Software engineer Adam Munder is on a mission to break down communication barriers between the Deaf and hearing worlds. In a live demo, he introduces OmniBridge — an AI platform that translates American Sign Language into English text in real time — and demonstrates how this tech could ensure every conversation can be fully understood, regardless of the participants' hearing abilities. Munder is joined onstage by ASL interpreter Christan Hansen and TED’s Hasiba Haq.
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[00:01:00] We've built a society around certain modes of communication that aren't always very inclusive. Simple tasks we take for granted, ordering a coffee, checking into a hotel, or even something as crucial as a doctor's appointment, become a frustrating, often isolating experience if they weren't designed for you. So how can we start thinking in a way that is truly inclusive of everyone?
[00:01:27] This is TED Tech, a podcast from the TED Audio Collective. I'm your host, Sherelle Dorsey. Our speaker today, Adam Munder, opens our eyes to this reality, not with abstract statistics, but with a deeply personal and moving story. Adam is deaf. In fact, the voice you'll hear in this talk is his ASL interpreter speaking.
[00:01:54] His personal experiences with deafness and the hurdles he's confronted inspired him to create Omnibridge, an AI platform that translates American Sign Language into English text in real time. This isn't just a story about inconvenience. It's a story about dignity, about access, and about the fundamental human need to be understood. And now, Adam Munder takes the TED stage.
[00:02:23] Adam, wait. They need an interpreter. Now I'm ready. Go ahead. Oh, you guys need an interpreter. Thank you for briefly experiencing what it's like for me and millions of other deaf people worldwide when we don't have an interpreter and we need to order a coffee, check into a hotel, or complete other daily tasks.
[00:02:48] What I was trying to share with you was a frustrating experience that my wife and I recently had. My wife is also deaf, and we took our daughter to a doctor's appointment. When we arrived, I'd asked for either an on-site or a virtual interpreter. Unfortunately, they told me neither were available. So I had to write back and forth with the receptionist at the front desk. To make matters worse, when the doctor came into the room, he said, Oh, it's all right.
[00:03:18] We'll just have your daughter interpret for you. So could you imagine going to the doctor's appointment and being told by the doctor that your seven-year-old is going to relay the information to you? This was just one example of the two different worlds that I navigate. In my personal life, I raise my kids, I manage rental properties, I flip buildings, and I'm working on a coffee roastery.
[00:03:47] In this world, I interact with hearing individuals every day. Teachers, lawyers, real estate agents, contractors. Teachers, yet still to this day, I have to rely on a smartphone to text back and forth or write with paper and pen to the people I interact with. Then I have the professional world, where I've succeeded in part due to having two highly qualified interpreters.
[00:04:15] I have the same degrees, the same educational background, the same job responsibilities as my hearing peers. I solve the same engineering problems in a very competitive, fast-paced environment. But the playing field isn't level. In all of my daily collaborations, all of my meetings and presentations, everything hinges on my interpreters. I am very fortunate, though.
[00:04:42] My employer ensures that I have access to the same information that my hearing colleagues do. Unfortunately, this is not true for many deaf throughout the world. Interpreters are very expensive and scarce. Where I live in Arizona, there are more than 1.1 million individuals with a hearing loss and only about 400 licensed interpreters.
[00:05:10] So there's scarcity of tools available for us, and our communication options are very limited. This puts us in a survival mode, forcing us to use the resources that are at our disposal. Writing back and forth on paper and pen, or using a smartphone to text, is not equivalent to American Sign Language. The details and nuance that make us human are lost in both our personal and business conversations.
[00:05:41] So we're bringing the humanity back to these conversations. I've done that by building a platform called Omnibridge. So my team has established this bridge between the deaf world and the hearing world, bringing these worlds together without forcing one to adapt to the other. So we're using the power of AI to analyze thousands of signs in ASL and translate them into English. Now, thousands may seem small, but ASL is very complex.
[00:06:11] With slight nuance and changes in body language, it can change the meaning of a sign. Today, with the advancement in compute on AI PCs, we're able to run our models locally without relying on the internet, which dramatically increases accessibility. With this, there's much less confusion and frustration. So we're changing the world through the power of AI, not just revolutionizing technology, but enhancing that human connection.
[00:06:41] My team is focused on using the AI PC and the power of AI to humanize and include, to really, truly level the playing field. It's two languages, signed and spoken, in one seamless conversation. Thank you. That was Adam Munder at TED Next 2024. And that's it for today. TED Tech is part of the TED Audio Collective.
[00:07:11] This episode was produced by Nina Bird-Lawrence, edited by Alejandra Salazar, and fact check by Julia Dickerson. Special thanks to Maria Latias, Farrah DeGrange, Daniela Belareso, and Roxanne Hilash. I'm Sherelle Dorsey. Thanks for listening.