English → Indian Sign Language
SAYGUY — English to Indian Sign Language
01 — Why ISL
Captions read at you. Sign language speaks with you.
For many Deaf and hard-of-hearing people, sign language — not written English — is their first language. Text captions can leave the warmth, rhythm and meaning behind. SAYGUY closes that gap, turning spoken English into Indian Sign Language built from the movements of real signers. Why captions aren't enough →
02 — See it
See the translation in action.
55 seconds of a real Stanford lecture, signed in ISL. Press play and both run together.
Original lecture · captions on
SAYGUY · ISL translation
Captions show here as the lecture plays.
The word in the signer's top corner is the ISL gloss: the sign being made at that moment. The signer follows a beat behind the speaker, the way a live interpreter does.
Read the transcript
Several years ago, a survey was taken among the students, and they said, what are things we could do to help make you more successful here? And at the top of that list was this notion of responding to cold calls. Does everybody know what a cold call is? It's where the mean professor like me looks at some student and says, what do you think? And there was a lot of panic, and a lot of silence. So as a result of that, this workshop was created, and a vast majority of first year students here at the GSB go through this workshop. So I'm gonna walk you through sort of a hybrid version of what they do. The reality is that spontaneous speaking is actually more prevalent than planned speaking. Perhaps it's giving introductions. You're at a dinner and somebody says, you know so and so, would you mind introducing them? Maybe it's giving feedback. In the moment, your boss turns to you and says, would you tell me what you think? It could be a surprise toast. Or finally, it could be during the Q and A session.
© Creative Commons — No Rights Claimed
Think Fast, Talk Smart — Matt Abrahams, Stanford GSB, recorded October 25, 2014 in collaboration with the Stanford Alumni Association. SayGuy uses this video for demonstration only and does not claim ownership or rights to the original content.
- ~0.5 sfrom the end of a spoken sentence to its signs, live
- Moresigns on the way, added to a wide everyday vocabulary
03 — How it works
From speech to sign.
It listens
Speech recognition turns the speaker's English into text as they talk.
It rewrites in ISL
Each sentence becomes ISL gloss: ISL's own grammar and word order, not English with signs swapped in.
It never guesses
A word with no sign yet is fingerspelled or left out. A visible gap is better than a wrong sign.
04 — Why SAYGUY
Signing, not subtitles.
What it takes for a translation to feel like a conversation in ISL, not captions with hands added.
- 01
Grammar on the face
ISL isn't only hands. The face carries grammar and feeling too, recorded from real signers, with the speaker's tone of voice colouring every expression.
- 02
Live, or on recorded video
Speak into a mic and the signs follow about half a second after each sentence, with a presenter view for the room. Or add the signer to finished video as a clean overlay, and your edit stays as it is.
- 03
A vocabulary that keeps growing
A wide everyday vocabulary today, with more signs on the way. A new sign only needs a recording of a signer, so the language SAYGUY speaks gets richer all the time.
05 — Where it works
Wherever English is spoken.
Classrooms, talks and events
Live signing from a microphone, about half a second behind each sentence. Presenter view clears the screen down to the signer and the signs in large type, readable from the back row.
Recorded video
Courses, explainers and announcements get a signer beside them, without re-editing a single frame.
06 — Questions
Asked and answered.
What is SAYGUY?
SAYGUY translates spoken English into Indian Sign Language (ISL). A signing avatar plays beside your video and signs what is being said, so Deaf and hard-of-hearing viewers can follow in their own language.
Why use sign language instead of captions?
For many Deaf people in India, ISL is their first language and written English is a second one. Captions ask them to read a second language at speaking speed. ISL carries the meaning in its own grammar, with facial expression carrying the tone.
Is the signer a real person?
The signer is a 3D avatar, but every sign it performs is captured from a recording of a real human signer, including hands, face and body. The motion is replayed, not invented.
What happens when a word has no sign?
Short words are fingerspelled; otherwise the word is left out. SAYGUY never guesses at a sign, because a wrong sign misleads a viewer while a gap is visibly a gap. More signs are on the way, so gaps keep shrinking.
Does SAYGUY work live?
Yes. Speak into a microphone and SAYGUY signs about half a second after each sentence ends, with a presenter view for classrooms and talks. It waits for the sentence to finish because ISL word order depends on the whole sentence.
Does the signer show facial expression?
Yes. In ISL the face is part of the grammar, not decoration. Expressions are recorded from real signers, and the speaker's tone of voice colours the avatar's expression.
Which sign language does SAYGUY use?
Indian Sign Language (ISL), used by Deaf communities across India. ISL is a full language of its own, separate from American or British Sign Language.
How do I get access?
SAYGUY is in early access. Join the waitlist with your email and we will contact you when a place opens.
Be part of it
Every conversation.Everyone in it.
Accessibility doesn't have to look like a help page. Join the waitlist and help shape what it looks like next.
- Early access invite
- A say in which signs come next
- No spam, ever