Welcome to the Future: Making the Deaf Speak

I am absolutely thrilled about this application of technology to empower the deaf to be able to speak to people who don’t understand sign language. Using existing technology of sensors, accelerometers, and bluetooth technology, a pair of gloves worn on a deaf person’s hands can be transmitted to a mobile phone’s audio output as clear speech.

From Mashable here:

Three Ukrainian students invented sensory gloves that work with an app to turn sign language into automated speech. The Enable Talk project won first place at Microsoft’s Imagine Cup 2012 this week in Syndey, Australia.

Students on the winning Team QuadSquad — Anton Stepanov, Anton Posternikov, and Maxim Osika — beat out 350 students from 75 countries for the gold. Their Enable Talk glove gives deaf and hearing-impaired individuals the ability to communicate with those who don’t know sign language.

“A while ago, in the supermarket we saw a cashier having difficulties understanding a speech-impaired person and we thought how useful it would be to have a device to overcome this communication barrier,” the trio wrote in their Imagine Cup entry. “We were very surprised to find out that no such devices are available on the market. Later, our interaction with hearing-impaired athletes at our school confirmed that such a solution is needed for them to communicate more fully with the world.”

Oh yes, these men will bring this idea to market for the money, which is awesome. They have a ready market and I think their users will love it.