Innovation : a glove that translates sign language

Timothy O’connor/UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering

Published the 17.07.2017 at 17: 00

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Sign language has helped millions of deaf and hard-of-hearing out of the silence. But this language is, unfortunately, little controlled by the rest of the world. A team of engineers from the university of San Diego (United States) has therefore had the idea of developing a glove that can translate sign language into text on a smartphone or computer to facilitate dialogue between the hearing impaired and hearing people. They describe their technology in Plos One.

The ” Glove of Language “, as they have been dubbed, is a glove of leather-appointed sport on which 9 motion sensors have been placed at the level of the joints. These various electrodes can translate gestures made by the fingers and the wrist to designate the 26 letters of the alphabet american. To date, this innovation allows you only to spell out words. The engineers are working on the computer code for their system to be able to translate whole sentences.

Virtual reality

In parallel, they are working on other applications, ranging from surgical training in virtual reality video games. “The recognition of the gestures is only a demonstration of the capabilities of the glove, said Tiothy O’connor, an engineer in nanotechnology and one of the members of the project. Our ultimate goal is that this glove smart to be used in virtual reality instead of the gamepad or joysticks. It will be much better for games and entertainment, but it will be still more in the formation of gestures medical “.

The engineering team also tries to develop a new generation of glove smart with the sense of touch. Innovations at prices that are affordable and easy to assemble. The researchers are, in effect, to develop a technology cheap with materials available. “The Glove of Language” would cost about 100 dollars, they estimate.