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The 2022 Procession of the Holy Blood in Bruges with audio description, Flemish Sign Language and subtitling in the FARO Heritage app
- 1. The 2022 Procession of the Holy Blood in Bruges with audio description, Flemish Sign Language and subtitling in the FARO Heritage app Susanne Verberk
- 2. The Procession of the Holy Blood • Since 1304 (over 700 years old)
- 3. The Procession of the Holy Blood • Since 1304 (over 700 years old) • Included on UNESCO’s List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity
- 4. The Procession of the Holy Blood • Since 1304 (over 700 years old) • Included on UNESCO’s List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity • More than 1,700 participants (around 50 groups)
- 5. The Procession of the Holy Blood • Since 1304 (over 700 years old) • Included on UNESCO’s List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity • More than 1,700 participants (around 50 groups) • Some 40,000 spectators
- 6. Accessibility • 5 ‘assistance zones’
- 7. Accessibility • 5 ‘assistance zones’ • Live broadcast on Focus WTV since 2022 (2023 Flemish Sign Language added)
- 8. Accessibility • 5 ‘assistance zones’ • Live broadcast on Focus WTV since 2022 (2023 Flemish Sign Language added) • Audio description (live AD since 2013)
- 9. Accessibility • 5 ‘assistance zones’ • Live broadcast on Focus WTV since 2022 (2023 Flemish Sign Language added) • Audio description (live AD since 2013) • Flemish Sign Language + subtitles
- 10. Accessibility • 2022 media accessibility with the FARO app ▫ Audio guide with prerecorded audio description ▫ Video guide with prerecorded sign language interpreting and subtitles • 2023 English and French versions were added
- 11. An example
- 12. AD, Sign Language and subtitles in an app FARO app (https://faro.be/en/faro-flemish- institution-cultural-heritage) ▫ Beacon technology (commonly used in museums, but also for outdoor applications) ▫ 20 beacons or ‘stops’ divided over some 50 groups
- 13. Prerecorded audio and video guides: challenges
- 14. Prerecorded audio and video guides: challenges
- 15. Prerecorded audio and video guides: challenges • Groups, costumes, etc. can change • Technical issues (beacon range, interference) • Placing the beacons on artefacts • Publicity
- 16. Finally, some numbers 2022 edition
- 17. Finally, some numbers 2023 edition
- 18. Susanne Verberk susanne@nevero.be Twitter @neverobe www.nevero.be
Editor's Notes
- SPOILER: Not just Flemish Sign Language, subtitles and AD. English and French were added for this year’s edition (2023) and more languages will be added in the future.
- very long history: the procession revolves around the veneration of the relic of the Holy Blood in Bruges. + four parts: stories from the Old Testament (Adam and Eve…), New Testament (life of Jesus), Historical part about how the relic arrived in Bruges in the 13th century and finally, the last part, the relic itself that is carried through the streets of Bruges in its shrine.
- Since 2009
- The exact number of groups varies. The youngest participant is the baby who plays Baby Jesus. The oldest is over eighty years old. There are 250 musicians in the procession, and quite a few animals: 50 horses and riders, 16 draught horses, 6 camels, 6 donkeys, 80 sheep, 1 ox, 6 birds of prey, dogs, and some chickens and rabbits, as well.
- Some 40,000 spectators > this is twice the number of people living in the historic city centre! (20,000)
- ‘assistance zones’: in each zone, assistance is provided for people with a handicap: pick-up points to and from a bus or train station, accessible toilets, individual assistance… People can also request assistance for other areas but need to book these in advance (https://www.brugge.be/bloedprocessie-voor-personen-met-een-handicap).
- Not everyone can make it to the procession, so it’s broadcast on TV. The first live broadcast of the procession was in 2022 and it was an immediate success, esp. in homes for the elderly. In 2023, another live broadcast on TV and on the website of the procession with Flemish Sign Language (also live).
- Live AD since 2013, prerecorded AD as well as prerecorded Flemish Sign Language interpreting and subtitles since 2022 (Number of VIPS using the live AD was traditionally somewhere between 10 – 20 participants)
- Prerecorded Flemish Sign Language interpreting and subtitles since 2022
- English: BSL (British Sign Language) French: LSF (Langue des Signes Française)
- (externe link: https://youtu.be/78D92jLymOA). Note: in this video I combine the video guide (with BSL and subtitles) with the audio guide (with audio description). In reality, it’s either video or audio, since they are two separate tours in the app. I tried to mimic what following the procession with the app is like: the beacon is on the police car, so the moment it passes, the app will start playing the corresponding audio or video file.
- Beacon technology has been used in museums and outdoor settings for some time now. The beacons are attached to fixed elements, and users pick up their signal as they move along. For this procession, the order was inverted: it was the beacons that moved and the audience that remained in the same place. The beacons are mounted on artefacts that the groups carry and send out their signals to users’ smartphones. The users only need to install the FARO Heritage app, which hosts both guides, and activate their Bluetooth function. Once the beacons come within reach of the smartphones, the app will automatically play the corresponding audio or video file.
- Challenges: things change over the years! A man on a white horse. He is dressed in white trousers, an orange-red tunic and a golden cape. On his head, he is wearing a crown with a cross on it. He represents the voice of God in the story of Abraham.
- Challenges: things change over the years! A man on a brown horse. He is dressed in white trousers, an orange-red tunic and a golden cape. On his head, he is wearing a crown with a cross on it. He represents the voice of God. > Ever since 2013 (when we did the very first live AD), the horse had been white. We double-checked with the organisation and indeed, it should have been a white horse, except it wasn’t. PROBLEM! In live AD, this is easy to ‘fix’: you either omit the colour or you change it on the spot. Now that it’s been recorded, it’s going to be ‘wrong’ until we change it (rerecordings). Obviously, this can be avoided by not mentioning colour at all, but that would inevitably mean the descriptions become bland…
- Changes: see before Technical issues: you can set the range for each individual beacon, so it seems tempting to set them to the largest possible range, but sometimes the groups follow close one after the other and certain parts of the route have lots of bends so you’ll end up listening to / watching the wrong item. Placing: the first beacon was mounted on the police car, but there are more ‘difficult’ objects to put a beacon on… Publicity: getting the app to the users (e.g. banners with the QR code needed to download/start the app etc.)
- 2022 edition: almost 450 people followed the procession with the app. A bit more than 200 visitors used the video guide with Flemish Sign Language and subtitles (yellow colour) and almost 250 people used the audio guide (dark colour). Remember, when we were offering live AD, we typically had 10 to 20 users.
- 2023 edition: over 600 people followed the procession with the app. The graph is a bit ‘messy’, but the majority of them either chose the Flemish video guide (some 230 users) or the Flemish audioguide (around 200 people). The third most popular version was the video guide with British Sign Language and subtitles (UK video guide). Conclusion: 1,5% of the 40,000 spectators used the accessibility features in the app.
- Partners: AnyMedia (expertise centre for accessible media) with Licht en Liefde (recording studio), VisualBox (sign language interpretations and subtitles), Nevero (texts, translations and audio descriptions), FARO app and the organisation of the Procession of the Holy Blood.