Sign Language Translator
Friday January 9, 2009
Krown Manufacturing unveiled its new sign language translator (NOT a sign language interpreter) at the Consumer Electronics Show this week. It is a hand-held device that you type words into, and then it automatically plays back a video of someone signing the words. Gearlog.com has a video.
This device will be helpful, but I wouldn’t consider it a translater since it will give the word in English order if that is what I type in. A true translator would let me type in a sentence and then the machine could present what I said in ASL order. Conversely, someone who communicates in ASL would type in what they wanted to say and the words and concepts would be translated to English word order.
I’m really looking forward to this. having recently retired from a 6 day swing shift job, my hearing impaired son and I spend a lot of time alone ever since my wife died. I’m not up to par on signing, although I keep trying to learn, but this will help me, and him, in his day to day life.