Kenyan Startup Builds Robotic Hands That Translate Speeches

Kenyan startup ZeroBionic is developing robotic hands that translate teachers’ speech into sign language in real time, potentially helping deaf students access classroom instruction alongside their peers. The technology is designed to address a major gap in Kenya, where an estimated 300,000 children have hearing impairments but only about 20,000 were enrolled in schools as of 2024. Kenya lacks a standardized African sign-language dataset, and existing local signs often lack terminology for subjects such as mathematics and biology. To resolve this, the startup has enlisted the help of deaf teachers, who use bodysuits to record signs. Their work is helping ZeroBionic build a database containing technical terms in English, American, and Kenyan sign languages. The devices are already being trialed in 78 Kenyan schools, with a reported accuracy rate of 92%.