Automated CG Sign-Language Generation System for Weather & Disaster Information

Outline

A bilingual corpus is used to convert electronic bulletins from JMA, the Japan Meteorological Agency, into the unique grammar of sign language. On the basis of the translated data, Sign-Language vocabulary is then loaded from a motion-capture database that stores approximately 8,000 basic expressions.

Features

• Disaster info can be transmitted without delay to all persons, including those with hearing impairments.
• NHK created CG Sign-Language animations under the supervision of deaf linguists.
• Sign-Language interpreters may not be available when necessary; this system is available 24/7.

Future plans

Through AI translation technology, NHK aim to develop a new service to support breaking news and many more in multiple languages. For the 2025 Deaflympics games in Tokyo, NHK hope to expand to international sign languages.