Kenyan inventor Roy Allela didn’t set out to revolutionize communication—he set out to talk to his niece. Inspired by her deafness and the gap it created with family who didn’t know sign language, he built Sign-IO, a pair of smart gloves that turn hand movements into a voice that can be heard and understood in real time.
On first wear, the gloves read the bend and position of each finger through flex sensors, then beam that data via Bluetooth to a companion mobile app, where the signs are translated and vocalized. It’s a small ritual—gloves on, app paired, conversation unlocked—that transforms a private language into a shared one, without needing an interpreter in the room.
“I wanted her words to carry,” Allela has explained in past interviews, and Sign-IO does just that—at around 93% accuracy—by mapping sensor patterns to sign language and speaking them aloud. The app lets users tailor the voice, pitch, and pacing, because signing styles vary just like speech, and dignity lives in the details.
What began as one uncle’s fix has become a bridge for classrooms, clinics, and everyday life—a way for deaf signers to be heard by those who don’t know the language, and to be heard on their own terms.
