Specialists from atlanTTic, a member of the CIGUS Network, develop cutting-edge technology to improve emergency care for the deaf

The University of Vigo’s Centre for Research in Telecommunication Technologies (atlanTTiC), part of the CIGUS Network, an initiative launched by the regional government (Xunta de Galicia) that groups together centres of proven scientific excellence within the Galician university system, has developed the SignaMed project, a multiplatform dictionary of health terms in the Spanish Sign Language that can be accessed via the website from any device. 

The main objective of this innovative technological proposal is to facilitate care for the deaf by the emergency services, when the immediacy of the situation makes it impossible to resort to the use of sign language interpreters. “There is currently no automatic translator for any of the world’s sign languages. However, this new model recognizes up to 120 signs and variants with an accuracy of 94% and the remaining signs will be included gradually”, explained José Luis Alba, a professor at the School of Telecommunications Engineering and a researcher at atlanTTic, which coordinates the SignaMed project.

The researcher, who highlighted the valuable contribution of the work carried out by atlanTTiC’s Multimedia Technologies Group, went on to highlight that “in addition to the launch of this tool, a series of artificial intelligence models were developed that recognise any sign or variant included in the dictionary as they are incorporated”. The head of this project went on to stress that “in turn, SignaMed will contribute to encouraging cooperation with the deaf community and the inclusion of phrases in Spanish Sign Language (LSE in its Spanish initials) for this application domain”. In this sense, the project has been developed with the cooperation of the Galician Federation of Associations for Deaf Persons (FAXPG) as well as anonymous members of the deaf community.    

Pilot test at the Álvaro Cunqueiro Hospital at the end of 2024

In addition, for several months now, atlantTTiC has been working on the continuation of this initiative. After receiving more than 140,000 euros from Next Generation funds, allocated by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation under the Concept Test format, the group will be launching a pilot test consisting of an automatic interpreting service, capable of understanding short phrases in Spanish Sign Language related to medical emergencies. This new project, which has been named SignaSalud, will be launched in the Accident and Emergency Department at the Álvaro Cunqueiro Hospital in late 2024.