Project Goals
Our work goes beyond a typical language-learning app. With fewer than a dozen speakers, we aim for a holistic language and culture revitalization and preservation through AI models for language and community knowledge, paired with holopresence, VR, and other immersive and interactive platforms, to offer engaging and educational experiences so the spirit, humour, and intergenerational connection go beyond audio and text.
Preserve the Na-Cho Nyäk Dun dialect of Northern Tutchone
Preserve and present NND culture, traditions, and stories
Support the increase in Northern Tutchone speakers
Provide an open-source framework to support language preservation and reignition for others
Our Approach
This multi-year project is an interdisciplinary initiative, rooted at the community and emerging technologies. The project started by collecting language data and examples of community belongings and establishing our technological framework and land-based pedagogical approach. The data collection will last the life cycle of the project, and potentially beyond, relying on community participation and volunteers to collaborate on this cultural and language record-making. Training the language and knowledge models and the development of educational applications is based on the ongoing data collection (video recordings, audio archives, and other sources). Later phases will include extensive studies to evaluate the model and applications, and make them available to the community.
Community-based Learning
We believe language and culture are deeply rooted in the land and the community they belong to. Our approach to cultural and language revitalization and learning is grounded in this belief and follows a community-based approach, where learning is done through the context of land, everyday activities, plants, animals, and all aspects of community life.
Technology Sovereignty: Going Beyond Data
This three-year initiative is informed by data sovereignty principles, where the First Nation of Na-Cho Nyäk Dun retains the intellectual and copyright authority of the work and controls access to what at times is Sacred Knowledge. The data shared to train the AI language model will not be accessible or used without the consent of the First Nation of Na-Cho Nyäk Dun. It is only through this partnership built upon trust, respect, and information ownership that this work is possible.
We are committed to ensuring that all technological development respects and upholds the cultural values and sovereignty of the First Nation of Na-Cho Nyäk Dun. Through training and an inclusive process, we aim to build capacity within the community to manage and utilize the technology developed. A goal that goes beyond data sovereignty and into technology sovereignty.
Technology
The technological structure of Kwän Dék’án’ Do project is organized in three layers:
- The AI model of the language and community knowledge
- A set of educational and cultural applications that use community recordings and belongings together with the AI model to provide digital experiences
- A multi-platform software framework that allows the applications to be accessed in a variety of forms such as holopresence, immersive virtual reality, mobile, and desktop.
We refer to these three layers as AI (models), UX (apps), and UI (platforms), respectively.
See demos and presentations on our VR-based learning experiences, holopresence kiosk, and other apps and platforms developed and used as part of this project.
