody communicate no matter the disability, language barrier, you name it, it allows people to communicate. So we’re using it now all over the world and I’m just so excited to talk to you about it today, but that’s the gist of it.

Awesome. Perfect, perfect. Well, let’s dig into this a little bit deeper. So the ILA Pro or the I-L-A Pro, I know you said it has two screens. Can you describe maybe what the user experience is like on each side?

Yeah, absolutely. So the device is actually two Samsung tablets and they’re connected at the top. So it’s like a teepee, both sides. It does come apart very easily with a hinge. So you can have the two sides on two sides of glass, two sides of plastic. We actually have banks using it that still have the plastic up from COVID. So you can actually separate the two. One side is called the host side, one side is called the guest side. So the guest side actually has all of the languages listed in English and the language. So somebody just needs to come up to the device, scroll through, pick their language, and the other side is the host. Automatically, both sides pop up with a microphone and you can start speaking right away. For deaf and hard of hearing, we can also provide… It also will hook up to a full size keyboard.

So we have banks that actually have… The guest side has a full size keyboard on it, and they have a lot of deaf people and hard of hearing people that come in. So they come in, they type and it goes to the teller. They’re automatically able to communicate. So that is now being used all over, if you can imagine, anywhere that communication is needed. But the really cool thing is we can also bring on a live ASL interpreter. So Peter’s other company is called VTC Secure. It’s a call routing platform interpreting, for ASL interpreting, for sign languages all over the world, not just ASL. So if a deaf person needs to speak to somebody, it’s used in Italy, it’s used in the Caribbean for call relay. So that, we can route right to any live interpreter, we have actually a partner that we use for ASL, but if a company, like a school that we work with already has a vendor, we can connect that live button to their own vendor.

So it’s pretty cool. So it does use AI to communicate, but we also have the ability to bring on that human in the loop, which sets us apart from any other device on the market. So we can bring on that live ASL interpreter, which is amazing because as everybody knows, often deaf people, English is not their first language all the time. So to bring on that live ASL interpreter is often the key, especially in situations in schools or if a deaf parent needs to be brought on for an IEP meeting, you don’t want to use AI for that kind of thing. So this really sets us apart.

Oh, for sure. And yeah, not just bringing on AI, but like you said with English not being the first language, trying to force individuals who may be deaf or hard of hearing into using English or using the actual printed language as opposed to their preferred mode of communication isn’t really as accessible. And I know you coming from the world of an interpreter, probably really liked that and I hope you didn’t have to beat that into them, I guess is the bad way of putting it, but I know a lot of our interpreters and other folks have to really bridge that gap with folks because they figure as long as I’m providing texts, that’s good enough, but it’s not the same. Just not the same.

Right. Absolutely. It is not the same. And I do, I still talk to a lot of clients now who are like, “Well, if we have the English to English, that’s fine for deaf people that come in.” So I just educate them and once they understand, often they’ll bring on that package, the ASL package. So yeah, it’s a great way to bridge that gap. We can also bring on a live spoken interpreter as well, so not just ASL through video, but also we can connect to any of the big vendors for OPI as well.

Nice. And I like the way you let them use their own vendors. So if they already have those contracts or vendors out there, you’re not having to bring on another one, you know what I mean? You can do that and connect that button. So that’s great. You really give the accessibility to them to use the tools that maybe they already have along with the really cool tools that are available on that Pro.

Yep, absolutely. And then that’s the face-to-face, Josh. So each one also comes with a QR code and it is just a link so people don’t have… The guests do not have to ever download an app or anything like that. So each one comes up with a QR code that can be shared via email, it could be put on social media, it could be put on websites. So we have schools, we have organizations such as yourself, such as Easterseals, who put that right on their website. So if somebody needs to contact the office, they just scan it from wherever they are, pick their language, whether it be English or another language on their own phone or laptop, any browser, and it’ll connect to the ILA in that office. So we have centers for independent living now all over using this for just exactly what we’re talking about for their individuals as consumers that want to call in, ask questions about services, things like that.

So they’re putting it on their websites, they’re putting it on their social media platforms, and you can have that live conversation in real time from wherever you are. So it doesn’t have to be face-to-face. Right now, I could give you a website… I mean, it doesn’t really. We could do it, but… I could get the website and you could go in from any browser right now and you could connect to me and we could have that real time conversation. And I’m in Jersey, you’re in Indiana, so it is a game changer.

Oh, for sure.

And a lot of the other people ask me, “Well, what about this other device? This other device?” But nobody else has that remote capability as well. So again, that’s another thing that sets us apart.

No, that’s great. Tell me a little bit about the app because I know that’s where everything started. Tell me about the user experience and how it works.

Yeah, sure. So we do have an app and we have what’s called, now we call it the Web host version, which a lot of schools are using for their teachers, and either the app or the web host. The web host, you can log in from any browser. So we would just give you a username and password. So it’s device-agnostic. The app obviously can be put on a cell phone, and what happens there is you would just have… You could download it actually anytime. If you go to either of the stores, Josh, either of the app stores, you can download it, just go to look for it in the search bar, Translate Live, and the ILA app, the little logo will come up. You can look up Translate Live, Instant Language Assistant, and you can get about 10 free minutes of the app. So any of our listeners right now can try it just to get the experience.

But how it works is you would just have the host side on your device. So it’s still going to have the QR code that you can share with any of your clients, your consumers, to have that real time conversation. But just as opposed to the device itself, which is the two-sided device, we pack the device with all of the language packs, all of the accessibility features, which I can get into that a little bit more too. But the app is great for if people are working out in the field, like your case managers, things like that, you’re not going to be lugging around the ILA. That’s more for in the office, on the main desk when somebody walks in, you don’t know who’s walking in the door. So the app is great for case managers and people out in the field where they need that mobile interaction.

Sure. And because you brought it up, tell us about those accessibility features because we always love hearing about those around here.

Yeah, absolutely. So the ILA pro, we have baked in some accessibility features. So they will connect to Bluetooth devices such as hearing aids, loop systems. They will connect to a braille writer for deaf-blind individuals. That to me was a game changer because as you guys know, it is very challenging. I remember working with CBVI, the Commission for the Blind through Goodwill and Lexington, and just placing deaf-blind individuals is really challenging. And I said, “I wish I had this 20 years ago.” It hooks up to a braille writer. If somebody does use braille, they could communicate, a deaf-blind person could communicate with anybody that walks in the door. To me, it’s a game changer for vocational goals for deaf-blind individuals, so those three things. You can also take control of both microphones. So if somebody has a mobility disability or is not able to touch the device or simply doesn’t want to touch a device, during COVID, a lot of people didn’t want to touch devices like this, we can take control from the host side of both microphones.

So it will tell the person in their own language when to start speaking. So this also really comes in handy for individuals with vision loss. So if somebody is blind, we can take control of both microphones, it’ll tell them in their language when to start speaking, and it has a different beep as well. We can also from the host side, make the font bigger for somebody who has vision loss, and we can also change the color of the font and the background for somebody who has colorblindness. So we try to again, bake in all of these accessibility features. We’re also working, in the future, this is down the pike, but for nonverbal individuals looking at picture keyboards and things like that. So I think that’s really exciting. We have schools asking about that too. So that’s down the pike, but it is on the list.

Oh, sure, sure. And I mean, it sounds like you’ve already got quite a few in there. Yeah, the connected to a braille display definitely can make a giant difference. Well, I know you’ve probably got quite a few of these, Jennifer, but could you tell me a story about somebody’s… Just how they used either the ILA Pro, the ILA app, or just how Translate Live was able to help them, be it an individual, a business, or really anything?

Absolutely. Yeah. So I have many, but let me… There’s a couple off the top of my head. So there’s a large pharmacy chain that has a deaf pharmacist working in Texas, and they actually, again, just like the bank I mentioned before, this person, they have people coming up all the time, customers to their pharmacy desk, and they are using the ILA Pro. So they just have it set up right at the pharmacy counter and somebody comes up, picks their language, and they’re able to speak. He actually has a full size keyboard. So that deaf pharmacist just types back and forth with anybody, but they’re coming up, they’re picking Spanish, they’re picking English, and they have that live conversation with him with no issues. So that’s pretty cool. And I didn’t mention before, the ILA is completely encrypted, so it’s all HIPAA-compliant. We do not save any conversations.

So schools are asking, “Is it compliant with FERPA?” Yes, it is. We’re now doing a study with Harvard Medical. So we went through nine months of their security reviews. So nothing is saved. So that’s really important, especially in your line of work where you’re taking in PHI for your consumers and things like that. So that is a great story that I love telling with the CVS pharmacist. There’s another deaf individual that was hired at Publix, the store, as a cashier. So they have the ILA right at their cash register, and people come up and they just communicate back and forth using the ILA as a cashier. Another cool thing I didn’t mention is we can preload phrases. So organizational processes such as intake packets. So you guys have huge intake packets I’m sure, you can send us all of those intake questions. We can preload them in so it makes it really efficient.

You’ll just touch a button and those questions go through. We can also have them translated by a human, so we know they’re a hundred percent accurate. We can also weight words that are specific to an organization such as Easterseals, vocational, you guys, we use tons of acronyms. So AI may not understand what you’re talking about. We can go into our centralized interface and weight specific words. If they come out a little funky through the AI, we work with the organization to make them more accurate and we can weight those words, but those pre spoken phrases are awesome. So the public’s employee has all of these pre-spoken phrases, common phrases that come up when people are coming through her line and she just pushes the button. They’re able to have really instant conversation, so that on the job is amazing. Lastly, here in New Jersey last year, we were contacted by somebody that works for a state agency.

The woman was losing her hearing. Doctors couldn’t figure it out, they didn’t know why she was losing her hearing, but it was happening pretty quickly. And she was ready to go out on disability because she was a case manager and people were coming in sitting at her desk and she wasn’t able to hear them. So she reached out to us. I drove the ILA there to the agency, it was here in Jersey, and showed it to her. She hooked it up to her Bluetooth hearing aid, and she literally started crying because she was like, “I was literally about to go on disability because I couldn’t do my job anymore.” And so I was in tears, she was in tears, but it was like Christmas. So we were able to make sure she was able to continue her job and doing it well as she was before.

So that was a great feeling. And then other big companies, FedEx, Tiffany here in Jersey, they’re known for hiring individuals with disabilities. So here in Jersey, Tiffany hired, I think they have six or seven deaf people and they bought an ILA for each. And the interesting thing is people in Tiffany aren’t allowed to bring in their cell phones into the work area, but they did allow them to bring the ILA, so they had them at their workstations. And I got feedback from the deaf and hard of hearing employees that they really felt more equal because they would have pre-shift meetings and they wouldn’t know what was going on. Or they would have somebody take notes for them or a buddy system, but they really weren’t able to communicate with their supervisor or ask questions or anything like that. And now with the ILA, they were able to do that because one more thing I didn’t mention is that we also have what’s called broadcast mode.

So the one that I spoke to you about, the QR code is one-to-one. We also have broadcast, which is a group for group events. So for you guys, like orientations, town hall meetings, anything like that, trainings, workshops, the speaker can use the host side. And then anybody, you could have 10,000 people scan that and everybody can join in, pick their own language and listen to the speaker in their own language. So that’s a game changer. So like FedEx, Tiffany, all these big companies that often hire individuals with hearing loss, are using this for their pre-shift meetings to be able to communicate to not only deaf and hard of hearing, but individuals and employees that speak other languages. So that’s been a game changer.

So the deaf employees came to me and were like, “This is amazing, because not only am I part of these pre-shift meetings,” but other people who maybe were not so comfortable coming up to them and talking to them, coworkers now felt more comfortable. People that aren’t familiar with deaf and hard of hearing often, “Oh, how am I going to talk to this person?” But we’re all human beings at the end of the day and everybody just wants to be able to communicate with each other. So they also had that feedback like, “Oh, now some coworkers have come up to me and started conversations,” things like that. So it really made an impact in these people’s work environments, which is really cool to see. So it’s happening more and more and it’s exciting stuff, Josh.

That’s excellent because I know sometimes for the business owner, it’s just making it easier on them, I mean easier for them really can open up the door for individuals. And like you said, I know that some folks have people maybe take notes for them or help them, but I mean that doesn’t really foster being independent. So being able to just independently do it. And if you’re not watching the individual use that device, you don’t even know. You’re up giving your meeting as you normally would, everyone has access and everything else. And you did answer my next question with the being HIPAA-compliant and everything because I know that’s a big thing for businesses, and as I think about the pharmacists and the schools and everything, so many rules and so many different things. So being able to just say that, “Hey, your information’s protected.”

And I know with the Pro that also helps because if I’m an individual and in there, maybe I don’t want to have my cell phone out, maybe I don’t want to scan your QR code, maybe I don’t want to have to do those things, but if I’m just using your device, then I know my things are safe and I’m not putting anything on mine. So that can be a really, really great tool. Well, Jennifer, if our listeners want to find out more, want to find out more about the Pro, the app, anything about Translate Live, what are some ways they can do that?

Yeah, absolutely. So our website, we can go to our website, we’re actually revamping the whole thing, but there’s some videos on there. There’s some accessibility features and videos on there as well. You can go to www.translatelive.com and look through our website. If you want to reach out to myself or one of our great sales team to just do a demo just to see it in action because again, we’re on a podcast, it’s really hard to explain how it works. But the impact when I do a Zoom and somebody is able to just scan my QR code and connect from wherever they are, is pretty amazing. So we are always happy to do demos, to meet with people, find out what you’re doing for work. I love the amazing stories that I’m hearing. So you can also email us there at sales@translatelive.com, and that will come to our sales team and it’ll be me or one of my coworkers who will reach out to you to set that demo up. But again, I’m really happy to talk to anybody.

Well, Jennifer, thank you again so much for taking time out of your day to come and tell us about all the great things that Translate Live can do. I know a lot of times this is a huge need that individuals have and a lot of folks don’t know how to really meet. And I love that it can help the individuals as well as the businesses, the agencies, and everybody else, with really just making everything a lot more accessible. So thank you so much.

Thank you, Josh. I really appreciate the opportunity to be here today and share the ILA.

Do you have a question about assistive technology? Do you have a suggestion for someone we should interview on Assistive Technology Update? If so, call our listener line at (317) 721-7124. Send us an email at tech@eastersealscrossroads.org or shoot us a note on Twitter @indataproject. Our captions and transcripts for the show are sponsored by the Indiana Telephone Relay Access Corporation or INTRAC. You can find out more about INTRAC relayindiana.com. A special thanks to Nikol Prieto for scheduling our amazing guest and making a mess of my schedule. Today’s show was produced, edited, hosted, and fraught over by yours truly. The opinions expressed by our guests are their own and may or may not reflect those of the Indata Project, Easterseals Crossroads, our supporting partners or this host. This was your Assistive Technology Update, and I’m Josh Anderson with the Indata Project at Easterseals Crossroads in beautiful Indianapolis, Indiana. We look forward to seeing you next time. Bye-bye