3D-SIGN – A COMPUTER-AIDED LEARNING PACKAGE FOR MALAYSIAN SIGN LANGUAGE DEVELOPED USING 3D COMPUTER GRAPHICS AND ANIMATION.

Abstract

Despite assistance from the government for the disabled, there is still an apparent lack of software packages for the hearing impaired, especially those based on local contents. Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has yet to play a significant role in the teaching and learning of Malaysian Sign Language. This research discusses the development of 3D-Sign, a learning package that uses computer graphics and animations for Malaysian Sign Language. The system is a bilingual learning package which includes modules related to the learning of alphabets, integers, fractions, words, spellings and phrases in sign language. It is an interactive learning package suitable for use by the hearing impaired, their families and friends, as well as teachers. This project focuses on developing a three dimension format learning package, which enables users to view from different angles. The main purpose of the package is to teach the sign language to facilitate communication between the hearing impaired and the community more effectively. The package was developed using multimedia technology. The package explains the signs using 3D graphics and animation with clear and correct pronunciation of the words. The tools and programming languages used are 3D-Poser Artist ver4.0, Macromedia Flash 2004 MX Professional, Macromedia Director MX 2004 and Microsoft Visual Basic ver6.0. This research contributes towards the education for the hearing impaired in Malaysia, and also serves as a very useful learning tool to bridge the communication gap between the public and the hearing impaired community in Malaysia.