Yes, the prototype looks very crude with all the exposed circuitry and wires, but this is quite the remarkable little contraption by three engineering students from Cornell University. It’s a power glove that can effectively be used as a sign language translator.
Before you get too excited about the prospects, right now the glove is only able to “translate” the different letters of the alphabet, so it’s not able to translate the signs for specific words just yet. There is also only one glove, so any sign that would involve both hands wouldn’t be possible either. That said, as a working prototype, it’s still quite impressive.
The glove contains a series of contact sensors, flex sensors, and accelerometers to determine the hand and finger position of the user. The glove can then communicate wirelessly through the transceiver back to a computer that can display or audibly read out the signed letters. The students have even created a basic game where you sign the letters as they fall from the top of the screen.
Some work could be done with advancing into more complex signs, speeding up performance, and cleaning up the appearance, but as you can see in the video below, the ASL translator glove definitely works.