AI Rings on Fingers Can Interpret Sign Language
A new study describes a set of electronic rings, wirelessly connected to an AI system, that translate multiple sign languages into text. Led by Ki Jun Yu of Yonsei University, the work uses seven rings with accelerometers and a deep-learning system to recognize signs without smart gloves or cameras. In testing with people who did not help train the system, it recognized 100 American Sign Language and 100 International Sign Language words with 88.3 and 88.5 percent accuracy.
Key Takeaways
- Electronic rings wirelessly connected to an AI system are capable of translating multiple sign languages into text, a new study finds.
More than 300 different sign languages are used worldwide, and many research projects are developing translation devices for communicating with people who do not know a sign language.
- However, a common kind of wearable sensor, smart gloves , trapped heat and moisture, making prolonged use uncomfortable.
And their fixed sensors failed to account for individual variations in hand size, finger length, and joint positions, reducing their accuracy.
- " Bluetooth Low Energy SoCs [systems-on-chips] have reached a point where an entire wireless communication stack, power management circuit, and sensing module can fit on a flexible substrate small enough to wear as a ring," Yu says.
In the new study, the researchers examined how much each finger contributed to hand signs, discovering that seven fingers played major roles.
- One challenge in developing these rings was mechanical reliability.
Initially, the scientists used straight copper interconnects, which nearly broke under repeated bending.
- In contrast, most previous attempts at sign language translation systems were limited to vocabularies of fewer than 50 words.
Stats & Key Facts
- #In testing with people who did not help train the system, it recognized 100 American Sign Language and 100 International Sign Language words with 88.3 and 88.5 percent accuracy.
- #More than 300 different sign languages are used worldwide, and many research projects are developing translation devices for communicating with people who do not know a sign language.
- #In experiments with the five people who did not help train the system, the new system could recognize 100 common American Sign Language and 100 common International Sign Language words with 88.3 and 88.5 percent accuracy, respectively.
Electronic rings wirelessly connected to an AI system are capable of translating multiple sign languages into text, a new study finds. "I believe this is an important step toward making sign language translation systems more practical, lightweight, and usable in real-world environments," says Ki Jun Yu , an associate professor of electrical and electronic engineering at Yonsei University in Seoul, Korea. More than 300 different sign languages are used worldwide, and many research projects are developing translation devices for communicating with people who do not know a sign language.
However, these projects have faced many setbacks. For example, some projects used cameras and computer vision algorithms to recognize hand gestures. But these were typically limited to controlled settings with fixed cameras and were sensitive to lighting variations and other forms of interference.
Other devices relied on wearable sensors that detected either hand motions or electrical signals linked with muscle activity . However, a common kind of wearable sensor, smart gloves , trapped heat and moisture, making prolonged use uncomfortable. And their fixed sensors failed to account for individual variations in hand size, finger length, and joint positions, reducing their accuracy.
For more details please read the original article at IEEE Spectrum AI.
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