SignON (https://signon-project.eu/) is a Horizon 2020 project, running from 2021 until the end of 2023, which addresses the lack of technology and services for the automatic translation between sign languages (SLs) and spoken languages, through an inclusive, human-centric solution, hence contributing to the repertoire of communication media for deaf, hard of hearing (DHH) and hearing individuals. In this paper, we present an update of the status of the project, describing the approaches developed to address the challenges and peculiarities of SL machine translation (SLMT).

The SignON project (www.signon-project.eu) focuses on the research and development of a Sign Language (SL) translation mobile application and an open communications framework. SignON rectifies the lack of technology and services for the automatic translation between signed and spoken languages, through an inclusive, humancentric solution which facilitates communication between deaf, hard of hearing (DHH) and hearing individuals. We present an overview of the current status of the project, describing the milestones reached to date and the approaches that are being developed to address the challenges and peculiarities of Sign Language Machine Translation (SLMT).

SignON is an EU Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation project, that is developing a smartphone application and an open framework to facilitate translation between different European sign, spoken and text languages. The framework will incorporate state of the art sign language recognition and presentation, speech processing technologies and, in its core, multi-modal, cross-language machine translation. The framework, dedicated to the computationally heavy tasks and distributed on the cloud powers the application – a lightweight app running on a standard mobile device. The application and framework are being researched, designed and developed through a co-creation user-centric approach with the European deaf and hard of hearing communities. In this session, the speakers will detail their progress, challenges and lessons learned in the early-stage development of the application and framework. They will also present their Agile DevOps approach and the next steps in the evolution of the SignON project.