Development of Estonia’s first sign language interpreter robot begins

For the first time in Estonia, a prototype of a sign language interpreter robot will be developed that will automatically translate spoken and written Estonian into Estonian Sign Language. A robot in the form of a video avatar that mimics signing will assist the sign language community in everyday situations where interpreting support has previously been unavailable.

The initial focus of the prototype will be on transport announcements on the information screens at airports and railway stations, news broadcasts, and descriptions of museum exhibits. Besides audio translation, textual translation is also crucial, as written Estonian is a foreign language for those whose native language is Estonian Sign Language.

“The idea of developing a sign language robot is truly commendable and necessary, as it helps bring everyday information closer to people – whether in public institutions, shopping and activity centres, and transport hubs. This kind of solution supports the shaping of a more accessible society and increases the opportunities for deaf people to access information independently. The Estonian Association of the Deaf fully supports this project,” commented Sirle Papp, Chair of the Estonian Association of the Deaf.

According to Mark Fišel, Professor of Natural Language Processing of the University of Tartu Institute of Computer Science, the project presents a scientific challenge for their research group. “The sign language interpreter robot based on artificial intelligence lays the foundation for the emergence of an entirely new research field in Estonia,” said Fišel.

For the Institute of the Estonian Language, the sign language interpreter robot is part of a broader mission. “Our goal is to ensure that the Estonian language and the Estonian Sign Language move into the digital age together. This is not just about technology, but about access and equal opportunities,” noted Kadri Vare, Head of the Department of Language and Speech Technology the Institute of the Estonian Language.

The project’s results will be tested in collaboration with the deaf community. It is hoped that this will also mark the beginning of a new research field that combines language technology and sign language research in Estonia.

A sign language news broadcast with subtitles can be found here. The file can be downloaded here.

The project is led by the Institute of the Estonian Language. Project partners are the University of Tartu Institute of Computer Science, STACC and Texta. The project is funded in cooperation with the Government Office’s Innovation Fund from the resources of the European Union Cohesion Policy for the 2021–2027 period under the measure “Enhancing the Innovation Capacity of the Public Sector”.