Within today’s globalised world, translation services are becoming increasingly common, and most of us will have at last limited understanding of the services they provide. One area of translation, however, which is less well known, and yet is an important tool in ensuring that all of us can communicate, is sign language translation.
There are approximately 200 variations of sign language in the world today. Like spoken languages, they evolve and develop, and various creoles and slangs are invented. It is often the case that villages or regions, where there is a high rate of congenital deafness, will develop their own forms of sign, and even some specific deaf schools teach a unique system.
So how do we progress communication, not only between different signers but also between signers and the rest of the population? With global communications connecting the world, how do we ensure that signers aren’t left out?
Early Sign Language Communications Tool
At The New York World’s Fair in 1964, AT&T launched a video communications device called ‘Picturephone’ to enable sign language users to connect to one another. Basically this offered a service similar to what we have today with video conferencing services, such as Skype and MSN. Its shortcomings being that it only facilitated communications between sign language users using the same system of sign, and thus was rather limited in terms of its scope.
There are also now established Video Remote Interpreting (VRI) or a Video Relay Services, where a sign user communicates to a non-signer via an interpreter. Although this can be useful to certain degree, it doesn’t offer real time benefits, or the privacy many people would associate with freedom of communication.
EnableTalk
In 2012 the Microsoft Imagine Cup, a student focused awards based on solving ‘real world problems’, was won by a team from Ukraine, called QuadSquad. Their design, EnableTalk, translates sign language into speech using high-tech gloves.
One of the major benefits of the system is that as well as coming with a ready-made library of common words, it is also possible to teach the gloves new words. With sign language varying hugely around the world, this is a key component in making the gloves globally accessible.
Not only does this allow individuals to communicate with non-signers, but also it opens up the possibility of communication between different groups of signers. As the technology, and indeed the available libraries develop, so too will the capacity the tool has to improve communication. It is a real possibility that this technology could be developed in the future to give direct real time translations from one sign language system to another.
My Voice
Another new product designed again by students in 2012 is ‘My Voice’, which is a mobile device translating sign into speech again in real time. With an incorporated camera, monitor, speaker, and microphone, it basically does the same job as the ‘Enable Talk’ gloves, with the benefit being that you can take it anywhere with you. It also works the other way around by translating oral speech into sign displayed on the monitor, and thus enables free flowing conversion between, deaf, and non-deaf individuals.
Although this version of sign translation is specific designed for the ASL (American Sign Language) system, it is of course 100% possible that by combining technologies and developing software, that soon this system could be improved to allow all signers to communicate freely with anybody.
A Sign of the Times
In today’s globalised world, it is becoming more and more crucial for people all over the world to be able to communicate. This is having a huge impact on the global linguistic landscape, with an increasing number of people learning dominant languages, such as; English, Mandarin, Spanish, Hindi, and Arabic.
In addition to moving towards dominant languages, increasingly professional translation services are becoming a crucial part of the communication process, particularly within the business sector. Within sign language translation, such new technologies as mentioned above are increasingly connecting people, regardless of their location, or indeed their method of speech. Perhaps soon we will all be able to communicate with one another.