Fostering Better Deaf/Hearing Communication through a Novel Mobile App for Fingerspelling

Fingerspelling is a critical communication of sign language used not only by deaf children but also by parents, teachers and interpreters who support them. The recognition of fingerspelling is particularly difficult for sign language learners and support software for practice is particularly limited due to the fluid and natural way that signers will spell with their hands. Any software tool that helps people practice reading fingerspelling must be natural enough to represent the fluidity of this motion while at the same time being flexible enough to spell any list of words in the target language in any order. To address these needs, this paper introduces a novel mobile app called "Fingerspelling Tutor" that produces natural full-motion fingerspelling using a realistic 3D computer animated character. The app can fingerspell any word that the user types in and can provide practice and quizzing opportunities for the user that are not limited to a fixed set of word lists. The software also allows users to post on social media sites to share their progress with fellow students.