Sign language education system and program therefor

#The present invention relates to techniques for providing a sign language learner with an environment in which the learner can learn sign languages efficiently.

#It is known that sign language education programs for providing a sign language learner with an environment in which a sign language is learned include “Everyone's sign languages” (K. K. NHK Educational/IBM Japan, Corp., “Your hands are whispering” (Fujitsu Middleware, Corp., 1996), “Languages to hands, Introduction Part” (Fujitsu, Corp., 1996), etc. In these techniques, video animation images for sign languages, the corresponding Japanese sentences, and explanations for the respective sign languages are provided simultaneously to learners to thereby allow the learners to learn the relationship in correspondence between sign language and Japanese language. Also, these techniques have the function of expressing a sign language animation image corresponding to a particular word in a Japanese sentence and the function of expressing a sign language animation image corresponding to a Japanese word selected by the learner from among the Japanese words displayed simultaneously. In addition, the “Languages to hands, Introduction Part” has the function of retrieving a sign language by selecting action elements, which compose the sign language, such as the shapes and directions of the hands' acts.

#JP-A-2000-003127 discloses a technique for a sign language education program that uses sign language animations based on a three-dimensional computer graphics technique for displaying sign language animation images. This technique has the function of flexibly and selectively changing display of three kinds of sign language animation images, i.e. of sign language words, sign language sentences and conversation sentences in accordance with the learner's request to thereby allow the user to learn efficiently the relationship in correspondence between sign language and Japanese language.

#FIG. 1 illustrates the composition of a sign language education apparatus to which the inventive program is applied;

#FIG. 2 shows a format of an exemplary conversation sentence;

#FIG. 3 shows a format of a sign language sentence;

#One embodiment of the present invention will be described next with reference to FIGS. 1-21 of the accompanying drawings.

#FIG. 1 illustrates the constitution of a sign language education system to which the inventive program is applied. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 101 denotes a video camera to which a learner's sign language act data is input. Numeral 102 denotes an image recognition device that converts a video signal received from the video camera 101 to an electric signal as animation image data, recognizes the learner's acts required for expressing sign languages such as his or her hand/head acts from the input animation image data, and converts these recognized data to sign language act data as multidimensional time-series data. In order to convert the hand animation image data to sign language act data, the technique disclosed in JP-A-11-174948 is available. In order to convert the learner's expression and hand acts to sign language act data, the method disclosed in JP-A-06-067601 and “Head Act Analysis for Supporting Japanese Sign Language Automatic Translation” (the 51st Pattern Measurement Section, the Society of Instrument and Control Engineers, pp. 29-33, Apr. 21, 2000) may be used. Numeral 103 denotes a globe-type input device to which hand act data is inputted in a sign language. Such input device may be a well-known globe-type input device in which sensors are set in position in a pair of globes to thereby convert easily the shapes and acts of the learner's hands to electric signals of sign language data. A hand act converter 104 converts the electric signal received from the globe-type input device 103 to multidimensional time-series sign language act data representing bend angles and positions of the fingers of the learner's hands. A keyboard 105 and a mouse 106 are input devices to operate the picture on the display screen and may be well-known ones. An input control device 107 converts signals inputted by the keyboard 105 and mouse 106 to picture control signals. Numerals 108-112 show information and programs stored in a memory.

#Model information 108 has stored information on a plurality of illustrative conversation sentence groups required for learning the sign languages and on sign language sentences composing each conversation sentence group, relevant information such as explanations about the illustrative conversation sentence groups and their respective sign language sentences, and data for displaying sign language animation images and recognizing the sign language words. Learning history information 109 has stored a history of evaluation results of the learner's sign language acts for the respective sign language sentences.