Reading for most of us isn’t much of an issue, but when it comes to those who are deaf or hearing impaired, especially if they are only kids, then it can pose a challenge as parents or teachers might not necessarily know sign language well enough to convey information on a page to the child in question.
However it seems that Huawei wants to help with that and has since launched an app called StorySign. This is an AI-based app that when you point your phone’s camera at certain children’s books, it will be able to translate the printed words into sign language which will then be performed by a digital avatar.
If you’re wondering why the avatar in the video above seems to look so familiar, it is because it was created by Wallace and Gromit’s Aardman Animations. This app comes in handy as it helps children to read, while at the same time it can also help parents and educators learn the sign language for certain words so that they can do it themselves later.
At the moment there aren’t many books supported by the app, and only supports 10 sign languages (mostly from Europe), so it might not be quite as useful as it could. However since it has only just been launched, presumably more support will come at a later date. In the meantime you can check out the video above to get an idea of how the app works.