Computerpreter wins Rep. Blake Moore’s 2025 Congressional App Challenge in Utah’s First District

When asked what inspired the creation of Computerpreter, the students said, “First, we were inspired by one YouTube video. In ASL 2 Honors class, my teammate (who is also my twin brother) and I watched a YouTube video of a Deaf man trying to order McDonald’s. He took 30 minutes to order a meal. He was writing with a pen and paper while gesturing to the waiter. The waiter couldn’t understand a thing and became frustrated. He even threw away the Deaf man’s food in the garbage, and the Deaf man had to reorder. This video not only shocked my brother and me, but the whole class of students. We then wondered if there were any online apps for easy translation of ASL to English. We searched for both student innovations and company products. Almost all student innovations were fundamentally wrong logically because they used image detection for signs, not 3D detection, where time and motion are included. For company products, there is research, but no public, free apps like Google Translate or code have been released. We were determined to take on this challenge ourselves.

“Currently, writing on a piece of paper isn’t always convenient or available, and typing on a phone is slow. Interpreters are expensive to hire and are only hired at planned events, not everyday conversations, like ordering McDonald’s. Discrimination is also prevalent, just like how the waiter became frustrated and threw the Deaf man’s food away. This inspired us to create an app for real-time ASL translation: Computerpreter.

“Another thing that inspired us was our ASL teacher: Mrs. Jody Tolley. She has been in Deaf education for over 29 years and has been part of the Deaf community for almost her entire life. In school, she organizes many activities, like the ASL play and Sign a Song, to bridge the gap between the Deaf world and hearing world. We were inspired by her energy, so we used our AI expertise to create Computerpreter. We showed it to her, and she gave us awesome feedback. She said that our app had two specific benefits: for sad or traumatic events and for the Deaf people who have other disabilities like intellectual loss. In both cases, Deaf people using their natural language to express their feelings or simply to communicate is very important.

“Some people were born Deaf. Others became Deaf due to a disease or a car accident. No matter what, we aim to brighten up their future with Computerpreter.”