My Project:

Over 70 million people across the globe with “disabling hearing loss” communicate with one another using one of the 300 different types of sign languages. American Sign Language (ASL) is the most popular sign language in the USA and Canada and is utilized by approximately half a million people making it the third most used language in the USA after English and Spanish! Sign language is the most effective communication tool for deaf and mute people to participate in conversations with each other. However, most of the population does not understand sign language, creating a communication barrier. This social issue inspired me to create a wearable device and develop software, SLIEVE (Sign Language Interpreter Enabling Verbal Communication), which can recognize American sign language and announce the words through a speaker for most of the population to understand. In the future, this software will be able to recognize more words and phrases in sign language. This software can be converted into a cloud-based phone app to be used by the general population to translate ASL into spoken words.