AI News Monitor

The tech giant’s new platform, Signs, will make learning ASL quicker and easier for deaf people and their loved ones.

Tech giant, Nvidia, hopes to boost communication with the deaf community after launching an AI tool to help people learn American Sign Language (ASL).

The AI-powered platform, called Signs, can help teach ASL, not just to deaf people, but also people close to them. It uses the benefits of machine learning, computer vision, and deep learning to make sign language learning quick and easy.

The platform has been developed through collaboration by Nvidia, the American Society for Deaf Children, and the creative group, Hello Monday.

The Signs tool uses AI to guide ASL learners step-by-step, and then provide feedback for improvement. With machine learning, it can understand and interpret hand shapes and movements in ASL. It uses a 3D avatar to demonstrate these signs for learners on screen.

Then with computer vision, the tool can see the user through a webcam and analyze and interpret their hand movements. It then offers feedback and users continue to improve until they master the signs.

Nvidia says that Signs records users through a webcam, analyzes, and then stores the information. Image credit: Nvidia

Nvidia believes that by leveraging the power of AI, Signs can equip the deaf community in the US with a platform for easier and more effective learning and communication.

Many deaf children are born to hearing parents. The Signs tool can make it much easier for these parents to learn ASL and be able to communicate with their children from a very early age. Friends and loved ones of deaf people can also learn ASL to help them have deeper and more meaningful relationships.

This comes at a time when AI technology is breaking boundaries in nearly every aspect of society. It is already helping people communicate better with colleagues and loved ones through language models. AI chatbots are helping keep lonely people company. Developments like the Signs tool ensure that the deaf community is not left out.

Nvidia says that Signs is designed for continuous improvement. Individual signers can contribute videos containing their own signed words to help the platform grow. The video clips will be reviewed by fluent ASL users and stored in the database. If the platform grows successfully, it holds the potential to become a large, high-quality visual dictionary and learning tool for ASL teachers and learners. Family members, friends, or significant others of deaf people could use it as a reference tool they could quickly consult. They would then know how to sign a particular word to their loved one.

This could have a tremendous impact on the deaf community, not just in the US but around the world. It could help bridge the communication gap causing the exclusion of many deaf people.