Show & Tell Glove Translates Sign Language Into Text Messages

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Wearable glove and Android app duo works together to become an innovative communication tool.

The "Show & Tell" texting glove is a curiously innovative new tool that is designed to break down communication walls, especially for individuals with impaired hearing. The device definitely evokes a bit of curiosity due to the context of its use, as it can be questioned why an individual with a hearing disability would need a high tech glove to send a text message.

After a one time calibration and training period with the wearer, the glove learns all of the necessary sign language gestures and is ready to be used for real time translation. Although the glove may be useless to an individual who is already adept at sending text messages, perhaps the "Show & Tell" glove will be useful for real time subtitling of sign language presentations or conversations. The device is still in its prototype stages, so perhaps further down the line it'll even be quicker to text message with the glove than traditional input systems.

Tuan Mai
Tuan Mai

Tuan Mai is a Los Angeles-based writer and marketing professional focused mainly on PC gaming and hardware. He held the role of Social Media Editor across Tom's Guide and its sister publications for more than six years, helping the sites grow their audiences and also contributing dones of articles, with a special interest in the weird and quirky.

16 Comments Comment from the forums
  • shin0bi272
    next stop the congo
    Reply
  • freggo
    Trying hard to figure out a use for this.
    Reply
  • freggo 01/01/2012 11:48 PM
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    Trying hard to figure out a use for this.

    trying hard? you must be lobotomized!
    Reply
  • Kinect?
    Reply
  • joytech22
    It's fun to see things like this, but imagine using it in public and looking like a major derp making signs at your phone.

    Also it looks 30 times slower when comparing to just using your fingers.
    Reply
  • kjsfnkwl
    At first I was like, "This is the best invention of the century!"

    But then I was like, "Wait...this is f***ing useless."
    Reply
  • This is excellent so cool. Imagine the possibilities!!!! Now a deaf person can talk to a blind person: first the signs are translated into text and then text is either read aloud with TTS or directly fed to the blind persons braile device. GOT TO LOVE TECHNOLOGY
    Reply
  • kjsfnkwl
    danjimaruThis is excellent so cool. Imagine the possibilities!!!! Now a deaf person can talk to a blind person: first the signs are translated into text and then text is either read aloud with TTS or directly fed to the blind persons braile device. GOT TO LOVE TECHNOLOGYYeah, but one letter at a time? You have to think that having the deaf person just type his stuff in would be much faster.
    Reply
  • If it can memorize 27 signs after a brief learning period it would just take 50x longer for it to build an ideogram vocabulary. 1000 kanjis, that's about the basic japanese native's vocabulary base. People that are used to ideograms such as in signs languages will always find it hard to 'fall back' to a limited language, that is represented by single letters on a keyboard. Gesture here could thus be a multitude faster than any keyboard input
    Reply
  • JohnnyLucky
    Very Cool!

    My wife is hearing imapired and a certified American Sing Language instructor. She thought it was cool too. American Sign Language is interesting because in addition to individual letters a sign or gesture can represent an entire word, phrase, or concept. If the technology can recognize a phrase or concept, then it might be faster for someone who is limited to hunt and peck typing. If it is limited to recognizing only individual letters, then it may not be as useful.

    Reply