Eleni Efthimiou

In this paper, we touch upon the requirement for accessibility via Sign Language as regards dynamic composition and exchange of new content in the context of natural language-based human interaction, and also the accessibility of web services and electronic content in written text by deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals. In this framework, one key issue remains the option for composition of signed “text”, along with the ability for the reuse of pre-existing signed “text” by exploiting basic editing facilities similar to those available for written text that serve vocal language representation. An equally critical related issue is accessibility of vocal language text by born or early deaf signers, as well as the use of web-based facilities via Sign Language-supported interfaces, taking into account that the majority of native signers present limited reading skills. It is, thus, demonstrated how Sign Language technologies and resources may be integrated in human-centered applications, enabling web services and content accessibility in the education and an everyday communication context, in order to facilitate integration of signer populations in a societal environment that is strongly defined by smart life style conditions. This potential is also demonstrated by end-user-evaluation results.

In this paper, we report on the evaluation strategy and the results that were obtained from the final end-user evaluation process of an innovative robotic assistive device supporting mobility. More specifically, the paper deals with the evaluation of the MOBOT robotic rollator as regards to the system’s overall performance and its individual assistive characteristics and functionalities, as implemented in respect to (i) the provided cognitive assistance, and (ii) the adopted audio-gestural human-robot communication model. User evaluation was designed on the basis of an extensive survey of scales and methodologies widely reported in the relevant literature. The actual evaluation phase exploited the QUEST 2.0, ATDPA-Device Form, and PYTHEIA scales to measure the subjective satisfaction of the users. The PYTHEIA scale, in particular, was structured in order to fill the gaps that were identified during the study of previously existing tools for measuring assistive device user satisfaction. The scale was applied for the first time during the reported evaluation process. An analysis of the results showed that MOBOT was ranked very high by end users in all of the aspects addressed by the three employed assessment scales, thus providing significant evidence for positive acceptance of any industrialized outcome of the current prototype in the assistive robots market.

The work reported in this study is based on research that has been carried out while developing a sign synthesis system for Greek Sign Language (GSL): theoretical linguistic analysis as well as lexicon and grammar resources derived from this analysis. We focus on the organisation of linguistic knowledge that initiates the multi-functional processing required to achieve sign generation performed by a virtual signer. In this context, structure rules and lexical coding support sign synthesis of GSL utterances, by exploitation of avatar technologies for the representation of the linguistic message. Sign generation involves two subsystems: a Greek-to-GSL conversion subsystem and a sign performance subsystem. The conversion subsystem matches input strings of written Greek-to-GSL structure patterns, exploiting Natural Language Processing (NLP) mechanisms. The sign performance subsystem uses parsed output of GSL structure patterns, enriched with sign-specific information, to activate a virtual signer for the performance of properly coded linguistic messages. Both the conversion and the synthesis procedure are based on adequately constructed electronic linguistic resources. Applicability of sign synthesis is demonstrated with the example of a Web-based prototype environment for GSL grammar teaching.