Electronic rings wirelessly connected to an AI system are capable of translating multiple sign languages into text, a new study finds. “I believe this is an important step toward making sign language translation systems more practical, lightweight, and usable in real-world environments,” says Ki Jun Yu, an associate professor of electrical and electronic engineering at Yonsei University in Korea. More than 300 differen tsign languages are used worldwide, and many research projects are developing translation devices for communicating with people who do not know a sign language. However, these projects have faced many setbacks.

For example, some projects used cameras and computer vision algorithms to recognize hand gestures. However, these were typically limited to controlled settings with fixed cameras, and were sensitive to lighting variations and other forms of interference. Other devices relied on wearable sensors that detected either hand motions or electrical signals linked with muscle activity. However, a common kind of wearable sensor, smart gloves, trapped heat and moisture, making prolonged use uncomfortable, and their fixed sensors failed to account for individual…