Ishara

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Inspiration

Ishara was inspired by the need and desire to make healthcare more inclusive for the deaf community by using technology. Through research, we realized that the deaf community misses out or struggle to get the most fundamental access to healthcare information. If this could be mitigated, then members on the deaf community would have easy access to healthcare that would result in better health for them

What it does

Ishara is an AI powered software that translates Kenya sign language (KSL) to text or speech, and text and speech to Kenyan sign language without the need of a human mediator.

How we built it

Ishara was build by combining of multiple field of technology including AI/ML, software developments and 3D animation and design.

Challenges we ran into

The field of sign language translation with AI is a relatively new field in AI and very much still under major development and research. The major challenge was in developing the AI model needed to accomplish unique kind of translation from KSL to spoken words.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

As of this moment, completing the Ishara prototype is our biggest accomplishment proving that such a solution can be built and deployed for use.

What we learned

We have learnt much about the deaf community and their mode of communication, we have also learned much about AI development, start up mentality and acquired much knowledge that can ensure further development of this solution

What's next for Ishara

The Ishara team is committed to scaling this solution to make it accessible to those in need of it. We also have a data collection plan which will be used to collect reliable Kenya Sign Language data which will be critical in improving the solution and make it useful for other fields such as Education and media