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Lecture

AI Translation between Sign and spoken language (Also viewable on-line.)

How AI is being used to translate video into sign language.

Jan
14
14 Jan 2026 /  
7:30pm - 9:00pm
Location pin

University of Surrey - Rik Medlik Building (Block MS) , Guildford , GB

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About

This talk will give a history and overview of the current state of the art in using AI for sign language translation. It will provide an overview of current projects at Surrey that are developing automatic video recognition, translation and sign production alongside AI tools for data processing and linguistic annotation/study. The talk will also introduce Signapse, a University of Surrey spin-out, deploying early versions of these technologies in real-world contexts such as transport. Finally the talk will discuss current challenges from a technical, societal and ethical perspective.

1

Continuing Professional Development

This event can contribute towards your Continuing Professional Development (CPD) hours as part of the IET's CPD monitoring scheme.

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14 Jan 2026 

7:30pm - 9:00pm

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Organiser

  • Surrey Local Network

Registration information

Registration - live event - https://localevents.theiet.org/38c900

                       - on-line     - https://localevents.theiet.org/25d946

Speakers

Professor Richard Bowden

Professor of Computer Vision and Machine Learning - University of Surrey

Richard Bowden is Professor of Computer Vision and Machine Learning within the Centre for Vision Speech and Signal Processing at the University of Surrey. He is also co-founder of Signapse. His research centres on the use of computer vision to locate, track, and understand humans with a specific interest and focus on sign languages. Having worked on many areas of computer vision, including robotics, autonomous vehicles and the tracking and analysis of humans. He has been developing computational approaches to sign language recognition and translation for over 30 years. Over the last few years Richard has refocused his entire research group on Sign Language Translation, with recent funding including a large grant from Google to reduce the cost of translation through AI and SignGPT, which aims to develop the next generation of AI tools for sign languages.

Location

University of Surrey - Rik Medlik Building (Block MS)

Stag Hill Campus
Guildford
Surrey
GU2 7JP
GB

The University of Surrey campus is on the North side of Cathedral Hill. The main access road turns off from the cathedral roundabout. Park in the main car park, just beyond the private AQA Car Park. Parking is available to campus visitors and unrestricted after 7 pm. The Surrey Business School (Rik Medlik Building) is directly across the road from the car park. Penalty charges are now being applied rigidly up to 7pm.