SU Videos: in any language, with your help

August 25, 2009

As the inaugural Graduate Studies Program of 2009 (GSP-09) is ending, we will be ready to quickly progress into new projects, and new phases at the Singularity University. (I wish I could have written “ready to take a month or two off”, but no, that is not going to be the case!) In the previous months, we have released videos, that illustrated our goals. Matt Rutherford, our Media Producer and his dedicated team, recorded countless hours of lectures, workshops, events, team meetings, interviews, and more.

One of the questions that we have asked since the beginning was, since much of the experience of the Graduate Studies Program is very difficult if not impossible to replicate elsewhere, how can we maximize our global impact? The material we have is priceless, and we want it to reach as many people as possible! There are millions of people who would be interested in taking advantage of our materials, and have the means, broadband internet connection, etc. But there are many, whose level of English understanding is not high enough to follow an advanced lecture on nanotechnology, or robotics, or personalized medicine.

This is why we are today delighted to announce our partnership with dotSUB, a browser based platform that enables the subtitling our videos into any language!

dotSUB translations of Singularity University videos

dotSUB translations of Singularity University videos

Do you speak German, French, Italian, or any other language? Do you want to help, and let other people who speak your language follow the lectures at the Singularity University? You only have to sign up for a free account at dotSUB, select a video to translate, and you are off flying! As interest in these and other countries is very high, naturally the subtitling of the videos will appear first in some languages than in others. It is all a question of interest, and volunteer effort: we are sure that there will be some surprises, with enthusiastic followers in exotic regions taking to the task of translations and beating to the goal of completing many videos other more mainstream languages.

The first videos of the lectures will be released in the fall. In the meantime you can start getting acquainted with the dotSUB interface, and hone your translation skills starting from the presentation video we already have up. (Please note that we will not be able to publish all the material of the courses for several reasons, but we will strive to make as many available as possible.)

With this partnership, and the help of our followers worldwide, we hope to deliver on our desire to leverage our materials, and have an impact as large as possible!