Abstract
<jats:p>Sign Language is the means for deaf people to communicate - they are more visually oriented people since most are deprived of the ability to hear and consequently, to speak in return. However, most non-deaf or ordinary people are incapable of communicating and understanding sign language. This study aims to develop wireless voice-generating gloves using Arduino that aid the deaf in communicating with normal people by translating signs and gestures into synthetic speech. In being able to do feedback, a normal person’s voice is transcribed into text as he/she presses the microphone button on the MIT App Inventor-developed mobile application named “FSL” before he/she speaks and then the text will display on the glove’s attached 20x4 LCD Screen for the deaf user to be able to receive the former’s response - two-way communication. The study envisions bridging the gaps in similar previous innovations for the beneficiary to benefit from the project fully. Through the quantitative method in the lens of the Technology Acceptance Model by Fred Davis (1989), a survey on Perceived Usefulness (PU) and Perceived Ease of Use (PEU) is administered to 20 respondents - Grade 7 and 8 deaf students of Parañaque National High School - Special Education Department (SPED), as well as Grades 5 and 6 deaf students of Las Piñas Elementary School Central - SPED. In the findings, to be able to perform in class better (e.g., assignments and projects) is the highlighted PU with the level of “Quite Likely,” while the PEU level is also “Quite Likely” due to the newness of the technology to the students, which underlines that there is still some perceived difficulty in using it. The core purpose of this intervention is to aid young deaf individuals in seeing the bigger horizons they ought to see and to make them feel that they are never isolated or treated as outcasts in today’s world equipped with technology.</jats:p>