Look out! It’s the A-Team: A-I and A-S-L!
This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science.
Sign language combines hand and body movements with facial expressions to communicate. Translator apps and software have to work very differently for this visual language. PLUS, sign language is not universal; signs are different in other countries.
Bader Alsharif from Florida Atlantic University wanted to tackle translating American Sign Language with A-I. Scientists trained a deep learning program with almost thirty thousand pictures of the A-S-L alphabet!
A-I identified A-S-L with ninety-eight percent accuracy in real time! Translation was FAST – less than a tenth of a second!
This could make communication portable and more inclusive for the deaf and hard-of-hearing!
Unsure about A-I? Maybe this is a SIGN it’s ok!
Reference: Alsharif, B., Alalwany, E., Ilyas, M. Transfer learning with YOLOV8 for real-time recognition system of American Sign Language Alphabet. Franklin Open, Volume 8, 100165, ISSN 2773-1863, (2024). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fraope.2024.100165