In a groundbreaking achievement, Eshara, an AI-powered Arabic sign language translator utilizing avatars, has been awarded the prestigious 2024 UAE James Dyson Award. This innovative project, developed by three engineering students from the American University of Sharjah, addresses a pressing need in the Middle East: the lack of readily available Arabic sign language translation services.
Eshara aligns seamlessly with the UAE’s ongoing commitment to improving the lives of people of determination. By focusing on Arabic sign language, the platform provides a much-needed solution for facilitating communication between the hard-of-hearing and the general public in the region, where traditional translation services often fall short.
Inspiration and Innovation
The Eshara team was inspired by a conversation with the African Sign Languages Resource Center (ASLRC), where they witnessed firsthand the daily challenges faced by the hard-of-hearing community. Fueled by a desire to foster inclusivity,they set out to leverage technology and bridge the communication gap.
The students embarked on a journey of extensive research and development, building multiple prototypes along the way.They compiled a dataset of 62,000 videos of themselves signing to train their deep learning model, culminating in a robust system that translates both sign-to-text and text-to-sign.
The resulting web application is both accessible and user-friendly. Users can sign gestures via their phone camera, which are then translated into text in real-time, eliminating the need for specialized equipment. To enhance personalization, the team also developed custom avatars, meticulously animated to resemble themselves, that convert text messages back into sign language.
Recognition and Future Plans
Winning the James Dyson Award is a testament to Eshara’s ingenuity and potential impact. Salma Shaarawi, a member of the Eshara team, expressed her excitement about the recognition and the opportunity to further develop their invention,breaking down communication barriers with new technologies.
With the £5,000 prize money, the team plans to expand Eshara’s capabilities. They intend to create a mobile app and broaden the system’s support to include additional Arabic dialects and even other sign languages beyond Arabic,extending their impact globally.
Eshara’s journey has just begun. This innovation stands as a beacon of hope, demonstrating how technology can empower individuals and promote a more inclusive society for everyone.
