Sign Language Day: Meerut youth’s innovation set to become voice of voiceless

When about a year and a half back Harsh Chauhan, 20, a Meerut-based youth, was commuting in the Delhi Metro, he neither had an idea of sign language nor did he ever think in that direction. He saw two men struggling to prove that they were not doing anything fishy but just trying to communicate among themselves.

What happened at the station, however, not just sensitised him about those who use sign language to communicate but also provided him with a purpose in life.

Now, an engineering student, he has invented a device – Signify – which can help bridge the gap between the mute and normal people. Through this device, sign language can be converted into text and voice using artificial intelligence.

“I saw those men trying to have a conversation among themselves using sign language. At once people thought there was something fishy about them and even the police interrogated them. There was a woman who knew sign language who came to their rescue at that time which helped them to prove that they were not doing anything wrong,” said Chauhan.

He said that even after returning home he was continuously reminded of the two men. “I felt that there was a problem which was required that could help the mute have a conversation with the mainstream,” said Chauhan.

After returning he began researching the possible solutions and ended up making a mobile application, but he soon realised that the technique would not be viable. He was incubated by Meerut Institute of Technology under the innovation hub of Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam Technical University (AKTU).

“After having a conversation with NGOs working with the hearing impaired and mute I understood the need for hardware. After a few months, I ended up making the device, but the main problem was to feed the device with a database. I learnt sign language myself and added letters, important words and sentences to the device and an option to customise the sign language is also left open to the user,” Chauhan added.

The device serves the purpose of becoming a voice to the voiceless. “I invested ₹2.5 lakh, I won in various hackathons and similar online events for the making of the device,” he said.

He won the ‘Best Startup Award’ during the convocation ceremony of AKTU last month. Chauhan has also filed a patent for the product. He was also selected among the 15 start-ups for pitching their start-ups in Raj Bhawan earlier this year.

Currently, the cost of making one device is about ₹15,000 which he believes can be brought down to ₹5,000 once he begins bulk production for the device. “I am trying to bring the device to the market by the end of next year,” said Chauhan.