A sign language glove is an electronic device which attempts to convert the motions of a

sign language Sign languages (also known as signed languages) are languages that use the visual-manual modality to convey meaning, instead of spoken words. Sign languages are expressed through manual articulation in combination with #Non-manual elements, no ...

into written or spoken words. Some critics of such technologies have argued that the potential of sensor-enabled gloves to do this is commonly overstated or misunderstood, because many sign languages have a complex grammar that includes use of the sign space and facial expressions (non-manual elements). The wearable device contains sensors that run along the four fingers and thumb to identify each word, phrase or letter as it is made in the given sign language. Those signals are then sent wirelessly to a smartphone, which translates them into spoken words at a rate of one word per second.blackbusiness
/ref> The first working prototype used in the field was developed by an Oxford teacher and Intel engineer named Roy Allele, and it launched at a special needs school in Kenya in 2019. Scientists at

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

, where one the many projects was developed, believe the innovation could allow for easier communication for deaf people. "Our hope is that this opens up an easy way for people who use sign language to communicate directly with non-signers without needing someone else to translate for them," said lead researcher Jun Chen. The researchers also added adhesive sensors to the faces of people used to test the device—between their eyebrows and on one side of their mouths—to capture

nonmanual feature A nonmanual feature, also sometimes called nonmanual signal or sign language expression, are the features of sign languages that do not use the hands. Nonmanual features are grammaticised and a necessary component in many signs, in the same way tha ...

s of the language.

References

Computing input devices Gloves

Glove A glove is a garment covering the hand, with separate sheaths or openings for each finger including the thumb. Gloves protect and comfort hands against cold or heat, damage by friction, abrasion or chemicals, and disease; or in turn to provide a ...

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