App that translates speech to sign language in real-time wins top innovation prize
https://www.cnn.com/world/africa/speech-to-sign-language-app-wins-africa-innovation-prize-spc
https://www.cnn.com/world/africa/speech-to-sign-language-app-wins-africa-innovation-prize-spc
6 Comments
Beacon@fedia.io · 9 pts · 273d
Huh? If a deaf person needs to look at a screen to see the signs then they could just as easily look at a screen to see the live speech to text of what's being said
refalo@programming.dev · 4 pts · 272d
Not everyone of all ages and viewing distances can accurately read text on a screen in a particular language with enough speed.
Seleni@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 273d
Maybe it’s for hearing people who don’t know sign language?
Endmaker@ani.social · 9 pts · 273d
Why not just do speech-to-text and display the text???
recentSlinky@lemmy.ca · 9 pts · 273d
Sign language can be faster to interpret. Just how listening is faster than reading.
SARGE@startrek.website · 6 pts · 273d
Artisian@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 273d
Mentioned in the article: this supports many african languages, including african sign languages. (There were plenty of apps that already did this for, say, ASL.)
Relatedly: it's possible to be deaf and illiterate. Similar to being able to speak but not read, these folks are much better served by sign language translation over text. (I can't find data on rates quickly, but see here for discussion of the general phenomena. It's harder to teach the deaf to read, so easier for them to fall between the cracks.)