ChatterPalm

What it does

ChatterPalm is a wearable assistive glove that converts gestures into speech and text, helping stroke survivors, paralysis and mouth cancer patients, or bedridden elders communicate urgent needs, bridging the gap between silence and response.

Your inspiration

We decided to create ChatterPalm because we saw how challenging it is for people with speech or motor impairments to express their basic needs, especially in urgent situations. Many existing solutions are expensive or not user-friendly. We wanted to build an affordable, portable device that could bridge this communication gap and empower individuals like stroke survivors, paralysis patients, and bedridden elders to communicate more easily and independently.

How it works

ChatterPalm is a wearable glove fitted with flex sensors that detect how the fingers bend and move. Each finger’s bend changes the resistance of its flex sensor, and different resistance values correspond to different gestures. These sensors are connected through breadboards and 10k ohm resistors to a small microcontroller (Arduino) that reads the resistance values to identify each unique gesture. For each distinct resistance pattern, we have coded a specific phrase, like “I want food” or “I need help.” The phrase then appears on a small OLED display attached to the glove, while a connected computer runs a Python script to convert the phrase into speech. This is an initial stage prototype, and we plan to make it wireless and more compact in the future for greater convenience and portability.

Design process

Our prototype was designed with one goal in mind: to help individuals who are unable to speak due to conditions like mouth cancer, stroke, paralysis, or severe motor impairments. These individuals often rely on basic sign language or finger movements to communicate, but not everyone around them understands sign language. Spelling out words alphabet by alphabet is also too slow and exhausting, especially when they can only bend a finger or two. As first-year students with no prior experience in hardware, we learned everything from scratch and developed a simple, functional glove as our initial prototype. It uses flex sensors, one on each finger, connected to an Arduino through breadboards and 10k ohm resistors. Each time a finger is bent, the sensor detects a specific resistance change. We coded each resistance range to trigger a specific, predefined phrase. Right now, our glove is in its first stage and supports five phrases: “I want water,” “I want food,” “I want to use the washroom,” “I am sleepy,” and “Thank you” or “Okay.” The phrase appears on an OLED display and is also spoken aloud through a Python script using the pyttsx3 library. It’s a basic but working prototype, and we’re excited to expand it into a more flexible, wireless, and gesture-rich version in the future.

How it is different

Unlike many sign language translators that require cameras, complex software, or expensive hardware, ChatterPalm is simple, affordable, and wearable. It doesn’t need machine learning or large datasets to function. Instead, it uses basic flex sensors and predefined phrases mapped to individual finger movements, making it easier to use for people with limited mobility. Most existing systems translate letter-by-letter, which takes time and effort. Ours focuses on quick, essential phrases like “I want food” or “I need help,” allowing users to communicate urgent needs instantly. It's designed with real-life constraints in mind, especially for those who can only bend a few fingers.

Future plans

Our next steps are to make ChatterPalm wireless and more compact by integrating Bluetooth and miniaturising the electronics. We plan to expand the phrase library, improve gesture recognition, and add support for different languages to reach a wider audience. We also aim to develop a mobile app for easier control and customisation. In the future, we hope to partner with healthcare providers and NGOs to make the glove affordable and accessible to those who need it most, improving daily communication for people with speech and motor impairments worldwide.

Awards