Development of an Automatic Korean Sign Language Animation Generation System

In order for deaf people to enjoy cultural life in exhibition and performance facilities such as museums and art galleries, communication tools to use Korean sign language should be provided easily. Since the sign language interpretation service is very limited, it can be widely used if an automatic sign language generation system using a computer is developed. This paper describes an automatic Korean sign language animation generation system that can be used in exhibition and performance facilities. The system input is a Korean sign language sentence that translates culture scripts into Korean sign language. When a Korean sign language sentence is entered into the automatic generation system, the sign language sentence is divided into sign language words, and one Korean sign language word is described with several sign language word descriptors. A sign language code composed of a set of Korean sign language word descriptors creates one sign language action, and the automatic animation system automatically creates a continuous video by linking the action to the action. The automatic animation system was evaluated by deaf people and the hearing impaired and showed a result of 90.2% satisfaction, which means that it can be used as a practical communication tool.