Sign Language to Speech

New smart tech turns sign language into speech and text.

MotionSavvy has been founded by a team of students from Rochester Institute of Technology’s National Technical Institute for the Deaf, and it seems that more great tech is coming out of the institute also with a similar approach under development from the SignAloud team.

This tech harnesses the power generated from the Leap Motion controller, leveraging the 3D motion recognition sensors.

MotionSaavy utilises the familiar device of tablet based interface, reading the signers actions and translating this into the appropriate speech, where as the team at SignAloud have developed an interface based around a glove communicating to a separate computer.

Both approaches would no doubt prove to be somewhat seamlessly integrated with future iterations.

This will give deaf people the power over their lives, the power to lead the lifestyle they want to have.

— Ryan Hait-Campbell

Both techs recognise gestures that correspond to words and phrases by using sensors on the glove or via the camera that record hand position and movement. The SignAloud gloves send data via Bluetooth to a central computer to then interpret. The Sign aloud model interprets via the camera on the tablet to then translate on the fly.

These technologies allow deaf people to communicate so much better with the general public in such a way that it does not feel like they are in another country trying to communicate in a foreign language.

Massively empowering!

Such an obvious solution you might think with the technology we all have within our reach today. A real step towards bridging the gap for those with speech and hearing related  challenges (some 70 million) to be able to better communicate with the masses.

Now, the technology is in their hands…literally!

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