Digital humans that sign make more content accessible to the deaf community
Accessibility is a cornerstone of our society but for many people it's still a challenge.
Key takeaways
- The new MetaHuman Creator is like a character creator in a game, but with a much wider range of capabilities, and once that character is done being made it comes fully rigged and ready to be animated in Unreal Engine.
- Kara's new technology platform Epic released two sample characters created in MetaHuman Creator, and both of them are so realistic that it’s hard to tell that they’re not even real people.
- While games are the most likely application of the new tool Kara Technologies had other ideas for Epic's new toy.
Cite or link to this article
Griffin, M. (2021) 'Digital humans that sign make more content accessible to the deaf community', 311 Institute, 25 June. Available at: https://www.311institute.com/digital-humans-learn-sign-language-to-make-more-content-accessible-to-the-deaf-community/ (Accessed: 1 October 2026).
In what seems to be a world first New Zealand tech company have announced that they’ve been using Epic’s photorealistic Unreal gaming engine to create unbelievably realistic digital humans that are capable of translating a variety of languages and media types into sign language for the deaf community.
Furthermore, it turns out that thanks to Unreal’s new MetaHuman Creator that lets developers make believable human characters in “less than an hour” their characters are about to get a huge upgrade.
The new MetaHuman Creator is like a character creator in a game, but with a much wider range of capabilities, and once that character is done being made it comes fully rigged and ready to be animated in Unreal Engine. And the results are so good that some people think it’s a little creepy.
Kara's new technology platform
Epic released two sample characters created in MetaHuman Creator, and both of them are so realistic that it’s hard to tell that they’re not even real people.
While games are the most likely application of the new tool Kara Technologies had other ideas for Epic's new toy. Kara is the New Zealand-based company that developed Niki, their first digital human that can translate "a variety of media content such as video, audio, or text into a signed language.”
Niki isn’t just some avatar moving her hands, though. Niki’s facial expressions are fully animated with hundreds of micro-expressions, something that’s a really important factor when it comes to communicating with the deaf community.
It also looks like Niki might have some new competition after Kara released an updated version of its signing avatar using one of the MetaHuman models that Epic released with MetaHuman Creator, and it took less than a week for this incredible animation to be born.
Kara hopes that MetaHumans may one day lead to an even better signing avatar than Niki that could include a fuller range of human expressions and reduce project turn-around by as much as 80%, but while that’s great the real beneficiaries of the new project will be the deaf community who all of a sudden will have access to tons of new content that companies previously didn’t provide signing services for.
What this means for your organisation
Accessibility can scale.
Human signers are scarce, so most content is never signed. Digital humans can translate video, audio and text at volume. That opens large amounts of content to deaf audiences.
Expression matters as much as hands.
Signing relies on facial expressions as well as hand shapes. Lifelike avatars make that possible. Quality, not just coverage, should be the standard.
Rules are tightening.
Digital accessibility is becoming enforceable law in more places. Firms that act early avoid fines and reach new audiences. Review which of your content lacks signing.
Three questions for your next leadership meeting
- How much of our content is accessible to deaf people today?
- Could signing avatars meet our accessibility duties?
- How would we test avatar quality with the deaf community?
The trends and technologies behind this story
From the 311 Starburst, the 311 Strategic Intelligence Unit’s map of the technologies and trends shaping the next 50 years.
Analysis by the 311 Strategic Intelligence Unit, from Matthew Griffin’s article and 311 data. First published on Fanatical Futurist.
FAQ
Why does this matter?
Accessibility is a cornerstone of our society but for many people it's still a challenge.
About the author
Matthew Griffin Founder, 311 Institute
Matthew Griffin is a multi-award winning Futurist and expert in Disruption and Innovation, Geopolitics, Leadership, and Technology, who NASA have described as a "walking encyclopaedia of the future" and a "futurist Polymath."
Read full bio
Matthew Griffin is a multi-award winning Futurist and expert in Disruption and Innovation, Geopolitics, Leadership, and Technology, who NASA have described as a "walking encyclopaedia of the future" and a "futurist Polymath." 17-time best selling author of the "Codex of the Future" series, Matthew is the Founder and Futurist in Chief of the 311 Institute, a global Futures and Deep Futures advisory firm working with royal households, world leaders, G7, G20, and G77 governments, NGOs, and multi-national mid and mega cap firms to help them explore, shape, and lead the next 50 years of business and society.
An award-winning YouTube creator with over a million followers, with an unrivalled global reach and impact, Matthew is a highly sought-after international keynote speaker, lecturer, and mentor who collaborates with global leaders through the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) and United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) to shape pivotal initiatives such as the UN’s AI for Humanity program, the United Nations Conference of the Parties (UN COP), and the World Economic Forum in Davos.
As the former Global Head of Cloud, National Security, and Enterprise Sales for companies including Atos, Dell-EMC, and IBM, Matthew has a proven track record of building multi-billion dollar business units and turning failing divisions into market leaders. His ability to identify, analyse, and communicate the implications of hundreds of emerging technologies and trends is unparalleled, and his insights are trusted by many of the world’s most respected organisations, including ABB, Accenture, Adidas, AON, ARM, BCG, Centrica, Citi, Coca-Cola, Dentons, Deloitte, Dow Jones, EY, Google, KPMG, Lego, Legal & General, LinkedIn, Microsoft, PepsiCo, Qualcomm, RWE, Samsung, Siemens AG and Siemens Energy, T-Mobile, UBS, VISA, Walmart, Workday, Worldpay and many others.
Regularly featured in the global media including the AP, BBC, Bloomberg, CNBC, Discovery, Forbes, Khaleej Times, Telegraph, TIME, ViacomCBS, WIRED, and the WSJ, Matthews mission is to help organisations create a fair and sustainable future whose benefits are shared by everyone irrespective of their ability, background, or circumstances.
What future do you need to see?
Choose one to get started on AI and intelligence and the future of your organisation.
Sources and further reading
- Digital humans unrealengine.com
- Epic games launches early access for metahuman creator tool to make realistic animated people venturebeat.com
- Kara Technologies kara.tech
Source: first published by the 311 Institute on 25 June 2021. Cite as: Griffin, M. (2021). Digital humans that sign make more content accessible to the deaf community. 311 Institute. https://www.311institute.com/digital-humans-learn-sign-language-to-make-more-content-accessible-to-the-deaf-community/
You are welcome to quote this article with credit and a link to the original.