Project
Overview
Our
goal is to translate English to American Sign Language,
the language of the Deaf in North America. American Sign
Language is different from English, with its own unique
grammar. It is at least as different from English as any
other foreign language.
An
automatic English to ASL translator would give deaf people
greater access to the hearing world. Currently we are
developing tools to generate ASL as animation in response
to spoken English.
Notes
on American Sign Language
American
Sign Language (ASL) is a dynamic set of hand configuration,
hand positions, body positions, body movement, and facial
expressions that, when used in combination, support communication
among deaf people of North America. Certain signs represent
complete words or phrases. A manual alphabet is used to
"finger-spell" to introduce the Proper Noun before
creating specific signs for these nouns. It is also used
for concepts which do not have a specific, single sign before
it can introduce a "synonym" sign for the concept.
Currently,
human ASL translators are frequently necessary to facilitate
communication between deaf and hearing presenters and
their audiences. Good ASL translators are in high demand
and are not always available. That means that communication
among hearing and deaf people may be impaired or nonexistent,
to the detriment of both groups.
Development
of an automated synthesizer for ASL will make much more
information accessible to deaf people on a more economical
basis. It will allow the deaf to participate in and more
fully understand the exchanges among a hearing audience
in classrooms, meetings, and other venues. The synthsizer
will also provide deaf people with a better tool than
English documents or notes for understanding content.
Given
that ASL is the fourth most-used language in the United
States, the project team feels that a very large group
of people will benefit.
