3D avatar for automatic synthesis of signs for the sign languages

Abstract

This paper discusses a synthesis system that generates, from a XML input representing gesture descriptors, a vector of configuration parameters that are executed by a 3D Avatar for use in the animation of Sign Languages. The development of virtual agents able to reproduce gestures of sign languages is very important to the deaf community, since in general they also have difficulties to read conventional texts. In this research project, a consistent combination of 3D editor Blender, CMarkup parser and graphics engine Irrlicht was used to develop a novel approach to sign synthesis, based on a recent XML model that describes hand gestures using shape, location, movement and orientation descriptors. The described experiments validate the proposed implementation model, which constitutes a promising alternative in the area of synthesis of signals for computational applications of Sign Languages.