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NEW DELHI: A Netherlands-based start-up has developed an artificial intelligence (AI) powered smartphone app for deaf and mute people, which it says offers a low-cost and superior approach

to translating sign language into text and speech in real time. The easy-to-use innovative digital interpreter dubbed as “Google translator for the deaf and mute” works by placing a

smartphone in front of the user while the app translates gestures or sign language into text and speech. The app, called GnoSys, uses neural networks and computer vision to recognise the

video of sign language speaker, and then smart algorithms translate it into speech.Affordable and always available interpreter services are in huge demand in the deaf community. According to

the National Deaf Association (NAD), 18 million people are estimated to be deaf in India. The app is expected to hit the Indian market next year, Roman Wyhowski Founder & CEO Evalk told

PTI. It will help drive inclusivity at the workplace by removing communication barriers between the disabled and able, Wyhowski said. “Deaf people do not have that many options for

communicating with a hearing person, and all of the alternatives do have major flaws. Showcased in the Netherlands recently, the app can be used on multiple devices such as smartphones,

tablets, laptops, or PCs. It can translate as quick as the person speaks, translate any sign language and can be plugged into many products, such as video chat applications, AI assistants,

etc. It just requires a camera on the device facing the signing person, and a connection to the internet, said Bondar. “Using only camera on your device, our system provides the same

services only an experienced sign language interpreter could do,” he said.