Sign Language Translation

The Sound of Signing

Ranjay Krishna       (rak248 at cornell dot edu)

Seonwoo Lee            (sl787 at cornell dot edu)

Si Ping Wang            (sw525 at cornell dot edu)

Jonathan Lang         (fl229 at cornell dot edu)

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The Engineers: Ranjay Krishna, Seonwoo Lee, Si Ping Wang

Introduction

"A portable Glove Based Sign Language Translator with LCD Display, Speech Synthesis, and Sign Language Education Software"

Sign language is a language through which communication is possible without the means of acoustic sounds. Instead, sign language relies on sign patterns, i.e., body language, orientation and movements of the arm to facilitate understanding between people. It exploits unique features of the visual medium through spatial grammar.

Currently, in the United States, there are approximately one to two million signers. It is the sixth most spoken language in the America. Trudy Sugg’s book describes sign language as the sixth most spoken language in the world.

The sign language translator we have developed uses a glove fitted with sensors that can interpret the 26 English letters in American Sign Language (ASL). The glove uses flex sensors, contact sensors, and accelerometers in three dimensions to gather data on each finger’s position and the hand’s motion to differentiate the letters. The translation is transmitted to the base station, which displays as well as pronounces the letter and also interfaces with the computer. On the computer there is a game which tests the user’s ability to sign, which can be used for sign language education.

Demo Video