A umi product

/sign

True motion to meaning. Nothing lost in translation.

Translating motion. Understanding meaning. Universal expression and intent, conveyed in real time — built with the Deaf community, not around it.

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01 — The convergence

It was never a translation problem. It was a convergence problem.

Human communication doesn't travel through words alone. It moves through thousands of simultaneous signals.

Existing systems reduce sign language to a dictionary. We model the motion that creates meaning.

  • Hands
  • Body geometry
  • 3D skeletal motion
  • Facial anatomy
  • Micro-expression
  • Macro-expression
  • Timing
  • Velocity
  • Inflection
  • Context
  • Intent

Six technologies. One engine.

One engine, built in layers.

Not six products bolted together. One proprietary engine, engineered as layers that only work as a whole.

  1. 01VisionDeep 3D capture reads the hands, body and face in three dimensions — no gloves, no sensors.
  2. 02MotionSkeletal and gesture modeling tracks the true movement that carries meaning, frame by frame.
  3. 03ExpressionMicro- and macro-expression are read as language, not noise.
  4. 04LanguageContext and intent resolve into real meaning, then translate across languages.
  5. 05VoiceNatural, real-time multilingual speech renders the reply aloud.
  6. 06InferenceGPU-fast inference delivers it live, over end-to-end encrypted streams. Under a second.

Six layers. One unified intelligence.

02 — How it works

A complete two-way conversation, fully automated.

/sign runs both directions at once, so a Deaf and a hearing person can talk naturally through a single device — no human in the loop, no waiting.

Pathway A · Deaf → Hearing

The camera reads signs and speaks them aloud.

  1. 01CaptureThe camera films the Deaf user signing — no wearables, gloves or sensors.
  2. 02RecognizeHand and body keypoints are extracted frame-by-frame and decoded into language.
  3. 03TranslatePredictive translation begins before the sentence finishes, designed to scale to 300+ languages.
  4. 04SpeakNatural synthesized speech plays aloud for the hearing person to hear.

Pathway B · Hearing → Deaf

Spoken replies become captions and a signing avatar.

  1. 01ListenThe hearing person simply talks; their speech is captured and transcribed.
  2. 02TranslateWords are translated back into the Deaf user's own sign language.
  3. 03CaptionLive captions appear on screen as the conversation unfolds.
  4. 04SignA signing avatar renders the reply visually, completing the loop.

Engineering targets for the /sign architecture. Verified benchmarks will be published in the technology whitepaper as the pipeline is built.

< 3s
Target end-to-end translation latency
ASL → EN
First language pair in active development
Polylingual
Architected for 300+ sign languages
Any phone
No wearables or special sensors

03 — Why now

This is normal. It should not be.

Under the ADA and Section 1557, effective communication is already required — yet fewer than 14,000 certified interpreters serve 48 million Americans with hearing loss.

The clinical reality

A Deaf patient arrives at the ER. There is no interpreter on site, so one is dialed in on a cart — if a line is free. Otherwise the exam proceeds through hurried notes and a worried family member, in one of the most private moments of a person’s life.

The everyday reality

A daughter wants to tell her father about her day. A customer wants to open an account. A student wants to ask a question. Each is a small, human connection — and each one waits on a scheduled interpreter who isn’t there.

48M+
Americans are deaf or hard of hearing and need accessible communication.
$1M
DOJ settlement fund for ~400 interpreter failures across 41 facilities.
Section 504
Updated by HHS in 2024 with new digital accessibility standards.
40%
Of interpreters projected lost by 2030 in some states — a declared crisis.

Trust is the whole point

Privacy, autonomy and accessibility, built in from the ground up.

Compliance by design

Architected to support HIPAA and GDPR-grade privacy, so effective communication is built into the product, not bolted on.

Built with the community

Designed with Deaf and hard-of-hearing voices, to restore autonomy and privacy — never to “fix” anyone.

Advisory board forming

We are assembling clinical, accessibility and community advisors, and we’ll name them here as they join.

04 — Questions

The honest answers.

What /sign does, what it doesn't, and what we're still building.

  • No. /sign is built for the everyday and on-demand moments where no interpreter is available — it expands access rather than removing the certified interpreter where one is required.

  • No. The conversation is fully automated, both directions, with no human in the loop.

  • Yes. The system is architected for HIPAA and GDPR-grade privacy, running live over end-to-end encrypted streams.

  • The video, audio and orchestration layers are already built. The gesture-recognition layer that completes the loop is the layer we are training now and preparing to launch.

  • The design target is under three seconds end-to-end. Third-party-verified figures will follow in the technology whitepaper.

  • It is built to support effective-communication obligations under the ADA and Section 1557, on the devices you already own.

  • Any phone or tablet. No wearables, gloves or special sensors.

  • The engine is architected to be polylingual, scaling toward 300+ sign languages, beginning with ASL → English.

05 — One next step for everyone

Wherever you're coming from, there's a place in what we're building.

For the community

Deaf, hard-of-hearing & families

Built with the Deaf community, not around it — paid contribution work, a genuine voice and a real partnership.

For the Deaf community

For business

Banks, dealerships, retail & more

Serve every customer and meet your ADA obligation with instant, on-demand translation on the devices you already use.

Become a launch partner

For healthcare

Hospitals, clinics & practices

Deliver equitable, compliant care with on-demand translation the moment you need it. Bring /sign to your patients as an early clinical site.

Request clinical info

For investors

Backing human communication

Explore the vision, market and roadmap behind Universal Motion Intelligence and its first expression.

Investor overview

Universal access isn't an if. It's a when.

/sign turns human motion into meaning, so a Deaf person and a hearing person can simply talk — in any language, on demand.

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