Work Package 1: Television & Broadcast Transmission

Work Package One is concerned with the deployment of virtual human synthetic signing in broadcast television. Such signing will supplement existing human sign transmission to enable a far greater percentage of programmes to be signed. The Work Package has two related aspects: the development and integration of the appropriate technology, and the monitoring and establishment of appropriate standards.

Work Package 2: Multimedia and WWW Applications

This Work Package will develop applications of virtual signing aimed at the WWW, multimedia and third party software. An Internet browser plug-in will be developed, which will allow the viewing of text as signs. A version will be provided free of charge to deaf users. Authoring tools will be developed to allow deaf people to construct their own deaf signed web sites.

This work package will develop applications of the virtual human signing system to be used in face-to-face transactions, such as post offices, health centres and hospitals, advice services, and shops.

The scenario for these transactions will be a post-office. The system to be developed will allow the counter clerk serving the deaf customer to speak into a microphone and have his or her speech translated into on-screen virtual human signing. To improve the efficiency of the transactional system, it will incorporate available technologies to "read" limited signs from the deaf customer and translate these into text (or speech) that the counter clerk can understand.