Giving a "voice" to the marginalized.

For nearly 19 years, Lưu Gia Hân, a student in the 23rd cohort of the Information Technology program at Tien Giang University, has lived with the pain of losing her voice. Determined to overcome her circumstances, Gia Hân and her friends transformed her suffering into a technology project called "Sound"—an AI model to support communication for vulnerable individuals.

From a school-level award at Tien Giang University, "Thanh Am" (Sound) continued to reach a larger stage at the INNOX 2026 City-level Technology Innovation Competition held at Van Hien University ( Ho Chi Minh City ) and is currently one of the most outstanding projects on its journey to conquer the Final Round.

FROM PERSONAL PAIN

Liu Jiaxin was born normal like any other child. But at the age of two, the aftereffects of Japanese encephalitis "stole" her voice. Since then, Jiaxin has communicated with the world through eye contact, gestures, and written words on paper or phone screens.

Student Liu Jiaxin and her classmates directly demonstrated their "Sound" AI model to the judging panel at the semi-final round of the INNOX 2026 city-level technology innovation competition.

Driven by a burning desire to "have her voice heard," Gia Han refused to surrender to fate. She initiated the idea and, together with her friends at Tien Giang University, began building the project "Sound - An AI system to support communication for vulnerable people."

“The name ‘Sound’ was chosen as a symbol of hope, with ‘sound’ representing life and ‘echo’ being the echo from hearts that once had to live in silence,” Gia Han shared.

The "Sound" project is not simply a typical text-to-speech application.

This AI model is designed for multimodal communication; users can input text for the application to play as natural speech, or record the other person's voice for the AI ​​to convert into text displayed on the screen. The intelligent response suggestion feature helps those with language impairments respond quickly without having to type each word.

Liu Jiaxin and the members of the "Sound" Project are continuing their journey with even higher goals ahead.

But regardless of the outcome in the Final Round, Liu Jiaxin's story proves a simple yet profound truth: Sometimes, just a small "sound" of love is enough to move and touch the hearts of an entire community.

Gia Han said: "In the future, the team will continue to develop additional features such as sign language recognition via camera and a set of sign language symbols to open up more opportunities for communication for both the hearing impaired and those who have lost the ability to speak."

What sets the "Sound" model apart from existing technology platforms is that the product is created from the real needs, real experiences, and real emotions of the people involved.

Present at the group's field trial at Nhan Ai School for Children with Disabilities ( Dong Thap province), we were deeply moved by the rare moments that unfolded right before our eyes.

A student, hearing a "voice" emanating from the content they had just entered for the first time, looked up at the screen and burst into joyful laughter as if they had discovered something magical.

Not far away, another child sat silently, eyes reddened not from pain, but from experiencing for the first time in their life what it meant to have "a voice of their own."

Witnessing those moments, we realized that what people with disabilities truly need is not just purely assistive tools, but more profoundly, the feeling of being heard, respected, and connected to society.

Master's degree holder Le Phuong Vu Phong, a lecturer at Tien Giang University and the project's direct supervisor, shared: "What impressed me most about Gia Han and the 'Sound' team was not the technological aspect, but the starting point of the idea."

When a problem is posed from the real-life experiences of those involved, the resulting solution often addresses practical needs more effectively than any theoretical research.

Gia Han is both the author, the user, and the real-world tester of the product she created. That's a humanistic competitive advantage that no training school can offer.”

STEPPING INTO THE TECHNOLOGY ARENA

Before entering the larger "arena," the "Sound" AI model was evaluated as excellent at the scientific research competition of Tien Giang University.

Gia Han and her research team tested a communication model at the Nhan Ai School for Children with Disabilities (Dong Thap province).

That initial success became a springboard for the team to confidently bring their idea to the INNOX 2026 City-level Technology Innovation Competition with the theme "Breaking Boundaries - Touching the Future," held at Van Hien University.

This is a large-scale and highly competitive competition, with 38 outstanding projects from over 15 prestigious universities such as: Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology (Vietnam National University Ho Chi Minh City), Ton Duc Thang University, FPT University, Van Lang University, Ho Chi Minh City University of Transport... advancing to the Semi-Finals. The judging panel consists of leading experts, scientists, and entrepreneurs. The projects compete in 4 cutting-edge fields, with "Thanh Am" registering to participate in the Creative Entrepreneurship field.

In this round, Liu Jiaxin directly demonstrated her AI model to the judging panel and all delegates. The moment the young woman, who had lost her voice for 19 years, used the application to deliver her thank-you message using "voices" (synthesized by AI technology) created a touching atmosphere in a competition focused on technology and engineering.

With the deep appreciation from the judging panel and all delegates, the "Sound" project is honored to advance to the Final Round to find investors. Currently, the team is focusing on perfecting the features to prepare for the journey to conquer the top prize.

Mr. Cao Nguyen Thi, Vice Rector of Tien Giang University, expressed his pride: “Gia Han and the “Sound” Project are a beautiful example of the spirit of students who refuse to be defeated by adversity, daring to transform their circumstances into a driving force for creativity.”

The school always encourages students to take their ideas beyond the classroom and connect them with real-world applications. “Sound” is not just a competition entry; it’s vivid proof that technology, when guided by heart and compassion, can create truly meaningful changes in life.”

TUAN LAM

Source: https://baodongthap.vn/trao-giong-noi-cho-nguoi-yeu-the-a241181.html