Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!ut-emx!ccwf.cc.utexas.edu From: clouds@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu (Kathy Strong) Newsgroups: comp.ivideodisc Subject: Interactive videodisc project--American Sign Language Summary: a repost (with permission) of some email Message-ID: <40067@ut-emx.uucp> Date: 22 Nov 90 16:16:58 GMT Sender: news@ut-emx.uucp Reply-To: clouds@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu (Kathy Strong) Lines: 85 The author of this email has okayed me posting it; I think it's fascinating! From: Sherman Wilcox To: clouds@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu Subject: Re: Alone Thanks for the feedback, Kathy. I'm gonna answer this message private to you then figure out a way to start a thread on the newsgroup. We have started thinking about "disk real-estate management" more in terms of word frequency -- what will be the most likely words that users will want, then put them together. Let me give you a brief idea of what I envision for the ASL dictionary (yeah, I agree -- ain't it a SUPER use of the technology? -- I yearn to answer the folks who say that multimedia is just a bunch of hype -- this technology is the only viable solution to the problem of creating a signed language dictionary, I know, because we have the guy who wrote the *FIRST* ASL dictionar, William Stokoe, on our project!) We want a dictionary with the following features: (1) bilingual (ASL/English). This means users can start with an English word and look for an ASL translation, or start with an ASL word, perhaps one they've seen and don't know the meaning of, and search for an English translation (more on this later); (2) it will incorporate not only ASL (videodisk) and English (text) words, but also bilingual contextual sentences, definitions, usage notes, grammatical info, etc- in other words, it'll be a real dictionary; (3) there will be no direct link between ASL words and English words -- the user will have to go thru meaning (just as when you ask "How do you say 'critical' in language X" and I have to ask "What do you *mean* by the word 'critical' -- 'important' or 'to criticize' or 'life-threatening' (as in critical condition)?" the dictionary will do the same); (4) extensible (in at least two senses: user can enter notes about particular entries, sort of notes in the margin of the dictionary, or, the interface and dictionary engine can be used with videodisks other than those that we will provide, if the user is willing to do the coding herself. A key element of the design which will (god, I hope!) allow us to implement some of these features is that the dictionary will have a relational database underlying it. Codings (formal features of ASL words -- handshapes, movements, locations on the body, facial features, etc; frame numbers of ASL entries; English translation equivalents; etc etc) will be stored in the database. We are doing our first prototype in MacroMind Director. We hope to implement the database in a thing called HyperHIT -- a relational database engine implemented entirely in XCMDs (intended for use with Hypercard, but I think it'll hook to director as well -- here, I'm praying every night for luck!!!). So, I bet you are thinking of some interface goodies, aren't you. It makes me freak out when I think of all the neat interface ideas we could try out. For example, think about leading the user thru an ASL "phonetic" lookup -- the case where he sits down with an ASL word in mind and wants to know what it means (by the way, this is one of the examples of how multimedia enables this type of work: there is only *ONE* print media ASL dictionary in the world that lets you do this [written by Bill Stokoe] and most people don't understand how to use it because it requires them to learn a new, ASL "alphabet"). We will have to lead them to "sound out" (geez, what is the exact parallel for visual languages -- "light out"???) the word: the interface will say, in effect, "show me what the word looked like..." Then we need to give the user feedback on the results of the search given the info provided so far -- "if you give me only the shape of the hand and the location on the body, the dictionary has 30 words which might fit your description -- do you want to provide more info or look at those 30 words?" Etc etc et.... OK, I've taken up enough of your time. Do you think we have a do-able project here? I've got a 6-month NIH feasibility grant, and have to convince them to give me the real bucks, the phase two money, so that we can go into production. I'm convinced -- I hope they will be! ===================== I think there are analogies here to the way Chinese is currently done on computers: you start with a radical, maybe two, and the computer presents you with, say, 12 characters based on that radical: is it one of these? (This is Kathy talking now...) What are the radicals of an ASL word? Gesture? Direction? Hand shape? Distance? Position near body? --Kathy -- ........................................................................... : Kathy Strong : "Try our Hubble-Rita: just one shot, : : (Clouds moving slowly) : and everything's blurry" : : clouds@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu : --El Arroyo : :..........................................................................: