The problem
More than 70 million deaf people worldwide use sign language, yet interpreters remain limited, costly, and inconsistent — so deaf and hard-of-hearing people face barriers at hospitals, government counters, classrooms, and transport hubs. Written text is no fix, because sign languages differ structurally from spoken and written languages.
How it works
ChatSign’s in-house AI model translates speech into sign language performed by an AI avatar, while a camera feed runs through a computer-vision model that transcribes a signer’s signs back into speech. Translation runs both directions in real time, aimed at front desks and public spaces rather than one-to-one appointments.
Pain points
Booking interpreters for every interaction, long waits at service counters, written notices that sign-first users process with difficulty, and institutions that treat accessibility as expensive human staffing instead of built-in infrastructure.
Business model
No public pricing yet — the team is seeking pilot partners across six target settings (culture and tourism, education, government, front desks, transport, commercial spaces), pointing to institutional licences or deployed devices rather than a consumer app.
Challenges
Still a pre-commercial spin-out: real-world signing accuracy must be proven in noisy public settings, sign-language data has to be collected with the deaf community at scale, and the patent-protected system must become something budget-holders actually procure. The team is in discussions with potential partners across sectors and continents as it prepares pilot deployments.
Funding
- Raised: nothing disclosed — paper stage, funding MISSING.
- Valuation: MISSING.
Latest — May 2026
NYU Abu Dhabi launched ChatSign as a commercial AI spin-out on 18 May 2026 after a live campus deployment to 200+ students in late 2025; the system was slated for the university’s 2026 Commencement Ceremony, and the team has showcased at Make it in the Emirates, Dubai AI Week, and AccessAbilities Expo, reaching the GITEX Expand North Star semi-finals.