WASHINGTON: Two 20-somethings whose friendship began in a college technology lab are receiving national recognition for an invention that could revolutionize communications.
Last month, University of Washington sophomores Navid Azodi and Thomas Pryor won the 2016 Lemelson-MIT Student Prize for creating “SignAloud,” gloves that recognize American Sign Language hand gestures and translate them into text and speech.
Worn on both hands, the gloves contain sensors that record movement and send the data wirelessly via Bluetooth to a central computer that interprets words and phrases through a speaker.
The team was one of seven winners in the “Use It” category, which recognizes technology-based inventions to improve consumer devices. They were awarded $10,000.
For Azodi, a business executive and aeronautics major from Kent, Wash., the idea came from personal experience: When he was 18 months old, a severe seizure left him unable to speak.
“I didn’t talk until I was seven years old,” he told NBC News. I had to go to speech therapy for years.”
Doctors said Azodi would be disabled and suggested he focus on English and sign language.
Although born in the United States, Azodi’s parents were from Iran and spoke Persian.
“I understood what it was like to have a communication barrier and saw how technology could be a useful tool,” he said.
