Smart Device Translates American Sign Language To English

智能传感器把美国手语翻译成英文

American Sign Language (ASL), has been one of the primary means of communication for the deaf in the United States and many parts of Canada since the 1800s. It is estimated that between 500,000 to 2 million people use the language on a regular basis.

19世纪来，美国手语已成为美国和加拿大大部分地区失聪之人交流的主要方式。 据估算，大约有50万-200万的人经常使用这种语言。

But popular as it is, there are millions of people with normal hearing that do not understand the language. And while most deaf Americans learn to speak with the help of speech therapy, many find it easier to communicate through sign language. Now a team of researchers at the Texas A&M University has created wearable technology that will make it easy for ASL and non-ASL users to converse.

美国手语虽然流行，但仍有上百万正常人无法理解手语。虽然美国大多数失聪的人借助语言障碍矫正能发声，但他们还是觉得肢体语言交流更方便些。现在德克萨斯州的A&M大学研究出一种可以实现美国手语和非手语互译的可穿戴设备。

The smart device is the brainchild of a team led by Biomedical Engineering Associate Professor Roozbeh Jafari. It uses two separate sensors to translate intricate ASL gestures into plain English. The first that is fitted with an accelerometer and gyroscope keeps track of the significant movements - the user's hand and arm as he/she tries to communicate.

这项发明是生物医学工程助理教授Roozbeh Jafari带队研发的。它主要通过两个独立的传感器把复杂的手语转换成常见英文。第一个传感器内置加速器和回转仪，用来追踪用户交流时手和手臂做的主要动作。

The second sensor helps distinguish the smaller movements that follow, the larger ones. The two sensors working in tandem help provide an accurate interpretation of the gesture.

第二个传感器帮助辨认主要动作后的小型动作。两个传感器一前一后配合，提供相对准确的手势翻译。

However, there is still some work to be done before the technology can be used in the real world. For one, it currently recognizes just 40 primary ESL signs, which means that it has thousands more to learn. Also, the smart device only translates one word at a time making ordinary conversations painfully slow.

然而，正式普及大众使用之前，这项发明还有待完善。首先，现在它只能辨认40种主要的英文手势，还有上千的英文手势需要加入；其次，它每次只能翻译一个单词，这严重拉低的日常交流的速度。

The Texas team is not the only one working on making conversation between ASL and non-ASL users easier. In China, researchers have created a motion sensing device that translates Chinese Sign Language into both spoken and written words. With so many brilliant minds focused on finding a solution, communication difficulties experienced by ASL users may soon be a thing of the past!

除了德克萨斯的团队，还有其他致力于使手语和非手语之间交流简单化的国家。中国的研究者就发明了一种可以把中式手语同时翻译成有声语言和文字的动作传感器。现在有这么多有才的发明家致力于解决这个问题，美国手语交流的人群遇到的困难将很快成为过去。

译文属可可英语原创，未经允许，不得转载。