In 1977, a finger-spelling hand project called RALPH (short for "Robotic Alphabet") created a robotic hand that can translate alphabets into finger-spellings.[2] Later, the use of gloves with motion sensors became the mainstream, and some projects such as the CyberGlove and VPL Data Glove were born.[3] The wearable hardware made it possible to capture the signers’ hand shapes and movements with the help of the computer software.