The deaf and hard of hearing communicate with each other mainly through sign language, and here in the US, it goes without saying that American Sign Language is the preferred language of choice. However, instead of just using texts over a cellphone, University of Washington (UW) engineers have come up with a device that is more than capable of transmitting American Sign Language (ASL) over US cellular networks. This works great in countries with established 3G networks, but how about areas with low bandwidth that will offer a challenge to even the most efficient video encoders as they struggle to produce decent video quality required for intelligible sign language? Dubbed the MobileASL project, it will increase image quality of face and hands to reduce the data rate down to 30 kilobytes per second without compromising on the intelligibility. Motion detection is used to identify whether a person is signing or not, so that the handset’s battery life can be prolonged where possible.
Filed in ..