StorySign: AI Sign-Language Storybook App for Deaf Children

Many Deaf children are excluded from storytime because their hearing parents do not know sign language. StorySign is a free mobile app using AI and augmented reality: the AI recognises text on a book page and an animated avatar named "Star" signs the story back, letting Deaf children and hearing families read together.
Launched 4 December 2018 in 10 European markets and 10 sign languages (British, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Dutch, Portuguese, Irish, Belgian Flemish and Swiss-German Sign Language), the app was developed by Huawei with Aardman Animations, agency FCB Inferno, the European Union of the Deaf (EUD) and the British Deaf Association, with content licensed from Penguin Random House. It has since expanded to 15 sign languages including ASL, BSL and Auslan, and continued to receive updates as of 2024.
StorySign won 4 Gold, 1 Silver and 2 Bronze Lions at Cannes Lions 2019 (independently reported by ad trade press), and independent outlets (RI Global, Tech Xplore) corroborate its launch and mechanics. Huawei self-reported (via Marketing Week) over 50,000 downloads, 128 million in-app film views and a £375,000 donation to deaf-literacy projects - these engagement figures are company-reported, not independently audited, and no independent academic evaluation of reading or comprehension outcomes was located.
Content is limited to a curated set of licensed titles rather than the full universe of children's books, and Huawei, as lead corporate sponsor, is a state-linked telecom firm - a relevant governance consideration when weighing the independence of this initiative.

Read the full analysis: https://www.aardman.com/interactive/storysign/