Vilibras increases the number of signs by more than 30% in 2 years
The digital tool created to make life easier for deaf people in the country has increased the number of signs for translation from Portuguese into Brazilian Sign Language (Libras) by more than 30% in the last two years and launches an avatar aimed at children, the Guga.
VLibras starts offering the novelty this Friday (3), the International Day of Persons with Disabilities.
The translation system, developed by the Ministry of Economy in partnership with the Federal University of Paraíba (UFPB) and the National Education and Research Network, has 21 thousand signals.
child avatar
Guga joins avatars Ícaro (male) and Hosana (female), with whom the deaf translate into Libras not only pages from the federal government, gathered on the Gov.Br platform, but also pages from companies that have already joined the tool. Some examples: Vivo, Companhia Energética de Minas Gerais (Cemig), Sky Broadband Services, Serasa Experian, Universidade Presbiteriana Mackenzie and Agência Brasil .
“Gov.Br is the platform with the greatest use of VLibras, but the tool has gone beyond the Public Power and also increasingly benefits the public in the private sector. It is a tool for digital inclusion”, emphasizes Caio Mario Paes de Andrade, Special Secretary for Debureaucratization, Management and Digital Government of the Ministry of Economy, in a note.
VLibras is an open source tool, which was improved with the collaboration of deaf people who use the tool, such as Lucas Silva, 25, from Itabuna (BA), and Rafael Emil Korossy Marques, 36, from Recife (PE). Both helped in the animations of the avatars that reproduce the signs in Libras.
“I think so that Ícaro (avatar of VLibras) can be more fluent”, laughs Silva, who got to know the tool in the first months of operation, five years ago. “I'm a deaf animator and the videos on VLibras, on how to create animations for the signs, are didactic, have subtitles and an interpreter window. This helps us a lot to create. I watched the videos, practiced and saw that I'm doing very well”, celebrates.
See video by Lucas Silva:
"Hi, my name is Lucas and this is my sign. I create signs so that Icaro (VLibras avatar) can be more fluent. I'm a deaf animator and VLibras' videos on how to create sign animations are didactic, have captions and a window This helps us a lot to create. I watched the videos, practiced and saw that I'm doing very well!" - Lucas Silva, 25 years old, from Itabuna (BA)
Sites
Today, 48,480 sites use VLibras, including the Legislative and Judiciary, such as the Chamber of Deputies, the Superior Labor Court (TST), the Superior Court of Justice (STJ).
“VLibras is an accessible digital tool for the deaf, that is, a Libras interpreter robot to help deaf people's lives on websites . It translates the text into Pounds and can also help find a sign through a word. This is already a gain for the digital deaf community, thanks to technology”, adds Marques.
customization
The customization of avatars is free in the VLibras app. There, it is possible to choose the color of the hair, skin, eyes and clothes of Ícaro, Hosana and now Guga.
To increase the participation of users, the VLibras team is creating a Libraskê - still in the testing phase, with no defined date for its release. Libraskê will allow deaf people to watch music using sign language. The new service will bring more interaction and fun for children and youth, highlighted the Special Secretariat for De-bureaucratization, Management and Digital Government.
Text translated using artificial intelligence.
