Robot hand translates speech into sign language

The Yomiuri Shimbun

A microchip in the robot recognizes the 50-character hiragana syllabary and about 10 simple phrases such as "ohayo" (good morning) and sends the information to a central computer, which sends commands to 18 micromotors in the joints of the 80 cm robotic hand, translating the sound it hears into sign language.

The aluminum robot was developed by a team led by the Fukuoka Prefecture Education Center in Sasagurimachi head instructor Keita Matsuo, 39, and Hirotsugu Sakai, 38, who is attending a long-term training program for schoolteachers.

They studied a book on sign language, and spent about two months creating the system, increasing the number of joints in the hand to 18 so that it could sign smoothly.

They added that in the future, hundreds of thousands of words could be programmed into the voice recognition unit and the robotic hand could function as a receptionist.

Robotic hand translates speech into sign language : Culture : Features : DAILY YOMIURI ONLINE (The Daily Yomiuri)