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Pursuing innovation to bridge the deaf and hearing communities

31 Oct 2025

When Computer Science Year 3 student Dalal Ismatbanu Junedbhai (Ismat) saw the communication challenges between the deaf and hearing individuals, she also saw an innovative solution to the problem. Putting her idea to the test, Ismat partnered with Asma Mohammad, a Business Computing and Data Analytics Year 4 student, and Kartikay Dhar, a recent Economics and Data Analytics graduate to form the start-up team Sign Language Make Easy (SLME), working to develop an AI-powered smart glasses system to bridge the connection between the deaf and hearing communities.

The team has recently won a HK$100,000 start-up seed fund from the Cyberport University Partnership Programme (CUPP), standing out from about 500 teams representing 12 local universities. The funding will help the team transform their prototype into reality.

“Our idea started out as a midnight thought, and now we are trying to turn it into reality,” says Ismat. “Currently, deaf people still face a great number of challenges in their daily lives, such as difficulties in business networking and interacting with medical professionals. We want to make communicating with the deaf community more effective.”

Driven by the desire to foster greater accessibility and inclusivity in society, the team has a deep conviction in their potential to make a change. “There are already smart glasses in the market, showing how AI is expanding the possibilities of wearable technology. Now is the time to leverage these new technologies to address the need of the community,” says Kartikay.

Focusing on Hong Kong Sign Language, the team is now collecting data and developing a computational model that could be built into glasses frames. Their smart glasses aim to enable two-way, real-time communication between deaf and hearing individuals. When a deaf person uses sign language, the glasses will translate their signs into spoken audio, which is played through a built-in speaker. When the hearing person responds verbally, the glasses will convert their speech into text or sign language graphics, which are displayed on the glasses for the deaf person to read or see. Through the Career Centre of the Office of Student Affairs at HKBU, the SLME team has connected with an external advisor and deaf people, gaining insights into what the deaf community in Hong Kong needs. They also plan to invite deaf people to test their prototype and gather feedback.

Participating in CUPP has helped the SLME team accelerate the timeline in their product ideation and development. The programme included a series of workshops in pitching, marketing and finance. The team also took part in an entrepreneurship boot camp at Draper University in Silicon Valley, the US, where they learnt about networking and showcased their project at Demo Day.

Speaking about the early success of their entrepreneurial journey, Asma says it is important to focus on one’s goal of making a positive impact in society. She adds, “Be confident in your team’s idea and be well prepared before you pitch. As long as you believe in your idea, it’s going to work.” This semester, she is taking entrepreneurship courses at HKBU with the aim of applying what she has learnt in class into SLME and her own business ideas.

The team looks forward to seeing their solution come to fruition and bringing lasting impact to the community. Their dedication to making the world a better place exemplifies HKBU’s commitment to nurturing students to become confident leaders who strive to contribute to the betterment of society.