3-D-printed robotic arm translates words into sign language

Scientists have created a robotic arm to translate spoken words into sign language gestures so that deaf people can understand what is being said. Erwin Smet, 57, who is responsible for the students who created ASLAN, said: “This will change life for the deaf community.”

Smet hopes that in the near future people will be able to carry a mechanical hand with them to school, university and make him a kind of personal interpreter. The mechanism of the device is simple: it perceives human speech, and then, translating it into text, checks for updates for languages from around the world. After this, the robot can represent the sentences with the sign language.

Scientists also note the availability of a mechanical hand - it can be created using a 3D printer and its cost in this case will not exceed 400 pounds. "What we see now is a real break and a barrier between the deaf community and the world; our development can reduce it. The number of hours this community can receive translators is limited, "said Smet.

The developers also told that first they began with characters, like individual letters in the alphabet. Then they looked at how it is possible to translate the human hand simply into mechanics. To do this, they did not need to completely copy the anatomy of the hand, but only to insert 16 joints into the device. Smet and his students who worked on the project hope that, within five years, the hand will help more than 70 million deaf people around the world who rely on sign language.

 hightech.fm