University Researchers in India Working to Develop Automatic Sign Language Recognition System to Benefit Persons with Hearing Impairment

November 05, 2020

The Central University of Kerala (CUK) is developing an automatic sign language recognition system to address the existing communication gap between people with hearing impairment and others.

The computer science department at the university has been working on the system since 2016, and researchers had obtained patent for the position adjusting device for the camera capturing sign language in August this year.

Research scholar Adithya V. and Prof. R. Rajesh said they were on the verge of completing the project. The system is expected to help hearing impaired people interact with others without interpreters. Prof. Rajesh said the team would soon apply for patent.

He added that the team came up with the idea during data collection at schools. “During our visits to schools, we realised that hearing-impaired children could not communicate with us without an interpreter. This gave birth to the idea of developing a product that can recognise sign language and immediately communicate by interpreting it,” he added.

Explaining the features of the product, Ms. Adithya said an algorithm that recognises hand movements and postures had been developed. The system then interprets sign language through a loud speaker.

She added that the product would soon be available for people.

Source: The Hindu