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Good practice Imported

TransportSign — AI Sign-Language Avatars for Serbian Railways' Station Announcements

Serbia · Belgrade · See the Serbia profile · See the Belgrade profile

Evidence: Descriptive / self-reported Top 83% 40/100 · Ask Evidence Copilot about this practice

Since 2024, SignAvatar's TransportSign has worked with Railways of Serbia to turn station announcements into real-time AI sign-language avatars at Belgrade's Centre and Prokop stations and its airport, with over 85% of surveyed deaf users reporting increased travel safety.

85 %+
Deaf users reporting feeling safer while travelling

Details

Maturity
Pilot
Promoter
SignAvatar / Railways of Serbia (Srbija Voz)
Period
2024–present
Keywords
accessibility, public transport, disability inclusion, citizen communication

Context

Since 2024, the Serbian AI company SignAvatar has worked with Railways of Serbia to deploy TransportSign at Belgrade's Centre and Prokop railway stations and at Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport. The system uses transformer-based AI and a digital avatar to convert spoken and on-screen station announcements into sign-language video in real time, shown on dedicated screens and through a companion mobile app, so that information available to hearing passengers -- delays, platform changes, safety notices -- reaches deaf and hard-of-hearing travellers at the same time.

Activities

The product was developed with input from deaf organisations and with the support of Serbian government and railway officials, and it won a World Summit Award for digital innovation.

Results

The OECD's Observatory of Public Sector Innovation catalogued the deployment, and SignAvatar has said that in a survey of deaf users, over 85% reported feeling safer while travelling since the system was introduced.

Conclusions

The available evidence is limited: the safety-perception figure is a vendor-reported survey without independent verification, and the EUR 120,000-150,000 revenue and 50,000-download targets cited for 2024 were explicitly forward-looking projections rather than confirmed outcomes. As of the sources reviewed, the deployment remains confined to Belgrade's rail and air hubs, with expansion to other European railways and airports still at the target stage.

Implementation
Indicative cost
Low (< €50k) — Private-vendor deployment with railway operator support; no public cost figures disclosed.
Time to results
Short (< 1 year) — Deployed from 2024; expansion beyond Belgrade still at the target stage.
Staffing & skills
SignAvatar (Serbian AI company), Railways of Serbia

Conditions for success

  • Development with input from deaf organisations
  • Support from Serbian government and railway officials

Common failure modes

  • Safety-perception figure is vendor-reported without independent verification
  • Revenue and download targets for 2024 were explicitly forward-looking projections, not confirmed outcomes

Where it fits

Governance type
private AI company + national railway operator
Scale
single city hubs (Belgrade rail and air)
Income level
upper-middle-income

Commonly funded by

National / regional programmes

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Data sources

Where this practice's information was retrieved from, and when.

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