Zhifei (Maggie) Li is an artist, social entrepreneur, and mathematics enthusiast who will soon be graduating from NYU Abu Dhabi as a member of the Class of 2026. Alongside her academic journey, Li has big dreams of ensuring greater accessibility for people with hearing impairments.
ChatSign is a NYUAD-based startup working on real-time, two-directional sign language-to-speech translation. “We translate from both sign language to speech and speech back to sign language,” Li said.
Co-founding ChatSign
In 2024, Professor Yi Fang, a computer science professor at NYUAD and founder of ChatSign, invited Li to join and help commercialize the research.
More than 70 million deaf people worldwide use sign language, yet they continue to face many barriers in everyday life. Assuming that writing words would be enough to communicate with the deaf and hard-of-hearing is just one of the many misunderstandings.
Li explained that many hearing people mentally “sound out” words while reading, which can aid comprehension. For some deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals whose primary language is sign language, written language may be more difficult to process because sign languages differ structurally from spoken and written languages. This is where the need for a more accessible sign language solution like ChatSign is needed.
What can ChatSign do?
ChatSign’s in-house AI model can translate text into sign language, which is then interpreted by an AI avatar. An avatar signs the words out and translates sign language back to speech.
This process goes through a camera, and a computer vision AI model then transcribes the signs back to speech.
Read more: NYU Abu Dhabi Launches AI System, ChatSign, Pioneering Real-Time Sign Language Accessibility
Li said ChatSign’s goal was to ensure that the deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals could feel integrated in society. “We are one of the first start-ups that are working on an actual working solution for sign language translation using AI,” said Li.
A huge gap exists in the number of sign-language translators. “By using AI, we can help make all institutions and public institutions accessible to all deaf and hard-of-hearing people,” said Li.
At present, ChatSign is targeting public institutions, such as businesses and government agencies. They are targeting six categories, including culture and tourism, education, government, front desks, transport, and commercial spaces.
Engaging with the deaf and hard-of-hearing community, understanding their challenges, and receiving feedback from the community has helped to develop ChatSign, and the team will continue to work closely with the deaf and hard-of-hearing community in the UAE.
Finding your passion
At NYUAD, Li initially wanted to pursue a double major in computer science and visual arts, having studied art from the age of three. However, with the ability to have a whole year to decide on her majors through a liberal arts education, Li was able to explore different courses before making a decision to do a double major in computer science and mathematics, with minors in visual arts and interactive media.
Li initially heard about NYUAD from students who had attended the university when she was at high school in China. The idea of Abu Dhabi's year-round summer weather is an appealing factor. She also wanted to live near the beach, as she had always lived far from the coast in Wuhan city.
"I think Abu Dhabi is a very, very safe city, even with the geopolitical conflict today. I would still say that it's a very safe city to live in," said Li.
What’s next
Li plans to remain in Abu Dhabi to continue developing ChatSign after graduation. "My hope is that in a few years, in 10 years, I am going to see our sign language solution at literally any public institution that requires communication with the deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals.”
From a childhood spent studying in Wuhan to co-founding a startup in Abu Dhabi, Li has never stopped building, and she is not done yet.