Google makes software to read aloud sign language

Google has developed software that could pave the way for smartphones to interpret sign language. The tech firm has not made a product of its own but has published algorithms which it hopes developers will use to make their own apps. Until now, this type of software has only worked on PCs. But campaigners from the hearing-impaired community have welcomed the move, but say the tech might struggle to fully grasp some conversations. In an AI blog, Google research engineers Valentin Bazarevsky and Fan Zhang said the intention of the freely published hand-tracking technology - which can perceive the shape and motion of hands - was to serve as "the basis for sign language understanding".