Subnet 78 opens decentralized model competition as UMI introduces /sign, its first application for real-time communication between Deaf and hearing people

SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 02, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Universal Motion Intelligence (UMI) has launched an AI network built on Bittensor, a decentralized machine-learning protocol with its own blockchain, designed to help machines understand human movement and translate physical signals into meaning, beginning with /sign, its first application for real-time communication between Deaf and hearing people.

The launch addresses a broader challenge in artificial intelligence: while machines have become increasingly capable at processing words and images, understanding movement, expression, timing and physical context remains a more difficult problem. UMI is building an open intelligence layer around that gap, with applications extending from communication to facial understanding, human intent, activity recognition and embodied AI.

The need for better communication technologies is particularly significant in hearing care. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that more than 1.5 billion people worldwide currently live with some degree of hearing loss, including around 430 million people with disabling hearing loss that requires rehabilitation. By 2050, nearly 2.5 billion people are projected to have some degree of hearing loss, with more than 700 million requiring hearing rehabilitation. The global economic cost of unaddressed hearing loss is estimated at almost US$1 trillion annually.

In the United States, accessible communication is also a legal requirement across many settings. Under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), state and local governments and businesses that serve the public must ensure effective communication with people with communication disabilities and provide appropriate auxiliary aids and services when necessary. Depending on the context, these may include qualified sign-language interpreters, video remote interpreting, real-time captioning and accessible communication technologies. Healthcare organizations may also have effective-communication obligations under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act and Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act.

These requirements create a significant need for communication infrastructure that can make accessible interactions easier to deliver across healthcare, public services and everyday commercial settings. UMI is developing /sign as one technology within that broader accessibility ecosystem, not as a replacement for qualified interpreters where one is required or appropriate.

UMI describes its approach as motion-to-meaning intelligence: combining visual signals such as hand and body movement with facial expression, language and timing to interpret human communication.

Its first commercial application, /sign, is designed for real-time two-way communication between Deaf and hearing people. The system combines 3D visual capture, skeletal and gesture modeling, facial expression, contextual language understanding, multilingual voice and live inference. It translates signed communication into spoken language and spoken communication into captions and signing, using a standard camera without gloves, wearables or specialized sensors.

“Sign language is one of the hardest motion problems in AI, because meaning travels through hands, body, face and timing all at once,” said Koyuki Nakamori, Co-founder and Head of AI at UMI and former Head of AI at the OpenTensor Foundation, the core organization behind Bittensor. “That’s why we built /sign on open competition. It’s a King of the Hill dynamic: the best models rise, and every score is public.”

Behind /sign is UMI’s decentralized infrastructure on Bittensor, where independent AI teams can deploy models and compete on measurable performance. UMI operates Subnet 78, formerly the voice-AI subnet Vocence before the company’s expansion into motion intelligence, with miners contributing models and validators evaluating submissions against defined benchmarks. The network is designed so that model performance can be evaluated openly rather than relying on a single closed system.

UMI’s broader product family applies the same approach to a range of motion and physical-intelligence problems. Its roadmap includes /face for facial understanding, /intent for body language and human intent, /flow for crowd movement, /move for embodied AI, /motion for human activity recognition and /trust for behavioral credibility, alongside planned developer infrastructure through /sdk and /api.

Sign language represents one of the most demanding applications for this kind of technology. UMI’s work is aimed at making physical signals understandable to machines and, ultimately, useful across a wider range of human-machine interactions.

The potential reach extends beyond adult communication. The WHO estimates that around 95.1 million children aged 5-19 live with hearing loss worldwide, while nearly 80% of people with disabling hearing loss live in low- and middle-income countries.

Availability: Early access requests, clinical pilot inquiries and launch partnerships are open now at https://www.umi.vision, with the web app rolling out in the coming week. The TestFlight beta opens October 15, followed by the App Store launch on November 15.

About UMI:
UMI (Universal Motion Intelligence) builds the intelligence layer between human movement and machine understanding, translating motion, gesture, expression and context into meaning machines can act on. Its first product, /sign, applies that intelligence to real-time communication between Deaf and hearing people, developed through open model competition on Bittensor Subnet 78. Learn more at umi.vision

Media contact:
Sam Allcock
sam@digital24.com

Sources
1.5 billion people with hearing loss, 430 million disabling
https://www.who.int/teams/noncommunicable-diseases/sensory-functions-disability-and-rehabilitation/ear-and-hearing-care/hearing-loss-and-the-role-of-health-care-providers
2.5 billion projected by 2050, 700 million+ requiring rehabilitation
https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/deafness-and-hearing-loss
US$1 trillion annual global cost
https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/deafness-and-hearing-loss
95.1 million children aged 5-19
https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/deafness-and-hearing-loss
Nearly 80% of people with disabling hearing loss in low- and middle-income countries
https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/deafness-and-hearing-loss

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