LabVIEW based Sign Language Trainer cum portable display unit for the speech impaired

According to the World Federation of the Deaf (WFD), only about 10 percent of the world's Deaf population receives any education, and only 1 percent receives this education in sign language[1]. Another problem these deaf and speech impaired people face is inability to communicate with a person who does not understand the sign language. This project aims to eliminate these problems by presenting a Sign Language Trainer using LabVIEW and a portable display unit for the deaf and speech impaired. The project uses a haptic glove to acquire signals corresponding to various hand gestures. The glove is interfaced with LabVIEW using an Arduino. LabVIEW is programmed so as to acquire and recognize different hand gestures, thereby displaying the corresponding alphabet on the screen and converting it into speech. Additionally, the kit consists of a wirelessly operated portable display unit which can be used to convey messages to a person who does not understand the sign language. This display unit works by converting the sign language gestures into text and displaying it on LCD display.