Netizens laud CSPC students who developed speech device

By Zyra D. Ponce

Five electrical engineering students of the Camarines Sur Polytechnic Colleges (CSPC) in Nabua, Camarines Sur, were lauded by netizens after they developed a prototype of a trainable gloves that can interpret Filipino sign language and translates it into speech, effectively giving voice to the voiceless.

These students are: Francis Anthony de Guzman, the team leader; Rency Galan Dela Cruz; Klenn Arvin Alcibor; Joana Jimenez; and Andrea Moran.

According to De Guzman, the prototype device, their thesis project, is a trainable customized gloves that can interpret Filipino sign language and convert it into speech.

As shown in their video demonstration, the device primarily consists of thin motorcycle-like gloves, motion tracking sensors and a translating device, which interprets the flexes of the finger and hand gestures.

“Flex sensors for the finger movement, MPU-6050 for the angular rotation of the hand, this data will be send via WiFi to the computer for processing”, De Guzman said demonstrating how their project works and introducing the main components embedded in the smart-glove speech converter.

The tracking device uses a finger and hand gestures, which eventually convert them into data and sent to a computer via WiFi for data processing.

Netizens who liked and commented on the Facebook video posted by De Guzman urged the group members to secure a patent for their device that will surely benefit persons with speech and hearing impairment.

This device will give voice to the deaf and speech impaired people. With this the communication barrier can be lessen allowing the deaf and speech impaired people to express themselves and give them opportunity to grow in their respective careers”, one of the students said.

The group also dedicated their invention to one of their members who passed away last year.

As of press time, De Guzman’s FB post garnered some 96,000 reactions and 39,000 shares.