An assistive interface for learning lexical corpus employing a virtual signer

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Losson, Olivier | Cantegrit, Brigitte

Affiliations: Laboratoire I³D, Batiment P2, Université des Sciences et Technologies de Lille – Cité Scientifique, F-59655 Villeneuve d’Ascq Cedex, France Tel.: +33 3 20 43 48 76; Fax: +33 3 20 43 65 67; E-mail: [email protected]; [email protected]

Abstract: The multimedia software described, called LAC, is aimed at any public wishing to become familiar with the various communication techniques in use among deaf people. Its underlying principle is the association of words and ideas: For each entry in a lexical collection ordered by topics, it provides practical examples of expressions, illustrative pictures and videos, as well as the equivalents in sign language and cued speech. As an answer to users' difficulty in creating the signed videos, a generation module of the synthetic animations is proposed. This is able to take into consideration the specific phonology and grammatical processes of sign language. The virtual character has been designed so as to exhibit a realistic behaviour, and is driven by a hierarchic description of signs. Included in the interface of LAC, it should soon be in a position to translate whole written sentences.

Keywords: computer-assisted learning, multimedia interfaces, sign language synthesis

DOI: 10.3233/TAD-2000-13201

Journal: Technology and Disability, vol. 13, no. 2, pp. 83-94, 2000