Google's New Sign Language App Translates Hand Gestures into Text

Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) researchers have collaborated with Google to develop new technology that converts sign language into text in real time. The Sign Language-to-Text (SL2T) app is now available as a standard feature on Google Pixel 11 devices, released in August.

The SL2T technology was developed over four years of collaboration between RIT's National Technical Institute for the Deaf and Google. Gary Behm, director of the NTID Center on Access Technology, said that SL2T has the potential to 'expand communication access and empower deaf individuals around the world.'

Behm, who is deaf and uses American Sign Language (ASL), recalls growing up having to carry a pen and paper to help him communicate. With SL2T, he can turn on his phone's camera and use sign language, which is automatically translated into text.