19/12/2024
شكرًا لدعمكم المستمر ❤️
enpact
The normal reality for persons with auditory disabilities is silence. Even with rapid developments in Sign Language, they still face barriers in everyday life. “From reading to watching TV to chatting with people, if sign language is not included, a person with hearing loss is unintentionally left behind,” says Omar Abdelsalam, Founder of SensEar, part of the Empowering Inclusion In Employment (EIIE) program. “We are wired to connect as humans, but not everyone can connect with Sign Language. The world needs to understand the isolation caused by such a barrier.”
Omar realized this problem at a very young age. He was 14 when his father’s car broke down during a road trip: “While searching for a mechanic, we reached one with hearing and speech difficulties. It was my first time to meet a person with disabilities. He tried to communicate with us using sign language, but none of us could understand the other,” Omar recalls.
Young Omar zoned out at that moment while staring at the mechanic’s face. He then noticed the man’s glasses and wondered: ‘What if these lenses could translate our words into Sign language?” Here, the idea of SensEar sparked in his head.
Augmented Reality-powered glasses integrated with a mobile app—Omar today introduces SensEar as an innovative solution for persons with auditory disabilities: “Giving them the independence needed to self-develop, learn and explore resources.” With a hologram-like display on the lenses, users can navigate digital content with real-time translation into sign language.
Despite his young age, Omar decided to harness his passion into a mission. He established his startup "Makeen" with the support of his father and started experimenting with the model of SensEar and other assistive tools that cater to diverse disabilities. He also launched fundraising campaigns and connected with experts and volunteers to support the development process.
After 13 prototypes developed over 9 years, 23-year-old Omar now introduces SensEar in a version that translates over 50,000 words in formal and colloquial Arabic. “It weighs around 45 gm so users can wear it for up to 10 hours without strain.”
Through the EIIE Incubator, Omar with his team—Muhammad Samy and Ahmed Saeed—are refining SensEar’s software to launch an early access version over the first quarter of 2025. If you want to check it out and contribute to SensEar’s mission to foster further independence for persons with auditory disabilities toward learning and development, leave a comment or drop a message and we will connect you.
The Empowering Inclusion in Employment programme is implemented by the nonprofit organisation enpact within the cooperation framework between the Ministry of Social Solidarity and the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) in Egypt, which implements on behalf of the German Government. The programme is implemented as part of the Equal Opportunities and Social Development (EOSD) Project.