London’s National Theatre Helps Deaf People Watch Shows Using New Techniques

 Attendee Wei Rongjie wears a working prototype of his HoloSeer AR/VR all-in-one agumented reality and virtual reality headseat, Jan 6, 2016 at the CES 2016. Photo: AFP
Attendee Wei Rongjie wears a working prototype of his HoloSeer AR/VR all-in-one agumented reality and virtual reality headseat, Jan 6, 2016 at the CES 2016. Photo: AFP
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London’s National Theatre Helps Deaf People Watch Shows Using New Techniques

 Attendee Wei Rongjie wears a working prototype of his HoloSeer AR/VR all-in-one agumented reality and virtual reality headseat, Jan 6, 2016 at the CES 2016. Photo: AFP
Attendee Wei Rongjie wears a working prototype of his HoloSeer AR/VR all-in-one agumented reality and virtual reality headseat, Jan 6, 2016 at the CES 2016. Photo: AFP

To help people with hearing disabilities watch theatrical shows, London’s National theater began using the "augmented reality" technology. Epson has developed smart glasses to help people with deafness or hearing impairment to watch theatrical performances. The eyewear displays subtitles in their field of vision wherever they're sitting.

The CNET website quoted Jonathan Suffolk, the theater's technical director, saying: “the problem we're aiming to solve is the lack of choice and customer experience. It’s twofold.” He said, "The smart glass tech gives customers the chance to come anytime they want, matinee or evening, and sit anywhere they want in any size theater."

The trial will run for a year with the support of tech consultancy Accenture and is part of the National's wider vision of ensuring theater access for all. The always-on service will run in all three of the organization's theaters, starting with the Dorfman this month, followed shortly by the Olivier and the Lyttelton.

It will be supplemented by always-on audio description for visually impaired customers by April 2019.

The National Theatre's experiment marks yet another way augmented reality (AR) is beginning to infiltrate the everyday life.

Unlike virtual reality, in which a headset envelops a viewer in a computer-generated world, AR acts as an intermediary, showing digitally rendered images, think Pokemon Go critters or Snapchat filters.

In contrast with VR headsets, Epson's augmented reality smart glasses are light and discreet enough to be comfortable throughout a performance. Wearers have the option of changing the positioning, size, and color of the captions to suit their own preferences.



Apple Changes App Store Rules in EU to Comply with Antitrust Order

This photo shows a general view of an Apple store in the Huangpu district in Shanghai, on June 23, 2025. (AFP)
This photo shows a general view of an Apple store in the Huangpu district in Shanghai, on June 23, 2025. (AFP)
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Apple Changes App Store Rules in EU to Comply with Antitrust Order

This photo shows a general view of an Apple store in the Huangpu district in Shanghai, on June 23, 2025. (AFP)
This photo shows a general view of an Apple store in the Huangpu district in Shanghai, on June 23, 2025. (AFP)

Apple on Thursday changed rules and fees in its App Store in the European Union after the bloc's antitrust regulators ordered it to remove commercial barriers to sending customers outside the store. 

Apple said developers will pay a 20% processing fee for purchases made via the App Store, though the fees could go as low as 13% for Apple's small-business program. 

Developers who send customers outside the App Store for payment will pay a minimum fee of 5% and at most 15%. Developers will also be able to use as many links as they wish to send users to outside forms of payment. 

The changes are aimed at trying to help Apple avoid paying daily fines of 5% of its average daily worldwide revenue, or about 50 million euros ($58 million) per day after being given 60 days to show it was in compliance with the bloc's Digital Markets Act. Apple has already paid 500 million euro ($580 million) fine levied by EU antitrust regulators in April. 

"The European Commission is requiring Apple to make a series of additional changes to the App Store. We disagree with this outcome and plan to appeal," Apple said in a statement. 

In a statement, the European Commission said it will now review Apple's changes for compliance with the Digital Markets Act. 

"As part of this assessment the Commission considers it particularly important to obtain the views of market operators and interested third parties before deciding on next steps," the Commission said in a statement. 

In a statement posted on social media site X, Tim Sweeney, CEO of Epic Games, which fought a protracted antitrust lawsuit with Apple, called Apple's changes "a mockery of fair competition in digital markets. Apps with competing payments are not only taxed but commercially crippled in the App Store." 

Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Sweeney's remarks.