Ralph the Fingerspelling Hand

The recent news about a Japanese sign language hand robot brought to light an invention by engineers at Stanford University and the VA Palo Alto Rehabilitation Research and Development Center.

Ralph, for Robotic Alphabet, was designed for person to person communications with deaf-blind people. The hand takes input from text or keyboard and translates it into hand fingerspelling language.

Although the spelling hand has been around for a few years there has not been much commercial success. According to David L. Jaffe, the lead engineer on the project, "There have been plenty of interested people and companies, but there has always been a lack of resources: money, time, expertise."

If you have the need or have some development bucks floating around, Dave says to contact him directly. He's happy to discuss Ralph's inner workings.

Check out the movie of Ralph in action.

Ralph - Technology Transfer

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