Students create revolutionary app for translation into Libras

Although it may be known by many, Libras is still practiced by few. Brazilian Sign Language is a form of visual communication used by deaf or hearing impaired people and is an official language of our country, but most people are unaware of it.

This language has its own grammar and psychology, which allows users to communicate effectively with each other. In addition to the well-known signs, which are made with the fingers, hands, arms and body, Libras uses facial expressions and body movements to convey information and ideas.

However, according to information shared by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), only an average of 22% of 10 million deaf or hearing impaired people know how to communicate using this language method, while approximately 78% of this number have no idea how to use this resource.

This is because deafness is still a stigma in Brazil. With this in mind, some high school students decided to create a revolutionary app for translate Libras!

A sign of empathy

One of the teenagers responsible for the project’s creation is Luisa Ribeiro Teixeira, 15, a student at the National Commercial Apprenticeship Service (SENAC) in São Paulo. She states that:

“If you search for applications that translate Libras into Portuguese, in addition to there being a small number of platforms that propose to do this, they do not have this two-way communication. So, you won’t be able to communicate with a person on the street.”

Alongside Sarah Teixeira Willig, who is the same age, Luisa set up a project to develop an app to translate Libras called Translate Me.

The objective is to translate Sign Language into Portuguese, so that it becomes more understandable for people who do not know how to use it, as well as to take messages from Portuguese to Libras, if the deaf person is literate in the language.

How does the Libras translation app work?

Apparently, the system within the app will analyze the images of the individual who is using sign language and translate it into Portuguese. Likewise, when showing a text to the app, it will transform it into Libras so that the deaf person can understand it.

This entire project was developed in order to bring more inclusion to hearing impaired people in Brazilian society, thus enabling them to easily participate in the same activities that hearing people have access to, such as job interviews.

When asked about the objective of this project, student Sarah Teixeira Willig comments that:

“For example, in a job interview between a deaf person and a hearing interviewer, it is very complicated, they need to call a translator, there is this disparity in communication.

With our app, anyone could communicate with a deaf person, they don’t need to know Libras well when hiring someone, so it would be as quick as possible, because the easier this communication is, the more inclusion we will have.”