Sign Language

I have been researching using technology to support teaching Australian Sign Language since 2000. I really wanted to create resource that were engaging and fun rather than being a chore. As technologies have changed there have been new opportunities for different ways to learn Australian Sign Language as each technology has its own features and limitations. The great thing about having researched and developed in the area is that some thing that work have been established in addition to the ideas that were not so successful. My First project was Auslan Children which was designed for children and ran on a computer. I then developed data gloves to work with a small section of the software, these were too expensive to develop further. Following this I started my first project with Deaf Children Australia to develop Teach Yourself Auslan which was designed to address the needs of parents of deaf children.

I did a small project on using Web cameras to act as a Sign Language learning mirror which had some problems so that it did not get developed further. The next project was to develop a application for the Nintendo Ds called Auslan Anywhere which is one of my personal favourites. Because of the changes in technology I am currently working on converting the idea that drove the Nintendo Game for Auslan Anywhere for touch tablets.

My Current project Kinect with Signs is developing a resource for the Microsoft Kinect which offers the opportunity to give people feedback as they are learning. This is a collaboration with Deaf Children Australia and VicDeaf.

All of my project are as a part of a large multi-disciplinary team as you can not conduct this sort of research solo. Select any of the links or images to have a look at more details on each of the projects.