Google brings ASL-to-text translation to Pixel 11
Google’s new SL2T model turns ASL into English text on the Pixel 11, with more devices and languages planned.
The Pixel 11, Google's latest smartphone, introduces a groundbreaking sign language-to-text translation feature called SL2T, set to launch with Google's Made by Google event. SL2T, developed by Google DeepMind, translates American Sign Language (ASL) directly into written English text through a sophisticated on-device computer vision system that tracks 130 points across the signer's face, body, and hands.
This innovative approach eliminates the need for artificial vocabulary limits by capturing non-linear aspects of sign languages, such as non-manual markers and spatial constructions. SL2T processes over 100,000 hours of data spanning 50 sign languages, including one-handed signing and left-handed signing. However, Google clarifies that SL2T is not a replacement for professional interpreters and is strictly an assistive input tool for low-stakes communication, with limitations in understanding regional signs, complex grammar, rapid fingerspelling, and facial expressions.
Google emphasizes that SL2T is not designed for high-stakes situations like medical appointments or legal proceedings and does not replace the need for qualified human interpreters. The feature is available in Gboard and Live Transcribe on Pixel 11 devices at no additional cost, with plans to expand support for additional sign languages in the future.
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