Kinect’s patent application said the device could recognise American Sign Language. Microsoft then backed off the claim, at least for the initial generation of the device, saying that sort of application would be supported in later models. Then people started developing open-source Kinect drivers and doing all sorts of cool things with them. And lo and behold, the commercially available Kinect recognises sign language. More »
The Royal Institute for Deaf and Blind Children have had an AUSLAN iPhone app available for a while now, but it costs $50. So yesterday they launched a free app for both iPhone and iPad that will teach iOS users 150 key signs, so they can learn the basics of communicating with sign language. More »
And it doesn’t require users to wear a crazy-looking glove. MobileASL incorporates compressed video signals, increased image quality around the face and hands, and motion detection to make it a better option than other mobile video conferencing services. More »
Designed for children ages two and up, Danny the Dragon Meets Jimmy is an illustrated, narrated storybook that reads to children on its own. Even better is that deaf children won’t be left out, thanks to built-in sign language video. More »
It’s not just your clumsy leg-kicks that Kinect will understand, with a newly discovered patent showing that it’s actually capable of understanding American Sign Language, or ASL. Is this another way to input text to the game? More »
There were some perks to dating a cyborg. More »
The Sign Language Translator’s name may be a tad misleading (it doesn’t actually translate anything), but as a pocket ASL video dictionary, it’s a neat enough idea.
Attempts at making a glove into a communication device for the deaf have been going on for years now, but a group of undergraduate computer engineering students at Carnegie Melon have come up with what has to be the most practical design to date. The main difference being that it translates sign messages through a mobile phone as opposed to a bulky computer. And the best part is that the device uses fairly inexpensive materials to work its magic.
