Jonatan Saari

Hello there!

Life is like a project, that one lives and it's a project!

My name is Jonatan Saari, a programmer. I lost my hearing when I was around 3 years old and today I'm a sign language user.

I’m passionate about Linux, programming, mathematics, 3D and art. I enjoy exploring how logic and creativity come together, whether it’s writing code, modeling in 3D or analyzing systems. I see video games not just as entertainment but as a powerful mix of art, interactivity and technology.

Even though I’ve lost my hearing, it doesn’t stop me from exploring complex things. I love learning, solving problems and turning ideas into real projects. For me, being deaf isn’t a limitation—it’s just another way of experiencing the world.

My knowledgebase

Electronics

I like experimenting electronics things.

Web Development

I prefer to use Linux for backend development, everything from database to scripting, free as in freedom.

Mathematics

Mathematics is also a beautiful thing when one actually realized the freedom of creativity.

Game Development

I like to play video games but what I like even more is developing them! Unity is my personal choice of game engine for making games.

Digital Art

I like to draw too.

Virtual environment

I prefer to use Blender for creating 3D objects and export them to different projects.

PORTFOLIO

My projects

All

16JUN

OrdTecken

PHP, TypeScript, MySQL

OrdTecken

PHP, TypeScript, MySQL | Posted 16 June 2026

OrdTecken is a small hobby project that started with a simple idea. My wife is currently learning Swedish and I began wondering why there wasn't an easy way to connect written Swedish text with Swedish Sign Language videos.

The idea was straightforward: what if you could copy text from any website, paste it into a tool and instantly see sign language videos for the words in that text? That question became the foundation of OrdTecken.

Building the project was an interesting challenge. I used web scraping and various data sources to collect information and create a system that can generate sign language video results directly from Swedish text. The goal was never to create a large commercial platform, but rather to explore whether such a tool was possible and useful.

What makes OrdTecken unique is that it transforms ordinary Swedish text into a collection of Swedish Sign Language videos. While the results are not always perfect, I am happy to see that the concept works and that I have partially achieved the goal I originally set out to solve.

This project would not be possible without the resources made available by others. The sign language videos are provided by Stockholm University's Swedish Sign Language Dictionary and word data is based on content from Wiktionary.

OrdTecken remains a hobby project, but it has been a fun experiment in accessibility, language learning and technology. Most importantly, it was built to help my wife and seeing it work has made the effort worthwhile.

Visit the page at ordtecken.saari.tech

22JUN

Super Penguin World

Unity Game

Super Penguin World

Unity Game | Posted 22 June 2025

Behind the Scenes of Super Penguin World

Super Penguin World is a mobile game that I created together with my friend Mikael Öhlund. In the game, you play as a penguin and explore a world full of retro-style levels, challenges and fun little secrets.

The idea started as a simple platformer but it quickly grew into something much bigger. We ended up creating 192 levels, each inspired by the classic games we grew up with. We also added 30+ unlockable penguin characters, each with their own charm and built a level editor so players could create and share their own levels. Seeing the creativity from the community has been one of the most rewarding parts of this journey.

Both Mikael and I are deaf, and this project means a lot to us. It’s not just a game — it’s a result of countless late nights, problem-solving and lots of passion for pixel art and classic gameplay. We wanted to make something that brought back that nostalgic feeling but still felt fresh and full of heart.

We really hope people enjoy playing it as much as we enjoyed making it.

Download Super Penguin World at Google Play

20JUN

ZUFF I NATUREN

Unity & Blender

ZUFF I NATUREN

Unity & Blender | Posted 20 June 2025

I have worked with "Zuff i naturen" at Teckenbro AB, focused on sign language animation, an area that’s both visually rich and technically complex.

As you can see, sign language is a complex animation and Zuff is a chibi character, where head is big with smaller body, this is where Unity becomes a useful tool for handling the real-time animation process, giving me flexibility and full control. Later we exported the animations to Blender for fine-tuning and final rendering. To pipeline the workflow, I developed many automated scripts to handle repetitive and time-consuming tasks. These tools significantly reduced manual effort and saved us valuable resources and time, allowing our team to focus more on creative decisions and less on technical overhead.

Again, once you know your national sign language, you will see how culture rich in the national sign language, untold stories in the sign language. This children TV are shown in Swedish sign language. The name Zuff itself is between trollish and 1eetish but very deeply rooted in Swedish deaf culture. Once you see it, you will understand how tough it was.

Watch Zuff i naturen at URPLAY, the children TV show are available until June 30, 2029.

20MAY

Starter Pagoda

Blender

Starter Pagoda

Blender | Posted 20 May 2025

I have published Starter Pagoda to SUPERHIVE Market. The pagoda is designed for dynamic flexibility and as a foundation, it enables you to create a building using one cube.

The building was inspired by traditional Asian architectural design.

Find this at SUPERHIVE Market

20MAY

Harmony Arch Brigde

Blender

Harmony Arch Brigde

Blender | Posted 20 May 2025

I have published Harmony Arch Bridge to SUPERHIVE Market. The bridge is designed for dynamic flexibility, it enables you to create a bridge using just two pins.

The bridge was inspired by traditional Asian architectural design.

Find this at SUPERHIVE Market

04JUL

3D Snake Game

Unity Game

3D Snake Game

Unity Game | Posted 04 July 2022

I made a game under 3 hours with Unity and C#. The snake was modeled with Blender. The game is a WebGL project, playable only on computers.

Link to the game: Play Game

24JUN

Teckenpedagogerna app

Unity

Teckenpedagogerna app

Unity | Posted 24 June 2022

I created teaching materials a year ago as a two-year project using C# and Unity. Additionally, I developed an administration page on the server to manage the app's content. The app is currently in open beta and is being further developed by another developer.

Please note that as the app is in open beta testing, there may be bugs. It is still under development.

You can download the app from Google Play here.

24JUN

Spread Quiz

Unity Game

Spread Quiz

Unity Game | Posted 24 June 2022

I developed a captivating iOS game called "Spread Quiz" at work several years ago. This game, created using C# and Unity, provides an enjoyable method for learning sign language.

You can download the game from the App Store here.

24JUN

TeckenPOP

WebGL, JavaScript

TeckenPOP

WebGL, JavaScript | Posted 24 June 2022

"TeckenPOP" was a collaborative project I worked on with another programmer approximately five years ago. For this project, I wrote WebGL and JavaScript code to create an interpreter screen. The unique feature of TeckenPOP is that its window can be freely moved within the web page and smoothly zoomed in or out to the desired size. Additionally, in the lower left corner, there is a settings button that allows users to choose from a selection of background colors and adjust the transparency of the entire TeckenPOP window. These adjustments can be made at any time during playback.

If you are interested, you can find the report written in Swedish.

Link to report: Download report

24JUN

Simple MySQL

PHP, Hack

Simple MySQL

PHP, Hack | Posted 24 June 2022

Three years ago, I developed my own PHP and Hack database library to enhance development efficiency and ensure maximum security.

Here's an example of how the library works:

$query = $db->query('SELECT * FROM table WHERE id = :id', ['id' => 1]);

With this library, you can execute database queries in a single line of code.

You can access the GitHub project for this library here.

24JUN

Pirate ship

Unity Game

Pirate ship

Unity Game | Posted 24 June 2022

Two years ago, I developed a mobile game at work that incorporated motion capture technology to record sign language for gameplay.

The game, called "Pirate Ship," is a short mobile game centered around sign language. In the game, you assume the role of a pirate and assist in solving a problem on your pirate ship. All characters in the game communicate through sign language. For those interested in learning more about sign language, Swedish and English subtitles are provided.

You can download the game from the following platforms:

Android: Download

iOS: Download

24JUN

Handalphabet sheet

WebGL

Handalphabet sheet

WebGL | Posted 24 June 2022

I created a customizable hand alphabet sheet where users can adjust colors according to their preferences. Additionally, users have the option to save and print the sheet for their convenience.

The sheet was developed using WebGL and JavaScript.

You can access the hand alphabet sheet here.

31MAY

Chat Project

PHP

Chat Project

PHP | Posted 31 May 2022

I created a chat project just for fun, completing it in one day.

You can access the chat project by visiting this link: Chat project.

09APR

Pong on Razer black widow chroma

C# | Posted 09 April 2022

I created pong on my keyboard in 5 years ago, it was written in C#.

31OCT

Kungen

Unity Game

Kungen

Unity Game | Posted 31 October 2021

After almost 1 year of development, I released my first game to Steam.

In an silent bamboo environment, Kungen is a challenging sword combat game with short levels, can be played up to 4 players locally with controllers. Paint main characters and fight against the ninjas. The combat system is based on physics.

Paint your avatar

Atmospheric bamboo environment

Challenging ninjas AI

Physics combat system

Steam Store

31OCT

Hyper Cube

Raspberry Pi

Hyper Cube

Raspberry Pi | Posted 31 October 2021

I chose the name "Hyper Cube" as two cubes use Wi-fi to communicate with each other wirelessly and with magnetic coordinators on the sides of the cubes to be able to play simple games. It was written mostly in Python with MongoDB.

02FEB

Unity Asset - Mobile status & navigation bar

Unity Asset

Unity Asset - Mobile status & navigation bar

Unity Asset | Posted 02 February 2021

My first Unity Asset project, the code is optimized for both iOS and Android, the goal with this asset is to customize mobile status & navigation bar. I'm using this asset in my own Unity mobile UI scenes. I hope this asset will be useful to many Unity mobile developers.

Some highlights:

C# open source code

Editor preview

Realtime fullscreen togglable

Customize background

Auto Light / Dark Mode

Simple & rapid fast

Working naively almost all Android & iOS devices

Easy implementation

Platform supported:
64 bit iOS 11.0+
32 & 64 bit Android 4.4+

Unity Asset Store: http://u3d.as/2kv5

BLOG

My personal blog

02FEB

My first blog post

Blog

My first blog post

Blog | Posted 02 February 2021

Welcome to my personal website!

Saari stands for an island in finnish and saari.tech is an island of tech. I'll post my coming projects here, hopefully some of my projects will be useful or inspires you.