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Category
Non-traditional & Guerrilla Marketing
Annual ID
OS_DI20_105M
About the Work
With 8 billion voice assistants in use by 2023, the future is voice-first, but that future doesn’t include people with Down syndrome because they have atypical speech. Google’s voice assistant misunderstands 1 in 3 words they speak. For people with Down syndrome, voice technology offers more than everyday convenience – it means a profound difference in their daily quality of life as voice disabilities often comes with physical disabilities. Making access to voice technology an issue of life-changing independence. Google usually teaches us, but instead we empowered people with Down syndrome to teach Google. Introducing Project Understood, a campaign that recruited the Down syndrome community to donate their voices to train Google’s speech recognition model to understand them. The more data collected the smarter the model gets – potentially improving speech recognition technology and making the world more accessible for the 78 million people with all forms of atypical speech. Results: • 30+ countries and 735 Down syndrome organizations participated • 17,000 website visits • Over 600 people with Down syndrome added a million phrases to Google’s speech recognition algorithm • 775 million earned media impressions • Findings presented at the UN • Entering beta testing
2020 Awards
Total Points: 2
Merit
Credits
Agency
FCB / Toronto
Digital Agency
Bliss Interactive / Toronto
PR / Marketing Agency
Glossy / Toronto
Production Company
Fuelcontent / Toronto
Music / Sound Production Company
Grayson Matthews / Toronto
Post Production Company
Outsider Editorial / Toronto
Alter Ego / Toronto
Art Director
Michael Morelli
Elma Karabegovic
Chief Creative Officer
Nancy Crimi-Lamanna
Jeffrey Hilts
Fred Levron
Chief Technology Officer
Kris Hoet
Creative Technologist
John Sime
Director
Scott Drucker
Director of Photography
Chet Tilokani
Freelancer
Amanda Cotton / Toronto
Photographer
Cassidy Clemmer
Producer
Sarah Michener
Kristine Lippett
Account Team
Tracy Little
Blake Connolly
Olivia Selbie
Shandi Horovitch
Cori Pettit
Tim Welsh
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