A baby can respond to touch in the womb. It’s the first sense to develop, and for blind people it is particularly important.
Now, a bioengineering graduate from Boston is developing a robotic hand that will enable deaf-blind people to communicate without the need for an interpreter.
Her hand is computer-controlled and designed to produce tactile sign language.
The technology is still in its infancy, but the robot is learning more and more signs from American Sign Language and will soon be able to mimic all the most important gestures with its fingers.
It could help at home, with email correspondence, for example, or in public places such as the doctor’s surgery.
Language at your fingertips.
