A group of Filipino students from the Technological Institute of the Philippines (TIP) won second place at the HooHacks Hackathon 2021 with SignTech, an app that translates sign language.
Members of the team that made the software are 2nd-year Information Technology (IT) students Manuel James Morillo, Ciandra Pancho, Melchizedek Recalde, and James Bonnel Reyes.
Jenelyn Aranas, the students’ coach, guided the team to defeat other teams around the world in the Hackathon’s Competition’s Accessibility and Empowerment Prize Track category.
SignTech is an app made to help deaf and mute people to communicate with those who can hear and speak, using videos, sound, and text. It also has features that make it accessible to both hearing and non-hearing users.
With Learn, users have access to sign language video tutorials and articles through the app. The Maps section also shows deaf-friendly establishments nearby. Sign Language can also be recorded and translated in real-time, while voice can be quickly converted to text.
The students encourage everyone, not just people with disabilities, to learn sign language as a way of communication.