Program translates sign language into text

The Telegraph reports.

The technology, the first of its kind in the world, could be available within a year and stands to fundamentally change the way deaf people communicate and help them succeed in the jobs market, the scientists said.

The portable sign language translator (PSLT) would use cameras on devices such as laptops and phones, BBC notes.

An app would then translate the movements into text, which can be read by people who may not understand sign language.

Computing scientists at Technabling, a spinout company of the University of Aberdeen, are behind the technology.

“One of the most innovative and exciting aspects of the technology is that it allows sign language users to actually develop their own signs for concepts and terms they need to have in their vocabulary, but they may not have been able to express easily when using BSL,” Health Care Global quotes Dr Ernesto Compatangelo, founder of Technabling, as saying.

“The technology has the potential to transform the lives of all sign language users.”