What is it about?

Many people use Makaton signs and symbols to communicate, especially individuals with learning disabilities or communication difficulties. However, not everyone understands Makaton, which can make everyday communication challenging. This research presents an AI-based system that helps translate Makaton into spoken or written English. By combining visual and speech technologies, the system supports clearer communication between Makaton users and people who do not know the language. The goal is to make everyday interactions more inclusive and to show how human-centered AI can support communication, learning, and social participation.

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Why is it important?

This work is important because it addresses a real communication barrier faced by people who use Makaton in everyday life. While AI is often used to automate tasks, this research shows how AI can instead be designed to support human connection and inclusion. By making Makaton more accessible to people who do not already understand it, the system has the potential to improve participation in education, healthcare, and social settings for individuals with communication difficulties. The research is timely because advances in multimodal AI now make it possible to build tools that recognize gestures, speech, and context together. This creates new opportunities for inclusive technologies that respect users’ needs rather than replacing human interaction. Ultimately, this work contributes to making digital technologies more equitable and helps ensure that people who rely on alternative communication methods are not left behind as AI becomes more widespread.

Perspectives

This project is especially meaningful to me because it grew out of a desire to make technology more humane and more inclusive. Through my work in education and human-centred AI, I have seen how easily people who rely on alternative communication methods can be overlooked when new technologies are introduced. Working on this research reminded me that innovation is not just about technical performance, but about who benefits from it and who is left out. I hope this work encourages others to think more carefully about how AI can support communication rather than replace it, and how small design choices can make a real difference in people’s everyday lives.

Mr Omotayo Emmanuel Omoyemi
University of Derby

Read the Original

This page is a summary of: Human-Centred AI for Makaton-to-English Translation: A Multimodal Interaction Approach, November 2025, BCS Learning and Development Limited,
DOI: 10.14236/ewic/bcshci2025.43.
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