In North America, it is estimated that as many as 2 million people use sign language to communicate. It is common for those who cannot hear or speak to use their hands in order to make signs to express their thoughts. Sign language varies from country to country, so the hand movements in one part of the world may not be understood by deaf people in other parts of the world. What’s more, millions of people everywhere with normal hearing also don’t understand sign language.
As such, scientists at Texas A&M University have come up with a smart device that translates sign-language gestures into English. The translator has two sensors, one to track large movements of the user’s hands and arms as he or she is signing, and the other to track smaller movement of the user’s hands and fingers. Together, the two sensors can interpret the sign-language gestures.
The smart device is worn on the right wrist of the person who is signing. It then wirelessly sends the signals to a laptop, where they are translated into English and displayed on the computer screen. The scientists are continuing to fine-tune the translator before releasing it to the public.
For now, the device recognizes just 40 of the thousands of signs. It is also only able to translate one word at a time, so conversing back-and-forth via the device would be slow. They plan to develop a way to eliminate the laptop by incorporating a wearable computer into the translator.