AcceleGlove

Born in the state of Puebla, Mexico, Dr. José Hernandez-Rebollar, Ph.D. is a young scientist making a reputation as an innovator on a mission. Long before he became a doctoral candidate at George Washington University, Jose Hernandez-Rebollar had wondered about the possibilities of creating a way for deaf people to translate sign language into sound by electronic means.  
    Dr. Hernandez-Rebollar came to the U.S. and George Washington University in 1998 on a Fulbright scholarship, after completing his undergraduate and master's work at University of Puebla, in Mexico. He later worked at the National Institute of Astrophysics, Optics, and Electronics (INAOE), where he was involved in building the antenna control systems for what was to become the largest telescope in the world. He received his Ph.D. at GWU in 2003.
    The transition from Mexico to America was not an easy one for Dr. Hernandez-Rebollar and he has commented that he wished he had learned more English and garnered a greater understanding of other cultures before studying abroad.  Still, Dr. Hernandez-Rebollar persisted and has learned to adapt and thrive in the United States.

    As a visiting assistant professor of electrical engineering at George Washington University, Dr. Hernandez-Rebollar devoted more than three years to helping the deaf communicate more easily with the hearing world. His work has since resulted in the invention of an electronic glove, called the AcceleGlove, that can turn American Sign Language gestures into spoken words or text.
    Here's how it works: The glove is placed on the hand and strapped to the arm, allowing sensors on the glove to generate signals from the movement, orientation, and positioning of the hand and the fingers in relation to the body. These signals are analyzed by a microcontroller to find the position of the fingers and hand trajectory. Still a work in progress, the AcceleGlove can recognize over 300 words.
    It's estimated that between 500,000 to 2,000,000 persons in the U.S. use American Sign Language, but interest in the AcceleGlove goes beyond the deaf community. When it is perfected, the glove also could be used to teach ASL. Or it could be modified for use in virtual reality or military settings, or for different forms of sign language.
    "The idea is not to fix deafness," Dr. Hernandez-Rebollar says. "The idea is to provide an instrument that can translate ASL to other languages."  
    Initially the AcceleGlove was programmed to translate ASL to English and Spanish, because those are the languages the doctor speaks.  However, Dr. Hernandez-Rebollar sees a bright future for the device.  "I think it will one day enable people to sign from North America throughout Latin America without learning a new sign language," he says.  
    Combining two of Dr. Hernandez-Rellobar's passions; helping others and inventing new electronic devices, the AcceleGlove could prove a revolutionary commodity to the deaf and hearing communities alike.