The First Sign Language Tool for Voice Assistants/ German Youth Association of People with Hearing Loss and MRM//McCann launch SIGNS

FRANKFURT AM MAIN, Germany–(BUSINESS WIRE)–lt;a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/alexa?src=hash” target=”_blank”gt;#alexalt;/agt;–The German Youth Association of People with Hearing Loss and MRM//McCann
Frankfurt launch SIGNS, the first smart voice assistant solution for
people with hearing loss. SIGNS is a tool, that recognizes and
translates sign language and then communicates directly with a selected
voice assistant (Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant or Microsoft Cortana).
In a world driven by voice commands for turning on lights or asking for
the latest weather update, SIGNS brings inclusion to the digital age as
around 466 million people worldwide are affected by hearing loss.

SIGNS recognizes and translates German sign language in real-time and
communicates directly with a selected voice assistant. The smart tool is
based on an intelligent machine learning framework trained to identify
body gestures with the help of a camera. These gestures are converted
into a data format that the selected voice assistant understands. SIGNS
works on any browser-based operating system that has an integrated
camera (laptops, tablets) and can be connected to most voice assistant
services. The voice assistant processes the data in real-time and
replies appropriately back to SIGNS. The answer is then immediately
either displayed in text form or via visual feedback.

Further information: www.projectsigns.org

Based on the prediction from Gartner¹ that the world will be
dominated by 30% non-screen based digital interaction by 2020, SIGNS was
developed in MRM//McCann’ s product innovation LAB13 in Frankfurt am
Main to create awareness for inclusion in the digital age. According to
the World Health Organization around 466 million people worldwide have
disabling hearing loss.

“The digital age is full of great opportunities for inclusion but at the
same time faces tough challenges for certain groups. SIGNS is a great
step forward to allow us all the access to newest technologies,” says
Michelle Mohring, 1. Chairwoman, German Youth Association of People with
Hearing Loss.

“Our ambition is to help people with hearing loss, especially now as
voice assistants are on the rise. We launched the first prototype but
our aim is to create an all accessible application, that can easily be
trained worldwide. The next step is to increase SIGNS’ vocabulary and
teach it more languages – in cooperation with new partners around the
world,” comments Martin Biela, ECD, MRM//McCann.

Contacts

Jérôme Cholet
McCANN Worldgroup Germany
pr@mccannworldgroup.de