Sensor-Tech: Surdo-Help

The main articles are:

• Speech Recognition (Technology, Market)
• Speech technology: On the path from recognition to understanding
• Hearing

2024: Completion of the development of the Surdo-Help platform

The Sensor-Tech laboratory has completed the development of the SURDO-HELP platform, which will help hearing impaired and deaf people communicate freely in everyday life. The company announced this on December 12, 2024.

SURDO-HELP is a completely domestic development and uses artificial intelligence technologies. This is a Russian public service that combines all possible functions for communication between deaf and hearing people. Previously, you had to use several programs and applications or pay for sign language interpreter services.

The development of the SURDO-HELP platform was carried out with grant support from RFRIT within the framework of the  Digital Economy of Russia national project. The amount of the grant amounted to 56 million rubles, the total cost of the project is 70 million rubles. 

"We supported the project to develop an IT solution in demand on the market. This is a unique, completely Russian product that offers people with hearing impairment, government organizations and businesses a convenient and effective way of communication. The advantage of such cloud and cross-platform services is that their implementation can be ensured in a short time, "said Alexander Pavlov, General Director of RFRIT.

"SURDO-HELP" allows you to translate speech into text or use a virtual assistant - sign language interpreter Dasha knows more than 150 thousand gestures. This is the base on which the specialists of Sensor-Tech and the Soyuzmultfilm film studio worked for more than a year using motion capture technologies. Dasha can translate speech into sign language online at any time.

If the situation is difficult, then the user can call a professional sign language translator via video link. This function will be convenient, for example, at a doctor's appointment, when receiving services at the MPSC, making purchases in shopping centers, as well as in an emergency.

SURDO HELP is based on artificial intelligence algorithms. Our plans are to make sure that in 2025 our service processes more than 80% of requests using AI. This will make it possible to make the technology for people with disabilities really massive and only in Russia to serve at least 1 million calls annually, "said Denis Kuleshov, director of the Sensor-Tech Laboratory.

The service can be used by deaf and hard of hearing people, as well as organizations that they visit - shops, administrative bodies, schools, clinics, universities, etc. The SURDO-HELP platform is available in the web version, as well as in the form of a mobile application for iOS and Android.

The implementation of such solutions is widely supported in Russia at various levels. In this case, the service combines trends in artificial intelligence and inclusion, which is what allowed him to become a participant in the forum "Strong Ideas for the New Time" of the Agency for Strategic Initiatives. The project was also supported by Nivea.

A society of equal opportunities for people with disabilities is not only about creating a convenient and accessible urban environment. The introduction of IT solutions allows you to help with solving social problems, simplify access to information and educational services for people with disabilities. The agency pays special importance to the replication of best practices in the regions and at the federal level. With the support of ASI, the SURDO-HELP project has already been recommended to relevant ministries and state-owned companies, "said Yulia Novikova, director of the ASI inclusive practices and technologies development division.

As of December 2024, more than 250 thousand totally deaf people live in Russia. Another 13 million have violations hearing of varying degrees. It is assumed that in the near future the SURDO-HELP service will be able to process more than a million requests from the hearing impaired. The future plans of the Sensor-Tech Laboratory include the launch of an IT service in Russian speakers. countries CIS