Deaf to Sign Via Video Handsets
From: BBC News - 02/16/2007

Researchers at the University of Washington have developed a video
compression system that will allow deaf people to use mobile devices to send
live video of them using sign language to chat with other people. Current
mobile networks will not allow them to do so because of bandwidth demands,
according to lead researcher and computer scientist Richard Ladner. "To do
all this calculation and video compression runs down your battery pretty
fast," he says. The compression software that Ladner developed, along with
professors Eve Riskin and Sheila Hemami, cuts down on the amount of data
forwarded to video compression tools by only sending data about hand, arm,
and face movements. The video compression system is also designed to offer
better quality video of the face of the signer. The researchers say networks
that have only 10 Kbps to 20 Kbps of bandwidth available will be able to take
advantage of the video compression system. They are already gauging the
interest of mobile firms in offering the technology in their phones. 

Read the entire article at:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6366177.stm

Links:
Richard Ladner
http://www.cs.washington.edu/homes/ladner/

Signs of caring: Ladner learns parents' language, contributes to their community
http://www.adwas.org/stories/storyReader$73

MobileASL
http://www.cs.washington.edu/research/MobileASL/
http://dub.washington.edu/people/cavender/
