A presentation at the final
From an intelligent sign language interpretation system to job opportunities for people with autism, 18 teams reached the final of the 2024 Shanghai Social Organization Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition.
The competition aims to boost the employment of university graduates, promote the development of social organizations and the landing of public welfare projects.
Hosted by the Shanghai Civil Affairs Bureau, the competition has become a platform for integrating cultivation, empowerment, display, and exchange.
In its 6th version, this year’s competition attracted 401 teams, a record high. On-site road shows and evaluations were conducted. The participants included 172 teams from 58 universities across the country.
Finger Dance, an award-winning project, is dedicated to building “information accessibility infrastructure for the global deaf community.”
Sign language interpretation for the deaf still faces a significant supply gap. Initiated by a group of students from Tongji University, Peking University, and the National University of Singapore, this intelligent system is based on advanced AI sign language large model technology, which can help the deaf and others communicate in real-time.
Ti Gong
Outstanding programs receive their awards.
“The system is very easy to use,” explained team leader Cheng Sirui during the final.
“With resource algorithms deployed in the Cloud, it can transform sign language into speech and text output, and it can also transform external speech and text into digital animations of sign language, spreading in the opposite direction to multiple people, similar to the two-way communication of a live sign language interpreter.”
The idea originated with a communication experience with deaf people, said Cheng.
“We want to help them and the system helps the group achieve equal and real-time communication and be better engaged into the society,” he said.
In addition to fund support, the competition will recommend representative projects participate in the “Charity +” project cooperation display during the Shanghai Philanthropy Week and be included in the city’s social organization project support plan.
The public welfare entrepreneurship training camp, which was launched on Friday, will help social organizations innovate and grow through training, fund-raising support, and public display in the six months after the competition.