AI sign language recognition facilitates communication at Games for Persons with Disabilities

A sign language recognition system powered by artificial intelligence (AI) will offer improved convenience for participants in the upcoming 12th National Games for Persons with Disabilities and the 9th National Special Olympic Games of China.

Developed by Voibook, a tech company based in south China's Guangzhou City, the recognition system has been integrated into a service application of the grand sport event, allowing individuals with hearing impairments to understand real-time commentary, ask for venue directions, and access remote sign language translation services with the touch of a button.

"Our technology provides barrier-free communication support for the participating athletes with hearing impairments. We will continue to optimize and update our algorithms, focusing on enhancing the accuracy and response speed of AI recognition," said Voibook founder Shi Chengchuan.

Shi himself is also hearing-impaired. He and his team have developed a sign language translation phone app, sign language translation devices, voice translation watches, and voice translation captioning systems, which are now being used in various public places such as government service centers, hospitals and schools.

"Technological advancements present a tremendous opportunity for people with disabilities. Take me for instance—after losing my hearing in my childhood, I could never have imagined that one day I would be able to communicate with others with virtually no barriers," said Shi.

AI sign language recognition facilitates communication at Games for Persons with Disabilities

AI sign language recognition facilitates communication at Games for Persons with Disabilities

AI sign language recognition facilitates communication at Games for Persons with Disabilities

The 2025 Longines Hong Kong International Races were held Sunday at the Sha Tin Racecourse in Hong Kong, drawing a record-breaking 13,300 visitors in a single day.

As one of most popular sports in Hong Kong, horse racing is not only a unique cultural symbol of the city, but also reflects its professionalism as a host of major international sporting events.

Against the backdrop of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government's active push to develop horse-racing tourism, this year's international horse races have attracted an unprecedented number of visitors from across the world.

Just three months into the 2025-2026 racing season, the accumulated number of visitors has already surpassed 110,000.

"I used to watch horse racing on television, but being here in person is a completely different feeling. With the Year of the Horse coming up next year, we also hope more people will fall in love with the sport," said a tourist from the Chinese mainland.

Sunday's event saw 10 races, including four Group 1 races boasting a total prize of 16.7 million U.S. dollars. Of the 45 horses taking part, 20 were previous Group 1 winners, and 19 were overseas horses.

Hong Kong int'l horse races draw record visitors to racecourse