What’s interesting about this new lens is that it will use AI technology to “see” your hand motions. Snapchat developed this lens with the help of AI technology from SignAll. That company has technology that helps recognize and translate ASL. This technology is key to letting you know if you’re going the hand signs correctly. Also, the team that developed this lens consisted entirely of deaf and hard-of-hearing folks.
How this Snapchat lens will teach you ASL
Snapchat lenses are all about making things fun, so why should learning ASL be any different? This new Snapchat lens has a set of activities to help you learn ASL easier. While that’s true, it’s not a proper substitute for taking classes on the language. There are three different activities you can use to help you learn ASL. The first one will go through the English alphabet and show you the signs. You’ll need to look at the screen and emulate the signs with your own hands. The next one has you spelling words letter by letter. The letters will fall towards the bottom, and you need to create the sign for those letters before they hit the bottom. Lastly, the final section will show you a selection of signs via flashcards. You need to guess which letter the sign represents and pick from the two options at the bottom. Overall, there are some fun and simple activities to help train your ASL. They work best if you’re just curious about the language or if you’re actively learning about it and you want to train a bit. If you’re using this lens, you’ll need to know that it will still need some refinement. Using it, I found that it had trouble recognizing my hand signs at some points. Just know that, depending on the size and shape of your hand, you might have some trouble. If you want to try this lens out for yourself, you can either search it up in Snapchat or scan the QR code below. Open up the Snapchat app and tap the QR code icon directly under the capture button. Point your camera at the screen and it should take you right to the lens.
