You can download the Vsign Builder and Player free (fwd)

I haven't yet tried it, but this looks like an intersting project. (And I
know there are some dutch speakers on this list who may have a little time to
contribute translation..)

cheers

Chaals

----- Original Message -----
From: Liesbeth Pyfers
To: EUDmail@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Tuesday, April 23, 2002 3:05 PM
Subject: Vsign: sign language animations


Dear all,

For a EU project, I needed animations of Dutch, German and
English signs. I asked students of the European Media Master of
Arts course in the Netherlands to develop these for me. Instead,
they developed the Vsign software: the Vsign Builder and the
Vsign Player (Vsign: virtual signs).
With the Vsign Builder, anyone can make sign animations with a
regular computer, no special hardware needed. With slides you
move the fingers of the hand(s) in the correct position, as well
as the arms, the head and the shoulders. Then you click on
'play', and the signer makes the sign. While you are making the
sign, you can circle around the signer and zoom in or out. The
signs are stored as very small textfiles, (.gbr). These .gbr
signs can be played in the Vsign Player. While the sign is
playing, you can again circle around the signer (so you can see
the sign from the front, from above, the left, etc.), zoom in or
out, and play the sign faster or in slow motion.

Both programs are prototypes: there may still be bugs, and you
can't input facial expression yet, or mouth movements. Also, the
software was developed for single signs, you can't make sentences
or texts yet. Also, you can't change the signer yet, or the
colour settings.
At the moment we are looking for partners and funding, to further
develop the software and to include these options.

You can download the Vsign Builder and Player free, from our
wesbite: www.Vsign.nl . The website is in Dutch, we are working
on an English translation. But even if you can't read Dutch, the
software is easy to find: click on Software, then click on
Prototypes, and then select the software you want to download.
The software is in Dutch also - but I am sure you can figure out
what the few Dutch words mean - especially in combination with
the icons.

If you just want to see some sign animations, go to the Vsign
website, click on Project, and then go to page 2. You will see
some Dutch words in bold text. Click on a word, and you will see
the (Dutch!) sign in the Vsign Player. Please note: to be able to
play the signs, Macromedia Shockwave Player must be installed on
your computer. If you don't have the Schockwave Player, I think
the Vsign website will automatically re-direct you to the
Macromedia site where you can download the Shockwave Player
(free).

I am very interested in what you think of the software. We will
install a FAQ section on the Vsign website, and a forum where
people can discuss the pro's and con's of sign animations in
general, and of the Vsign software in particular. As soon as we
have the English pages up, I'll let you know. In the mean time,
if you have comments, or suggestions for funding!, you can mail
me directly (liesbeth@vsign.nl, or lpyfers@ea.nl), or send your
comments to the mailing list.

We have a CDROM with the software, and some background
information about the project. The CDROM is in Dutch and in
English. If you are really interested in the software, send me
your snailmail address and I will send you a copy of the CD-ROM.

Liesbeth
Liesbeth Pyfers
Pragma - Equal Access, the Netherlands

Received on Wednesday, 24 April 2002 14:04:38 UTC