Fed: Talking gloves could revolutionise sign language
BRISBANE, Aug 22 AAP - Communication for Australia's deaf community could be revolutionisedwith a set of talking gloves.
Gloves that can translate sign language into English are currently being developedat the University of New South Wales.
A signer wears gloves that are connected to a computer that has been programmed totell the signs apart and can translate the signs into written words on a monitor.
At a recent trial using a deaf student, the computer was able to translate with 95per cent accuracy when they compared the computer's definitions to the Auslan Dictionary.
Auslan is the Australian Sign Language.
Each glove worn by the signer has 20 ways of measuring the movement in their hand andthe information is translated to the computer via two wires.
GRASP Glove-based Recognition of Auslan using Simple Processing was the result of aPhD study conducted by Waleed Kadous.
Mr Kadous, a senior research fellow for the Cooperative Research Centre for Smart InternetTechnology said the ultimate aim was to create a device completely enclosed in the gloveswhere the signer can wear a transmitter that speaks the words as they sign.
But Mr Kadous told ABC Online today the project was still far from being completed.
A problem facing a programmer trying to translate Auslan is that sign language is nota direct translation of English, Mr Kadous said.
"There are roughly two words to a sign," explained Mr Kadous.
"In addition people's signing styles differ, and the signs made by a person with longor short arms differ so the program would need to be calibrated for an individual userin much the way that speech recognition software is."
AAP ved/sc/cjh/sb
KEYWORD: GLOVES (PIX AVAILABLE)
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