FINGERSPELLING WITH MACHINE LEARNING

Short List
TitleFINGERSPELLING WITH MACHINE LEARNING
BrandAMERICAN SOCIETY FOR DEAF CHILDREN
Product/ServiceFINGERSPELLING
Category F03. Innovative solutions
Entrant HELLO MONDAY Aarhus, DENMARK
Idea Creation HELLO MONDAY Aarhus, DENMARK
Production HELLO MONDAY Aarhus, DENMARK
Credits
Name Company Position
Rikke Agersnap Hello Monday Project Manager
Victor Dose Hello Monday 3D Designer
Toni Größchen Hello Monday Designer
Patrycja Hølm Hello Monday Designer
Line Jacobsen Hello Monday Designer
Anders Jessen Hello Monday Creative Director / CTO
Anders Mikkelsen Hello Monday Designer
Victor Rønnow Hello Monday Designer

Background

Every year 2 - 3 out of every 1,000 children born in the US are deaf or hard-of-hearing. 90% of these children are born to hearing parents, and in many cases, their child is the first deaf person these parents have ever encountered. Without being introduced to sign language at an early stage, a deaf child may miss out on learning language. This can lead to language delay or deprivation, which has long-term negative impacts on a child’s life. That is why it is so important that parents of deaf children have the opportunity to learn American Sign Language (ASL) as soon as possible. To address language deprivation and help bridge the communication barrier between the deaf and the hearing we partnered with the American Society for Deaf Children to create Fingerspelling.xyz.

Describe the creative idea (40% of vote)

Every year 2 - 3 out of every 1,000 children born in the US are deaf or hard-of-hearing. 90% of these children are born to hearing parents, and in many cases, their child is the first deaf person these parents have ever encountered. Without being introduced to sign language at an early stage, a deaf child may miss out on learning language. This can lead to language delay or deprivation, which has long-term negative impacts on a child’s life. That is why it is so important that parents of deaf children have the opportunity to learn American Sign Language (ASL) as soon as possible. To address language deprivation and help bridge the communication barrier between the deaf and the hearing, we partnered with the American Society for Deaf Children to create Fingerspelling.xyz. Fingerspelling uses AI and Machine Vision to teach you the ASL Alphabet.

Describe the execution (40% of vote)

Fingerspelling.xyz is a browser-based app that uses a webcam and machine learning to analyze your hand shapes so you can learn to sign the ASL alphabet correctly. To start, you are given a series of words and the computer shows you a 3D model of how your hand should be positioned for each letter. When you sign the word, the camera tracks your hand movements and gives you feedback so you can make corrections as needed. This helps you quickly develop your fingerspelling skills and move to the next level of the program.

List the results (20% of vote)

The site was launched in late April 2021 - and within 2 months over 150.000 correct hand-signs have been made. The site has been featured across a variety of news and blogs - including Engadget, Mashable and Yahoo. And we have helped bridge the gap between the hearing and the deaf.