Students at the Bengaluru-based Amrita School of Engineering’s Amrita Robotics Research Lab have developed a prototype of a “smart glove” called MUDRA that converts hand gestures based on Indian Sign Language (ISL) into spoken English. The glove is made of plastic and much larger than the kind you’d slip on before a bikeride.

The glove is less ungainly than the jangle of wires protruding from it which are connected to a personal computer, from where various gestures are electronically decoded and translated into speech using the machine’s speakers. Here the device works because of sensors placed on each finger. Various signs which correspond to letters and concepts are interpreted based on how these sensors interpret the varied shapes formed by the fingers.

The glove can recognise numbers from 1 to 10, and ISL gestures corresponding to words such as ‘morning’, ‘night’, ‘goodbye’, ‘thank you’, etc. It can detect four different states of each finger and configure as many as 70 gestures.“Going ahead, these speakers will be in-built into the glove,” says H.R. Nandi Vardhan, who led a team of engineering undergraduates to develop the apparatus. “The big challenge, however, is to teach the system to recognise a much larger database of gestures and adapt it to be used in regional languages,” he adds.

Slow growth for sign language

According to various government and independent reports, there are 5-7 million hearing-impaired people in India though there aren’t firm estimates of how many of them are formally trained in sign language. There has been a lot of work over the years to standardise signs and gestures, used across several Indian languages, and use them to develop educational material for the hearing-impaired. However, there has been relatively little progress in enabling users of sign language to reach out to a wider audience, which is where applications like a smart glove can be handy.

In April, two students at the University of Washington bagged a $10,000 prize for designing a set of gloves that translated gestures into speech using a sensor system similar to the one Nandi Vardhan’s team used. ‘MotionSavvy Uni’ is another gesture-driven technology tool for sign language-users that can translate nearly 300 of the American Sign Language’s 50,000 signs to text via a tablet interface.

The students associated with the Amrita project, Abhijith Bhaskaran, Anoop G. Nair, Deepak Ram and Krishnan Ananthanarayanan, say that affordability and the efficiency of the underlying algorithms powering the system are a key differentiator for their glove. “The glove is much cheaper compared to similar gesture-sensing products available today. The prototype took us 16 weeks to build and costs Rs.7,500,” says Mr. Bhaskaran.

India has its very own alphabet of signs and symbols called ISL. In 2001, the Ramakrishna Mission released the first Indian Sign Language Dictionary, which documented over 2,500 signs from 12 States, to provide a common sign language code. The Ramakrishna Mission and other organisations involved with hearing-impaired communities have since systemised ISL teaching materials, degree programmes and training sessions to popularise it in India.

Institutions such as the Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati, and the Indian Institute of Information Technology, Allahabad, have dedicated laboratories to use technology that can help sign language users communicate more effectively with those who use spoken language.Last September, the Union Cabinet cleared a proposal to set up a dedicated research and training centre for sign language users.

Android phone users felt left out when Prisma was released to iOS phones recently. The app developed by Prisma labs has finally come to Android devices after weeks of waiting, and it is now available on Google Play Store for download.Prisma is a photo editing app that went viral when it was launched in June. It is second only to augmented reality (AR) mobile game Pokemon Go in terms of hype and craze a mobile app has created this summer.

It was initially released only on iOS and reportedly got over a million downloads till July 14. The number will only grow now that it has come to Andorid.There are several apps like Instagram, Pikazo, VSCO and Mextures where photos can be edited, but Prisma is a class apart for more reasons than one. It uses artificial intelligence algorithms rather than just filters to generate images, giving an arty feel to the picture.

“Prisma transforms your photos into artworks using the styles of famous artists: Munk, Picasso as well as world famous ornaments and patterns. A unique combination of neural networks and artificial intelligence helps you turn memorable moments into timeless art,” reads the description of the app on Google Play Store.
The app uses about 36 filters, and many take cues from famous painters, making the final outcome all the more authentic.
Pros of the app

– It is a free app (no loyalty fee)

– Easy privacy policy

– Direct share option on social media

– Size and quality of photos remain the same after editing unlike other apps
Cons of the app

– It takes a few seconds to apply a filter and convert your picture into art

– It takes 15MB space

– It has many bugs

– It needs internet connection, so error may occur if connection is weak

Prisma may not be perfect but is the most happening photo editing app at the moment. The way it turns a simple digital picture into a piece of art in just a few seconds will thrill most people. Photography and art lovers are hooked to it just as gamers are hooked to Pokemon Go, which has been released in 36 countries so far.Prisma app is currently available for download on Google Play Store.