Signal Garden

Universal Signal Translator™

A low-bandwidth bridge for gesture, text, sound, haptics, and radio-like signaling.

Signal Garden is exploring ways to help people send intentional signals across different modes: gesture, text, sound, haptics, icons, and radio-like protocols.

Plain English

This is a consent-based communication bridge. It helps people send clearer signals when ordinary communication is limited — for example, when someone cannot speak, when a device has no keyboard, or when two people share no common language. It does not decode people without their knowledge or consent.

Section 1

What It Is

A prototype framework for translating intentional human signals into accessible outputs.

✋→📝A hand gesture becomes text

📝→🔊A text token becomes audio

⚠️→📳A warning becomes vibration

🔤→📡A spelled word becomes a radio-style packet

Plain English

In plain English: we are designing translation layers for when ordinary communication is limited. The system takes an intentional signal from a person and converts it into a format that another person or device can receive — with the sender always in control.

Section 2

What It Is Not

✕Not a full ASL translator

✕Not surveillance

✕Not an attempt to decode people without consent

✕Not a replacement for human interpreters, Deaf culture, or community-led design

What This Does Not Mean

This tool does not claim to understand meaning, intent, or identity. It translates signals — not people. ASL is a complete visual language with its own grammar, culture, and community. This system borrows only the fingerspelling alphabet as a bridge, and only with explicit user consent at every step.

Section 3 · ASL-Inspired

Manual Alphabet Signal Mode

ASL-inspired fingerspelling as a human-readable A–Z input layer.

Manual Alphabet Signal Mode is inspired by ASL fingerspelling as a respectful fallback alphabet protocol. It is not a full ASL translator.

ASL is a complete visual language with its own grammar, culture, facial expressions, body movement, and context. This mode borrows only the fingerspelling alphabet as a bridge for names, locations, callsigns, emergency spelling, and precise words.

System Requirements

·Intentional gestures — accidental movements are not committed
·Hold duration — a gesture must be held to register
·Confidence checks — system shows its certainty score
·User confirmation before committing a letter

Plain English

You spell out words letter by letter using hand shapes. The system shows you what it thinks you spelled, and you confirm or correct before anything is sent. You are always in control. Nothing is committed without your explicit approval.

Section 4

Prototype Flow

1

Input

Handshape, gesture, tap, voice, or proximity signal

2

Recognition

System estimates possible signal — always shows confidence score

3

Confirmation

User confirms, edits, repeats, or cancels — no automatic commitment

4

Output

Text, audio, haptic pulse, icon, or radio-style packet

Plain English

Every translation goes through four steps: you send a signal, the system makes a guess, you confirm or correct, and then the output is delivered. The system never skips the confirmation step. You can always cancel.

Section 5

Control Glyphs

Eight gestures form the control vocabulary. Each has a single, unambiguous function. Color and icon are always paired with text labels — never color alone.

Gesture

Function

🤚Open palm holdStart message

✊Hold gestureCommit letter

👉Sweep rightSpace

👈Sweep leftDelete

🔄Small circleRepeat

👍Thumbs upConfirm

✊Closed fist holdCancel

🆘Dedicated unmistakable gestureEmergency

Plain English

These eight gestures are the "keyboard shortcuts" for the system. You use them to start a message, confirm a letter, add a space, delete, repeat, confirm, cancel, or trigger an emergency signal. The emergency gesture is deliberately different from all others to prevent accidental activation.

Section 6 · 🥦 Broccoli Core

Accessibility Commitments

These are not aspirations. They are design constraints. If a feature violates them, the feature does not ship.

✓Plain language summaries on all mythic sections

✓No camera-only default; privacy-preserving modes where possible

✓Clear confidence scores and 'I don't know' states

✓Error correction that feels kind, not punitive

✓Co-design with Deaf/HoH users and fluent signers before launch

✓Respect for ASL as a full language, not a visual font

✓Color never the sole information channel — patterns, labels, and icons always paired

✓No forced motion; generous whitespace; predictable navigation

🥦 Broccoli Core standard: All accessibility tools in Signal Garden are free, non-coercive, and never paywalled. This page and all features described here are permanently free to access.

Section 7 · Governing Principles

How We Speak

Wonder first.

We lead with curiosity and possibility — not fear or limitation.

Clarity immediately after.

Every poetic or mythic statement is followed by a plain English explanation of what it actually does.

Consent everywhere.

No signal is committed, sent, or published without explicit user confirmation. No background monitoring. No automatic actions.

No symbol without a switch. · No myth without a manual. · No signal without consent.

Current Status

Research & Prototype Stage

The Universal Signal Translator is currently in the research and framework design phase. No production system exists yet. The prototype flow and control glyphs described here are design specifications, not deployed features.

Co-design with Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing users and fluent ASL signers will happen before any public prototype is released. Community input is not optional — it is a prerequisite.

Framework design: in progressCo-design partnerships: seekingPublic prototype: not yetPaywall: never