PE2LGP Animator: A Tool To Animate A Portuguese Sign Language Avatar

Pedro Cabral, Matilde Gonçalves, Hugo Nicolau, Luísa Coheur, Ruben Santos

Abstract
Software for the production of sign languages is much less common than for spoken languages. Such software usually relies on 3D humanoid avatars to produce signs which, inevitably, necessitates the use of animation. One barrier to the use of popular animation tools is their complexity and steep learning curve, which can be hard to master for inexperienced users. Here, we present PE2LGP, an authoring system that features a 3D avatar that signs Portuguese Sign Language. Our Animator is designed specifically to craft sign language animations using a key frame method, and is meant to be easy to use and learn to users without animation skills. We conducted a preliminary evaluation of the Animator, where we animated seven Portuguese Sign Language sentences and asked four sign language users to evaluate their quality. This evaluation revealed that the system, in spite of its simplicity, is indeed capable of producing comprehensible messages.
Anthology ID:
2020.signlang-1.6
Volume:
Proceedings of the LREC2020 9th Workshop on the Representation and Processing of Sign Languages: Sign Language Resources in the Service of the Language Community, Technological Challenges and Application Perspectives
Month:
May
Year:
2020
Address:
Marseille, France
Editors:
Eleni Efthimiou, Stavroula-Evita Fotinea, Thomas Hanke, Julie A. Hochgesang, Jette Kristoffersen, Johanna Mesch
Venue:
SignLang
SIG:
Publisher:
European Language Resources Association (ELRA)
Note:
Pages:
33–38
Language:
English
URL:
https://aclanthology.org/2020.signlang-1.6
DOI:
Bibkey:
Cite (ACL):
Pedro Cabral, Matilde Gonçalves, Hugo Nicolau, Luísa Coheur, and Ruben Santos. 2020. PE2LGP Animator: A Tool To Animate A Portuguese Sign Language Avatar. In Proceedings of the LREC2020 9th Workshop on the Representation and Processing of Sign Languages: Sign Language Resources in the Service of the Language Community, Technological Challenges and Application Perspectives, pages 33–38, Marseille, France. European Language Resources Association (ELRA).
Cite (Informal):
PE2LGP Animator: A Tool To Animate A Portuguese Sign Language Avatar (Cabral et al., SignLang 2020)
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https://preview.aclanthology.org/nschneid-patch-4/2020.signlang-1.6.pdf
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