SBIR Phase I: American Sign Language (ASL) Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Thesaurus.

该SBIR第一阶段项目提议制作在线软件，使聋人用户能够获得美国手语（ASL）科学，技术，工程和数学（STEM）符号的英语等价物。许多依赖美国手语进行交流的聋人和重听人没有良好的英语基础，英语既有口语（因此听觉上无法接触），也有书面语，导致阅读成绩差，主题内容被剥夺。这一人群在STEM扫盲方面尤其服务不足，在STEM职业中的代表性不足。主要原因有三：第一，目前几乎所有的科学信息都是以英语音频和文本为基础的，没有手语翻译。其次，很少有教育工作者调查和使用指向教学实践的研究，为聋人学生产生最好的结果。第三，很少有材料将STEM内容翻译成ASL，也没有从ASL翻译成英语。这项拟议的辅助技术将采取一种新的方法，通过创建有史以来第一个ASL STEM词库来帮助ASL用户理解和正确使用STEM术语。通过菜单，用户将能够使用四个描述符（即，手形、手掌方向、位置和运动），并找到相应的英语STEM术语、ASL和英语定义以及概念图。这种辅助技术的更广泛/商业影响是其对目前正在开发的一套在线辅助技术工具的内在价值，其最终目标是提高聋人和重听学生的识字率和教育成就，特别是在科学技术、工程和数学领域。将所有这些工具放在一个中央网站上，可以使STEM主题的教学更容易获得，更有效，质量更好。在之前的国家科学基金会资助下，开发了其中一种工具，英语到美国手语（ASL）翻译软件，该软件拥有超过30，000个单词，短语，习语和符号的数据库。由于ASL是一种非书面语言，翻译输出以图形和视频表示。进行了进一步的研究以使用相机和传感器使能的手套技术来识别ASL以进行反向翻译（即，ASL到英语）。该项目将在第一阶段使用手语描述系统，在第二阶段使用摄像头/手套技术，使聋人用户能够从自己的语言角度获取STEM词汇。通过这种方式，他们将能够更好地理解STEM术语，浏览STEM内容，并就STEM主题进行更有说服力的书面讨论。

This SBIR Phase I project proposes to produce online software that enables deaf users to obtain English equivalents for American Sign Language (ASL) science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) signs. Many deaf and hard of hearing people who rely on ASL for communication do not have good facility with English, which is both spoken (and so aurally inaccessible) and written, resulting in poor reading achievement and subject content deprivation. This population has been particularly underserved in STEM literacy and under-represented in STEM careers. There are three primary reasons: First, nearly all scientific information currently available is English audio and text-based and without interpretation into sign language. Second, few educators investigate and use research that points to instructional practices that yield best results for deaf students. Third, few materials interpret STEM content into ASL and none from ASL to English. This proposed assistive technology will take a novel approach to assisting ASL users in understanding and appropriately using STEM terminology by creating the first-ever ASL STEM Thesaurus. Via menus, users will be able to describe signs using four descriptors (i.e., hand shape, palm orientation, location, and motion) and find corresponding English STEM terms, ASL and English definitions, and concept pictures. The broader/commercial impact of this assistive technology is its intrinsic value to a set of online assistive technology tools currently being developed whose ultimate goal is to improve literacy and educational achievement of deaf and hard of hearing students, particularly in science technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. Having all of these tools on a central website makes instruction on STEM topics more accessible, efficient, and of better quality. Under a previous National Science Foundation grant, one of these tools, English-to-American Sign Language (ASL) translation software with a database of over 30,000 words, phrases, idioms, and symbols was developed. Because ASL is an unwritten language, translation output is represented as graphics and video. Further research was undertaken to recognize ASL using camera and sensor-enabled glove technologies for reverse translation (i.e., ASL-to-English). This project will use a sign language descriptor system in Phase I and camera/glove technologies in Phase II to enable deaf users to access STEM vocabulary from their own linguistic perspective. In this way, they will be able to better understand STEM terminology, navigate STEM content, and produce more cogent written discussions on STEM topics.