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Nvidia (NVDA-0.32%) is launching an artificial intelligence-powered platform for learners of American Sign Language — the third-most prevalently used language in the U.S.
Together with the American Society for Deaf Children and creative agency Hello Monday, Nvidia developed an interactive web platform called Signs to support ASL learning. The platform will also provide a dataset validated by fluent ASL users and interpreters that developers can use to build more accessible AI applications.
Signs features a library of ASL signs for learners to improve their vocabulary, as well as a 3D avatar teacher. Learners can get real-time feedback on their signing via an AI tool that analyzes webcam footage. The platform initially has 100 signs, and is focused on hand movements and finger positions. Users can also learn the meanings of different facial expressions and head movements.
Nvidia said it wants to grow the signs library to 400,000 video clips for 1,000 signed words. Signs users can contribute to the video dataset, which is open-source. The company added that it plans to make the dataset available to the public for building accessible AI agents, video conferencing features, and other AI tools.
“Most deaf children are born to hearing parents. Giving family members accessible tools like Signs to start learning ASL early enables them to open an effective communication channel with children as young as six to eight months old,” Cheri Dowling, executive director of the American Society for Deaf Children, said in a statement. “And knowing that professional ASL teachers have validated all the vocabulary on the platform, users can be confident in what they’re learning.”
The company is currently working with the Rochester Institute of Technology’s Center for Accessibility and Inclusion Research to improve the platform, and is looking to include regional and slang terms in the Signs library. The dataset will be released sometime this year, Nvidia said, and the ASL learning service is live now.
Meanwhile, Nvidia is preparing for its annual GPU Technology Conference in March, where attendees can also use Signs. The company is set to report its fiscal fourth-quarter earnings next week.