The Issues
As a person who can hear and has never experienced deafness, it is difficult to understand what it is like living with a hearing-impairment. I decided to do some research to try and uncover what difficulties people with hearing difficulties have to face.
The topics raised in this discussion are topics that would need to be covered through the development of the project. The smart-glasses could potentially solve the issue of having no or unqualified sign language interpreters, because the project will require a highly qualified professional interpreter to work alongside software engineers in order to manufacture the right piece of technology that can equip this proposal. Also, the product could potentially resolve the issues that occur from lip reading as it offers an alternative solution.
Source: https://www.quora.com/What-are-some-problems-that-Deaf-people-face-on-a-daily-basis
Sign Language
I decided to research the different forms of sign language available in order to determine which method of sign language would be appropriate for the project. I found a blog from The Disability Support Services program of Gulf Coast State College which describes that there are many different types of sign language and each one differentiates slightly from the next.
After reading the first paragraph, I already began to understand a little bit more about the complexity of sign language. “Sign language uses visually transmitted sign patterns to convey meaning by simultaneously combining shape, orientation and movement of the hands, arms or body, and facial expressions. This is important as a sign not only conveys a word but also conveys a tone, both contextually and acoustically.” It was then explained that the “emphasis on the word, whether it be delivered by using a higher or lower pitch, the volume, and even tones such as sarcasm are all being conveyed simultaneously by the interpreter with use of the sign, body movement, and facial expression.”
From this reading I understood that sign language was not straight forward. Not only are there different variations, there are also different portrayals. Some variations use hand, face and body movements to make up the language, and others use the hand, face, body and head. I began to realise that sign is a very complex language. I realised as well that the tone of ones voice can be conveyed through sign language as well as the words spoken. Also, I understood that there were different systems of sign language that were often preferred in some schools.
British Sign Language (BSL). Though the United Kingdon and the United States both share English as a spoken and written language, British Sign and American Sign languages are quite different from one another and are not mutually intelligible. British Sign Language (BSL) makes use of space and involves movements of the hands, body, face, and head.
American Sign Language (ASL). ASL is a complete, complex language that employs signs made with the hands and other movements, including facial expressions and postures of the body. It is the first language of many deaf in North America, and is considered the dominant sign language of the Deaf community in the United States, in the English-speaking parts of Canada, and in parts of Mexico. ASL is said to be the fourth most commonly used language in the U.S.
Signed English (SE). This system is preferred among primary and higher education institutions as it has one sign to represent each word in the English language. It is intended to be used to help with reading and writing, and has important signs to teach grammar.
Sign Supported English (SSE). This is the preferred method of hearing people to communicate with the deaf. SSE uses the same sign as British Sign Language (BSL), but unlike Signed English (SE), you do not have to sign every word. SSE also doesn’t have its own grammar system like BSL, enabling hearing people to use the sign system without having to learn a whole new grammatical structure. SSE can be picked up fairly quickly which expedites communication.
International Sign (IS). You may not come in contact with this system much here on our campus — yet, that is; we are growing — but IS is an international auxillary language used at international meetings, such as the World Federation of the Deaf (WFD) Congress and events such as the Deaflympics.
Padget Gorman Signed Speech. This signing system is used with speech to help those with langauge difficulties. There are 37 basic signs which when combined can make over 4,000 more complex ones.
Pidgin Signed English (PSE). Another characterstic of language, like vocal language, sign language has a very crude signing system, in which elements of BSL and spoken English are combined to allow communication between hearing people and deaf people who only know the strict confines of sign language. This system is not recommended (the persnickety of proper grammar should cover both ears and eyes for this system).
Finger Spelling. This signing system is generally used alongside sign language. It is used to spell out names, places, and anything else where there is not usually a sign for. Many times, new words take longer to be adapted into a singular sign, therefore they must be spelled out.
After considering the potential sign languages available, I believe that either Signed English (SE) or Sign Supported English (SSE) would be the best option, this is because the aim of the product is to translate spoken language word for word and some sign systems may make it difficult for this to accomplished.
https://dssofgcsc.wordpress.com/for-professors/types-of-sign-language/
Further research confirmed that “Signed English is a sign language dialect which matches each spoken word of English. It is mostly used for language development, allowing a teacher to reinforce the spoken word with its equivalent sign. Children are able to communicate in Signed English at a much earlier age than the spoken language; transition into to spoken English is made easier as they already possess the signed vocabulary.”
The sign.com.au website contains a complete dictionary of almost 3,000 words which means that it can translate words or phrases into Signed English.
