A video ended up viral on social media for showcasing a valuable invention; a glove capable of translating sign language into speech in real time.
A team of scientists from the University of California Los Angeles recently announced that they have developed a glove that translates American Sign Language into real-time speech, and the video recorded during the demonstration ended up going viral.
The UCLA team, which published their research Nature Electronics journal, said the glove contains digit sensors that identify every word, phrase, or letter in American Sign Language and transmits it wirelessly to a smartphone app that translates them at the rate of one word per second.
Similarly, the device also includes optional sensors connected to a user’s face to record facial expressions used in ASL.
For his part, Jun Chen, the principal investigator and assistant professor of bioengineering at the UCLA Samueli School of Engineering, commented that the hope with this project is that the glove opens the doors for people who use sign language to communicate directly with the hearing without the need for someone else to translate them.
In addition, we hope it can help more people learn sign language,” said Jun Chen. Similarly, Chen said that gloves and facial sensors were developed to be lighter and more comfortable than previous efforts to translate sign language through machinery.
Jun Chen said that previous attempts were criticized for being too bulky to put to practical use, derived from these observations, the idea of the new glove coupled with the sensors seemed like the next logical step in continuing the experiment.
There are many misconceptions about sign language. For example, many believe that it is a unique language for the entire world community, while others wonder if it can be considered a true language. There are many sign languages used that will depend on the area the language is being used.
