Computer-based Technologies and Computational Aspects of Sign Language Research

We survey the contribution of computational techniques to the study of sign language linguistics. At the heart of this work are adequate models of sign language production, lexical representation, and grammatical structure. Based on a suitable model it is possible to generate effective animations of sign language performance using 3D virtual characters. Developing work to provide substantial corpora for a number of national sign languages is providing annotated databases to support both synthesis and sign language recognition. We also survey machine translation techniques for generating sign language from spoken text. (This chapter is the primary contribution on computational techniques in the Handbook on Sign Linguistics which forms part of the prestigious Mouton Linguistics Handbook series and will be a primary reference for sign language linguists.)