NILAI – The difficulties faced by the deaf and mute community to learn to recite the Quran has encouraged a young researcher, Mohd Aqil Irwan, Year 4 Student from the Faculty of Science and Technology to produce an e-learning application called ARSOM.

ARSOM is an Android application designed for the deaf-mute to learn the Hijaiyah Alphabet in sign language (Arabic sign language). ARSOM is derived from the word أصم (deaf) and the abbreviation Augmented Reality (AR) itself is combined with it.

According to him, the idea started from a final year project to fulfill a subject assessment and graduation requirement.

“It started from the early stage of the research where in the process of gathering information through interviewing teachers at the Akademi FAQEH Nilai, Nilai Impian, I had a chance to communicate with one of the teachers who is also deaf. At that time, I realized that if I were one of the deaf, it would be very difficult for me to communicate and study, especially in learning to recite the Quran, hence this idea appeared”.

“ARSOM displays the 3D model of sign language through the Hijaiyah Alphabet cards. It’s quite interesting because the letter seems to be alive and allows the user to imitate the hand movements that indirectly facilitate understanding of learning Hijaiyah Alphabet,” he added.

“However, the production of every 30 Hijaiyah Alphabet needs to be carefully crafted because each alphabet requires a detailed distinction so as to produce the accurate Augmented Reality for each Hijaiyah Alphabet.”

Expressing his confidence that this application can be accepted by the deaf-mute community, Mohd Aqil Irwan hopes that this product will also benefit the normal community.

“This is because the Quran is the main pillar of performing prayers and requires continuous learning to master it. Likewise. for the deaf-mute community who has limitations in speaking, of course, it is necessary for them to continue the learning of the Quran through aid tools to master it easily like a normal person. I hope that ARSOM is also accessible for the deaf-mute around the world like Whatsapp and Instagram that are accessible worldwide for normal people.”

Mohd Aqil Irwan was the winner of the main prize of the Islamic Innovation Award for the Undergraduate category at the Islamic Innovation Expo (i-INOVA’18) recently who brought home a cash prize of RM 3,000 with a medal and certificate.

Created By:
Mohd Aqil Irwan bin Abdul Mutalib
Year 4 Computer Science (Information Security & Assurance)
Faculty of Science and Technology