Along with easy-to-follow lessons, the app also offers a 3D avatar that demonstrates signing movements from different angles to facilitate a user’s learning.
The team are also using a Artificial Intelligence recognition feature that can detect whether a user is signing correctly.
To refine their product, they sought feedback from the Singapore Asssociation for the Deaf as well as a volunteer group under the NTU Welfare Services Club that regularly organises initiatives supporting the deaf community.
“We received positive feedback on our approach of focusing our lessons on simple daily conversations as the lessons are simple enough for beginners to learn and the content is relevant for everyday interactions,” said Mr Rachman, adding that this made the learning process more accessible.
The team do not have a timeline yet on when the app will be available to the public.
KITCHENWARE FOR VISUALLY IMPAIRED HITS THE SHELVES
Another innovation by a youth to help individuals with disability is now in the market, four years after the design was picked as the Singapore National Winner at the 2018 James Dyson Award.
Folks Kitchenware by designer Kevin Chiam was launched for sale in March by collectibles retailer Mighty Jaxx, with proceeds channelled to Guide Dogs Singapore, a non-profit organisation that helps people with vision loss
Like the NTU trio, 30-year-old Mr Chiam was also looking for a meaningful way to cap off his bachelors’ degree journey at the National University of Singapore.
Inspiration came when he watched how a chef with visual impairment Christine Ha was crowned champion in the popular cooking competition, MasterChef.
He found out that MasterChef Ha’s speediness in the kitchen was achieved through long and rigorous practice, which can be demoralising at the start.
He said that this “seeded the concept” of helping a person with visual disability more safely work in the kitchen.
Mr Chiam got feedback from people who experience vision loss to ensure that potential solutions were really suitable for them and not merely based on his assumptions
This was how he came to realise that one of his initial ideas of having a motorised blade to “keep users away from the knife as far as possible” was not feasible, …….