Phone App Used for Captioning at Broadway Shows Javascript must be enabled to use this site. Please enable Javascript in your browser and try again. × Search search POPULAR SEARCHES SUGGESTED LINKS Join AARP for just $9 per year when you sign up for a 5-year term. Get instant access to members-only products and hundreds of discounts, a free second membership, and a subscription to AARP the Magazine. Leaving AARP.org Website You are now leaving AARP.org and going to a website that is not operated by AARP. A different privacy policy and terms of service will apply. Close

When Looking at Your Phone During a Broadway Show Is OK

New app helps hearing-impaired customers enjoy performances

Developers behind the GalaPro app hope it will allow people with hearing difficulties to better enjoy theater performances. Getty Images Get instant access to members-only products and hundreds of discounts, a free second membership, and a subscription to AARP the Magazine. It seems that no matter how many times a loudspeaker edict implores audience members to shut off their devices before a live performance, there are those who just don’t listen. But now there’s at least one segment of the population that no longer has to adhere to rules requiring people to put away their cellphones: those who have some degree of hearing loss. New technology has been unveiled that allows deaf and hearing-impaired people to better enjoy shows with the help of a free smartphone app, GalaPro, that was created by a Tel Aviv-based tech startup called GalaPrompter. “The services that we provide are either captions or subtitles which are written on a black screen,” CEO Yonat Burlin told NPR. “And we’ve developed the app in a way that that black screen doesn’t disturb anyone else around [the hearing-impaired patrons]. There’s no backlight, there’s no flashing, there’s no messages coming in because the phone is on airplane mode.” Due to the app’s voice-recognition software, if an actor suddenly stops speaking or skips his or her lines, the app will do the same. Captions are made available four weeks after the opening night of a show. And theaters have the ability to translate the closed captioning into other languages for foreign patrons. Before GalaPro, hearing-impaired customers could attend only select performances that required them to sit in specific sections of the theater near caption monitors. But now, every Broadway theater is on track to offer the app by July. In addition to closed captioning, GalaPro also will provide audio descriptions of scenes and songs for patrons who are blind or visually impaired. To find out which shows currently offer the app, go to the website. About 20 percent of Americans — or 48 million people — report some degree of hearing loss. At age 65, one out of three people have some kind of hearing-related deficiency. AARP NEWSLETTERS %{ newsLetterPromoText }% %{ description }% Subscribe AARP VALUE & MEMBER BENEFITS See more Health & Wellness offers > See more Flights & Vacation Packages offers > See more Finances offers > See more Health & Wellness offers > SAVE MONEY WITH THESE LIMITED-TIME OFFERS