Bill
 

Tony McCloskey wrote:

Hello Everyone                    I have just joined the SignWriting list, I'm doing a Ph.D. here in Ireland at the University of Ulster Derry.  I have complete a degree in electronics and computing and then took a year out to do voluntary work in Zambia, were I worked with street kids for a year. I came back from Zambia and started this whole Ph.D. thing, having work with street kids in Zambia I wasn't that excited about making a computer go faster or any of that stuff.  I wanted somehow to use what I knew to make a difference to people so that is why I now find myself here.  I want to design a simple and cheap communication aid for signers to non-signers and hopefully somewhere along the line get a PhD.I am interested in designing a touch screen keypad that is a wearable device that can be used to translate sign language or SignWriting to English text or speech.  The keypad would store signs in a database and display different signs on the touch screen as the conversation progresses.  Intelligent techniques would be applied so as each device would be applicable to the individual user in their life.  The system would learn from the user the types of conversations they have in certain environments and with certain people and learn to predict the signs that are most likely to be needed at each point in a particular type of conversation.So far this is all still at the idea stage so if somebody knows if it has already be done let me know or if you think it isn't possible then please let me know and why you think it can't be done!The idea is that a person with modest keyboard skills and a knowledge of SignWriting could be at a speed where they can carry out a conversation with a non-signer.  Getting speech to sign or text to sign would be the next problem.I'm not a signer myself so I'm sort of fumbling about a bit trying to make sense of a lot of new stuff but it is all very interesting and challenging I'm just trying not to repeat what someone else is already doing or waste my time designing something nobody wants. Thanks for listening I look forward to heading your comments!! Tony McCloskeyUniversity Of UlsterDerry, Ireland

	Replies	Author	Date
5493	Re: New Member of List!!	Angus B. Grieve-Smith	Thu  8/16/2001