Monday, February 4, 2008
UT Arlington project aims to make American Sign Language learning easier
Email
|
Print
|
Tell us your story
|
Comment
|
A UT Arlington assistant professor’s research project will develop methods to aid in learning American Sign Language (ASL) by both deaf and hearing individuals through $900,000 in National Science Foundation funding during the next three years.
Vassilis Athitsos – who is in the UT Arlington Computer Science and Engineering Department, and will work with Drs. Stan Sclaroff and Carol Neidle of Boston University’s Computer Science Department – will create tools and methods to aid in the learning process for ASL.
Unlike a spoken or written language, ASL is not a literal representation of each word, so a complete sentence can be presented very rapidly. This often makes it difficult for students of ASL to grasp the quickly changing hand positions and gestures. The project will involve two significant developments.
The first is the creation of search technologies for looking up the meaning of an unknown sign. Currently available sign/meaning dictionaries organize entries in alphabetical order. The team’s proposed methods can be incorporated into any existing dictionary to allow sign-based look up, a capability that no dictionary currently has.
Developed through the use of computer vision, data mining and machine learning applications, the dictionary will contain approximately 4,000 commonly-used signs and should be deployable within three years. This will allow non-ASL users to more easily match gestures with meanings and study visual patterns.
The second goal is the development of a visual database and an automatic search tool for identifying occurrences of signs in large video databases of ASL content – sort of a visual equivalent of GOOGLE. It will allow users to search databases for occurrences of thousands of signs.
This would involve large-scale machine learning integrating methods for accurate sign recognition with methods for efficient indexing.
“These applications would be of potential use to everyone communicating with ASL,” Dr. Athitsos said. “Children, parents, teachers, doctors; they could all potentially benefit from the sign lookup and search methods we are developing. For example, it should be very useful for a parent to be able to look up the meaning of a sign that their deaf child has just performed, or perhaps for a doctor to understand signs used by a deaf patient.”
Source: UTA
See more stories in:
Find...
Today
Candlelight Vigil for Soldiers at Fort Hood Just a day before Veteran's Day, UT-Arlington students remember the soldiers wounded and killed at Fort Hood on Thursday. The public is invited to share this somber event with students. More info
Latest comments
- genghis65 on Dallas city leaders plan to help homeless: I have lived in downtown since 2004 and have only seen the homeless problem increase since the openi...
- Jason Rice on Lewisville resident breaks Guinness World Record for longest drum roll: ok that snare is definitely DEFINITELY hot. True enough. (no really, witness, ye, a moment of non-sa...
- dianamoya on The Living Opera in Richardson shut down permanently: Are you guys doing Educational Outreach Tour? We would like to see what you do. We’re in Frisco,TX...
- Collin Gouldin on Lewisville resident breaks Guinness World Record for longest drum roll: Not at all, i got a Guinness World Record. (and um… you did see that sweet snare right?)...
Latest reviews
- Colby Walton on Si Tapas and Spanish Cuisine: Just visited this place for the first time, and found the quality of the food, the service, the atmo...
- cindyallentx on India West Fine Dining & Lounge: I went to this restaurant last friday had a wonderful experience. Love the low light romantic feel o...
- jognmcdermott on India West Fine Dining & Lounge: This place has it all good food sweet service. I proposed to my fiance here it was perfect! we loved...
Things you can't miss
Latest stories
- Jupiter House Coffee opens new location in Denton
- St. Thomas Aquinas students inspire local artist to auction painting for art education
- Interview with comic Todd Barry: Rock halls versus comedy clubs
- The Brad reports on Stephan Pyles' 10th Celebrity Chef Dinner Sunday at Stephan Pyles Dallas
- Folks from Rogers Wildlife Rehab in Hutchins introduce us to their owl friends


Post a comment