Sign Language Interpretation Over an Internet 2 Network
By Barnicle, Kitch; Vanderheiden, Gregg; Gilman, Al; Reinberg, Jon; Shauer, Joseph; Kelso, David; RESNA 2000: Technology for the New Millenium, Vol. 20, No. 1, pp. 25-27Publication Date: June/July 2000
Paper describing two series of experiments involving videoconferencing equipment, high-speed networks, and sign language interpreters. The experiments were carried out at the Supercomputing 99 conference in Portland, Oregon. The first series of experiments were designed to assess the possibility of using American Sign Language interpretation services for conference presentations from a remote location. The second series of experiments were designed to assess the feasibility of providing remote "interpreter-on-demand" services to a conference attendee who is deaf. Microsoft's NetMeeting 3.01 and Sorenson VisionLink 2.0 videoconferencing software applications were used in the project. The first series involved the speeches from the session being patched into the convention center phone system and sent to the remote site via standard telephone lines. The interpreter at the remote site listened to the presentation on a speakerphone and signed the session while being recorded on a video camera. The image of the interpreter was sent to the convention center via BNS and projected onto a screen. The second series, involved a member of the research team, who is deaf, carrying a Sony PictureBook minicomputer with a wireless network connection. A small microphone taped to the side of the PictureBook picked up the speech of someone nearby and sent it to the remote interpreter. The interpreter's image was transmitted over the wireless network and displayed in an adjustable size window on the PictureBook. The project was declared to be a success. The authors’ ultimate goal is to create mechanisms for combining automatic computer speech recognition and translation technologies.
Published by: Rehabilitation Engineering & Assistive Technology Society of North America (RESNA) (Website:http://www.resna.org)
ISBN: 0-932101-42-9
This publication is included in the library of the National Rehabilitation Information Center (NARIC), accession number O13607
