Many tech companies today have been working so hard on tech gadgets that can help the disabled feel more comfortable about themselves.
Among the companies include: Samsung Corp. who came up with an eye-tracking mouse, “EyeCan+” which is positioned below a monitor for people with disabilities to be able to write and edit documents or surf the web using eye movement and blinking, to Japanese automotive manufacturer, Toyota who on March 8th, 2016 announced – it’s developing a wearable device to help give the blinds and visually impaired people greater mobility, to social media giants, Facebook Inc. also announced that it wants to build technology that would help the blind community experience Facebook the same way others are enjoying it. Other tech companies like; Google, Apple, Microsoft Corp. to name a few, are also doing the same thing.
Earlier this week, two university students; Navid Azodi; a former NASA intern who is studying business administration and Thomas Pryor; who is studying aeronautics & astronautics engineering from University of Washington, won a $10,000 (approximately 33.3 million ugx) price for their “High-Tech Gloves”, which turns sign language into spoken language.
The gloves could be worn by deaf people, making it quicker and easier for them to communicate verbally simply by using their hands.
Sky News reports that, the students used a system similar to how neural networks work in artificial intelligence to engineer the gloves to recognize specific sign language movements. When the system finds a match, it then reads the words aloud.
A quick demo of how the gloves work:
“Many of the sign language translation devices already out there are not practical for everyday use, said Pryor. “Some use video input, while others have sensors that cover the user’s entire arm or body.
“Our gloves are lightweight, compact and worn on the hands, but ergonomic enough to use as an everyday accessory, similar to hearing aids or contact lenses.”
