Google Gesture App Translates Sign Language Into Spoken Language
Students at the Berghs School of Communication in Stockholm, Sweden put together an incredible video of a new translation tool concept that will give mute and deaf individuals a new way to talk with the people around them. Called Google Gesture, the app works alongside a pair of arm bands to translate sign language in real time.
Update: This video are created by students at Berghs School of Communication as a marketing concept project. It isn't a real project by Google, though there have previously been suggestions that motion tracking armbands like those from Myo could one day track things like sign language. We apologize for the error and confusion caused.
Imagines an app called Google Gesture and two arm bands that are worn near the middle of one's forearms. Using a variety of technologies, the arm bands analyze the signer's movements through a process called electromyography.
That information would sent to the Google Gesture app, where it is then spoken in real-time from one's smartphone or tablet. This allows others to hear what the individual is signing, allowing communication to take place with those who don't know sign language.
Students at the Berghs School of Communication in Stockholm, Sweden put together an incredible video of a new translation tool concept that will give mute and deaf individuals a new way to talk with the people around them. Called Google Gesture, the app works alongside a pair of arm bands to translate sign language in real time.
Update: This video are created by students at Berghs School of Communication as a marketing concept project. It isn't a real project by Google, though there have previously been suggestions that motion tracking armbands like those from Myo could one day track things like sign language. We apologize for the error and confusion caused.
Imagines an app called Google Gesture and two arm bands that are worn near the middle of one's forearms. Using a variety of technologies, the arm bands analyze the signer's movements through a process called electromyography.
That information would sent to the Google Gesture app, where it is then spoken in real-time from one's smartphone or tablet. This allows others to hear what the individual is signing, allowing communication to take place with those who don't know sign language.
Google Gesture is a fictional device that translates gestures into speech, thus giving a voice to the ones who can’t normally talk.
The search giant has created software for the speech impaired in the past, the app that translates speech into text being a great example. The reason why Google isn’t behind such a concept as the Gesture wristband is because such a device is most probably impossible to make for the time being.
This piece of wearable tech would be accompanied by an Android (what else?!) app, which would also be called Google Gesture. Judging by the position of the hand and the tension of the muscles, the wristband will be able to record sign language and transfer it to the app wirelessly, presumably via Bluetooth 4.0 LE. Once collected by the app, the data is translated into speech, so that other people can understand the gesture.
According to the students who have imagined it, Google Gesture would be able to turn sign-language into speech in real time. While that’s a bit improbable, it would help conversations to flow naturally.
Getting lost in translation would be impossible with such a device. More than that, Google Gesture could help people to interact, regardless of their country of origin. I think that such a device would be great not only for the deaf, but also for people who interact a lot with other cultures. Seeing how a hand gestures means something in one country and quite the opposite in another one, it would really be something if there was no room left for interpretations. For example, “thumbs up” is the equivalent of a well-done job in most countries, but in Greece and Turkey, this hand gesture symbolizes an insult. Same goes for the “V for victory” sign that’s interpreted differently in various parts of the world.
