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Sign Smith Products for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Learners Mr. Jason Hurdich Team Leader, Sign Language Projects Vcom3D, Inc. Orlando, Florida, USA Company Background • Since incorporation in 1997, Vcom3D's goal has always been to deliver the most realistic and expressive virtual human technology to our wide spectrum of clients. • Our markets include military, government, consumer, and education. • Mobile solutions allows us to distribute media on an intuitive, portable and educational platform and provide directly to our clients. • Vcom3D, Inc. is a leader in research and development related to the instruction of K-12 Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing (Deaf/HH) students utilizing our SigningAvatar characters. Lifelike, Expressive Avatars NSF Funded Research • How to best identify range • of human facial expressions in ASL. How to incorporate three levels of effective storytelling identified by Dr. Kristin Mulrooney (Gallaudet University) to make our SigningAvatar characters more life-like: (1) grammar (2) emotions (3) communication Mobile Solutions for Deaf & Hard-of-Hearing Students • U.S. Department of Education and National • Science Foundation funded research. Vcom3D showed evidence of the success in utilizing mobile devices (iPod Touch/iPhone) to make sign language information accessible “on the go” for K-12 students. • Content includes definitions and explanations of idioms, scientific terms, multi-sense and unfamiliar terms which Deaf/HH students often have trouble understanding. • Vcom3D has tested Signing Science Dictionary and Signing Science Pictionary with students using the Apple® iPod Touch and iPhone – as seen here. Evaluation Results: Mobile Language Reference Project The following average evaluations by educators of Deaf/HH upper elementary and middle school students (Hurdich and Sims, 2007): Ease of Use: 8.3 out of 10 Motivation: 10 out of 10 Supported Reading Comprehension: 7.7 out of 10 Mobile Signing Science Dictionary/Pictionary Signing Science Dictionary shown on an iPod Touch Signing Science Pictionary shown on an iPod Touch Students’ Reactions: The iPod helped me to do homework independently without needing to depend on parents. This iPod helped me to correlate what was taught in the classroom. It helped to reinforce my learning when parents were busy. The avatars are fun and cool! This helped to foster my independent learning. I would absolutely use this as a tool for learning. Sign 4 Me on iTunes • Developed by our sign language team, which is comprised of 8 Deaf professionals, Sign 4 Me gives the user what they need to learn as little or as much sign language as they want! • Sign 4 Me provides sign language instruction in 3D! Our 3D character can be zoomed in or out and rotated to give you the best vantage point for every sign. You control the placement of the character and the speed of signing. Zoom in closely to see the hands and how they are shaped. • The sign language library contains more than 11,400 words. As you type in sentences, phrases, and words, they are saved in your History. This allows you to look up previous content you have entered and keeps you from having to retype again and again. • Go back to find your content either by date or alphabetically. You also have the option to loop the signing over and over so you can practice or just see it one time for reference! Sign4Me Interface on iPod Touch/iPhone Thank You Contact: – Jason Hurdich, [email protected] – Cindy Barson, [email protected], 407-737-8488 x121