'Signglasses' System Helps Deaf Literacy

Students at Brigham Young University recently launched the "Signglasses" project in an attempt to develop a better system of sign language for narration through several types of glasses, including Google Glass.

"My favorite part of the project is conducting experiments with deaf children in the planetarium," said Tyler Foulger, via a press release. Foulger, who is also the leader of the project, was born deaf. "They get to try on the glasses and watch a movie with an interpreter on the screen of the glasses. They're always thrilled and intrigued with what they've experienced. It makes me feel like what we are doing is worthwhile."

Two of professor Jones' computer science students, Kei Ikeda and David Hampton, who are also deaf, signed up for the project just as the national Science Foundation funded the research, as well.

The team tested their system during a field trip visit to the Jean Messieu School for the deaf. Research from one of the tests revealed that the signer should be displayed in the center of the lens, while deaf participants could look straight through the signer as they focused on a planetarium show. This was particularly surprising for researchers as they believed that deaf students would prefer to have a video displayed at the top, as Google Glass normally presents itself.

Researchers hope that with further studies, this tool can also be used for literary guidance.

 "One idea is when you're reading a book and come across a word that you don't understand, you point at it, push a button to take a picture, some software figures out what word you're pointing at and then sends the word to a dictionary and the dictionary sends a video definition back," Jones added, via the release.

More information regarding the findings will be available in June, via Interaction Design and Children.