25-year-old Kenyan Tech entrepreneur Roy Allela has invented smart hand gloves which are capable of converting sign language movements into audio speech.
This invention came from the need to facilitate communication with his 6-year-old niece, who was born deaf, and who found it difficult to communicate with her family, none of whom knew sign language.
Sign IO Gloves
The smart gloves named Sign-IO , were conceived to convert sign language movements into audio speech. The aim is to assist individuals with a speech impairment (deaf or mute) to communicate with the general public. Here’s how it works:
The gloves have flex sensors stitched on to each finger. The sensors have the capacity to quantify the bend of the fingers and process the letter being signed. Using Bluetooth, the gloves are connected to a mobile application, that Allela also developed, which then converts the sign into audio speech.
Features of the gloves & App
One important characteristic of the smart gloves is the speed at which the signs are vocalized. Since people who sign speak at different speeds, those differences in vocal speed were integrated into the mobile application, making it comfortable for anyone.
Other features of the app are the possibility to set the language, gender, and pitchof the audio voice, with accuracy results averaging 93 percent.
Allela is the brain behind Sign-IO, smart gloves that give the hearing impaired and deaf the ability to communicate with people who don’t know sign language.
Allela was inspired to create the technology after needing a method to communicate with his then-six-year-old niece, who was born deaf.
Sign-IO uses Bluetooth to connect to the product’s app. With this technology, flex sensors placed inside the gloves on each finger can quantify the bend of a finger and process the letters being signed.
“My niece wears the gloves, pairs them to her phone or mine, then starts signing, and I’m able to understand what she’s saying,” Allela said.
The gloves’ creator believes the power behind them really rests in the speed at which the signs are vocalized.
The gloves can also be customized to fit different colors and themes, such as a princess or Spider-Man.
In 2018, Allela and Sign-IO won the Hardware Trailblazer Award during the American Society of Mechanical Engineers global finals contest.
With the brand’s success, Allela plans to get his product in schools across Kenya to assist with learning and accessibility equity for hearing-impaired children.
