For people who are hard of hearing, sign language isn’t just a communication tool; it’s their primary language. The problem is that sign language is not taught to people with regular hearing, thus creating a barrier that’s hard to bridge. Now, a team of researchers in South Korea may have just found a surprisingly elegant solution to this age-old problem.
According to a new study published in Science Advances, the system, called WRSLT (wirelessly connected, ring-type sign language translator), can recognize and translate both American Sign Language and International Sign Language words with around 88% accuracy. And yes, it works in real time.
How do seven rings translate an entire language?
Each smart ring contains a three-axis accelerometer that can detect finger motion. When a signer wears the rings and starts signing, the sensors track finger orientation and hand movement. All of this data is sent wirelessly via Bluetooth to a smartphone or computer, where AI interprets the movements and converts them into written text.
The biggest advantage over existing solutions is freedom of movement. Current sign language translation tools rely on bulky gloves or wired sensor arrays that restrict natural hand movements and need to be recalibrated for each user. The WRSLT has none of those problems.
Can it actually work for everyone?
The tests are quite positive, and the researchers believe their system can work for everyone. They trained the system on one group of users and then tested it on a completely different group. It correctly identified ISL words with 88.5% accuracy and ASL words with 88.3%, which is impressive given the natural variation in how different people sign.
Right now, the system can recognize 100 words in each language, which is a good start. The team plans to miniaturize the rings further and expand the AI’s vocabulary to cover more words and sign languages.
It’s early days, but this is one of the more promising sign language translation solutions we have seen in a while.