According to the latest report, the Japanese government will develop new AI technologies to help communicate with deaf-mute people. For the betterment of such people, the Nihon Denki University and Softbank Corporation both to use artificial intelligence technology to directly translate sign language into Japanese, and it is expected to be spread in 2024.
In 2017, Japan’s Softbank Corporation and Nihon Denki University jointly began this research and cooperated with ABEJA, a Japanese AI start-up funded by Google in the United States. The deaf-mute person will be able to communicate in sign language in front of the camera, and then the system will use image recognition technology to analyze the skeletal movement of several parts of the body.
Such as fingers and arms, translating the gestures into Japanese, displaying them on the staff’s computer screen, and then speaking the reply will appear on the screen in front of the hearing impaired in the form of text, making the communication smoother.
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Moreover, the system can only be used on counter devices, and the municipality hopes that it will eventually be popularized on smartphones. Officials said the AI system than the written form of dialogue “is much more smooth because translation is done instantly” .
Currently, it can only accurately translate gestures into approximately 1,500 Japanese words. A SoftBank engineer who participated in the development of the system said: “To build a model that accurately translates symbols into Japanese requires a lot of sign language data.”
Furthermore, Hokkaido University and Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Company are also jointly conducting similar research to develop an AI sign language automatic translation system, which aims to improve the communication environment of deaf-mute people in public places such as hospitals, pharmacies, and tourist attractions.
However, the Japan Federation of the Deaf believes that it will take a long time for artificial intelligence to become an effective tool for the deaf and mute. Therefore, in order to develop the accuracy of the system, mobile communications and Internet service companies think it is necessary to launch a website and mobile phone application requesting the public to cooperate.
