The popular movie CODA, which depicts the struggles of a mostly deaf family, won three Oscars at the Academy Awards. And now a social media app called ASL Alphabet Lens that works to bridge the gap between the deaf and hearing communities has just launched. It uses an ingenious lens for Snapchat users that was developed by a team of engineers who are deaf, known as the “Deafengers,” to help individuals learn American Sign Language.

According to TODAY, the newly augmented reality-enabled lens was released last week and was made in partnership with the technology company SignAll. The lens allows you to practice the ASL alphabet and teaches you how to fingerspell your name.

The recent ASL Alphabet Lens is an upgraded version of three previously launched augmented reality lenses that debuted last September during the International Week of the Deaf. The AR lenses inspire Snapchatters to not only fingerspell their names but learn other common words such as love, hug, and smile.

“We want the world to understand that sign language is important, and that everyone signing is important,” said Austin Vaday, 25, one of the deaf engineers who helped develop the Lens for Snapchat’s 319 million users, says TODAY.

During the Academy Awards’ broadcast on March 24, Snap aired Oscars TV spots honoring the deaf and hard-of-hearing communities that featured the ASL Alphabet Lens, according to Variety. You can watch one of the ads here.

There are approximately 48 million Americans who are deaf or hard of hearing, according to the National Association of the Deaf. Vaday, who gradually lost his hearing when he was three years old, didn’t learn ASL until he was 12. He says this changed his life.

“I started interacting with individuals who are deaf and they were ASL users, and frankly, my world and my education just opened right up,” he said. “It felt like all of a sudden the black and white changed into full color.” He sees the ASL Alphabet Lens as a much-need tool to teach others how to fingerspell and bridge the communication gap between the deaf and hearing communities.

“Really, there’s a lot of potential,” he said. “The sky’s the limit.”