American sign language finger challenge

Abstract

In current websites and computer assisted learning programs, there are no interactive products that truly present real time fingerspelling in American Sign Language (ASL). At best, a site dislpays an array of illustrated static manual letters, which are displayed side by side like the roman alphabet letters to form a word. Another site flashes sequential photos of manual letters, as in the word, "S-W-E-A-T-E-R" , after which you type what you think you saw. In either case this is not real-time fingerspelling.

Using the publication reference "Expressive and Receptive Fingerspelling for Hearing Adults" by Lavera M. Guillory, Macromedia Director MX 2004, this thesis is an interactive computer assisted instructional product, designed to improve students' receptive abilities when using ASL fingerspelling. This was achieved by incorporating the transitions from letter to letter using real-time animation, and provides a realistic representation.

Explored and created is a dynamic user experience that is clean, innovative and easy to navigate. Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator generate the simple gray on white vector line art from images extracted from video clips. The SWF animations were compiled in Flash, while Director was used to create challenges for one to seven letter words and finger combinations.