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Sign language app translates signs into text on smartphones, computers
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The Right Click
A group in Scotland has developed an app to help bridge the gap between those who communicate using sign language and those who don't understand it.
Portable Sign Language Translator (PSLT) is software that can be installed on a device with a built-in camera, like a smartphone or laptop, and translates signs into text displayed on the screen.
Techcrunch reports that the program is being developed primarily to support British Sign Language (BSL), but it will also translate signs from ASL and Makaton. The ability for users to add their own signs for translation, however, is likely what will set the program apart.
Dr. Ernesto Compatangelo, founding director of Technabling, says the program was designed to allow for customization, specifically for workplaces or schools with specialized lingo. Phrases that aren't in the standard BSL set of signs can be made more accessible.
"For example — for a student who is being trained in joinery, there is no sign in BSL which means 'dovetail joint'" said Compatangelo in a media release from the University of Aberdeen.
"A student using PSLT can create their own sign to mean 'dovetail joint' allowing them communicate easily with their tutor or other students in their class, without the limitations imposed when communicating solely with BSL."
Some have responded to the story with what may seem like an obvious question: why can't deaf people simply write down what they want to communicate to those who don't understand sign language? But for many who are deaf or hard of hearing, sign language is the preferred form of communication, and because it is a first language, there is research that suggests many who use sign language aren't as literate as their hearing counterparts.
According to a Washington Post story, the average 18-year-old deaf high school graduate only reads at the level of a child in grade three or four. The University of Aberdeen estimates that between 50,000 and 70,000 Britons identify BSL as their first or preferred language.
While the program is still in its infancy, the computer scientists developers at Technabling hope to have it ready for devices as early as next year.
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