2nd International Workshop on Sign Language Translation and Avatar Technology

[John Glauert]

This email is a reminder of the SLTAT Workshop to be held with
ASSETS 2011 in Dundee, Scotland. Details are included of the process
for submitting papers: Deadline 17 July 2011.

John Glauert

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2nd International Workshop on Sign Language Translation and Avatar
Technology (SLTAT)

Date: 23 October 2011
Location: University of Dundee, UK (in conjunction with ASSETS 2011,
24-26 October 2011)

Recent research in the use of 3D virtual human characters, or
avatars, to animate sign language promises to provide increased
accessibility for deaf people via the Internet on a range of
computing devices. In addition, avatars support sign linguistics
research, providing a potential target for translation from spoken
and other sign languages, and shedding light on human factors of sign
language usage.

A highly successful international workshop was held in Berlin in
January 2011 http://embots.dfki.de/SLTAT11-Berlin, bringing together
a number of workers in the field. Submissions are invited for the
2nd International Workshop on Sign Language Translation and
Avatar Technology (SLTAT) that will be held  at the University of
Dundee in October 2011 associated with ASSETS 2011.

The workshop will focus on three main topics: symbolic translation of
sign language, animation of sign language using avatars, and
usability evaluation of practical translation and animation systems.

The format of the workshop will encourage discussion and
collaboration between researchers. It is anticipated that we will
have a mix of oral presentations as well as poster presentations
covering active work and proposed research. There will be an
opportunity for demonstration of existing work and presentation of
videos. The workshop will be interpreted in international sign
language.

All submissions that address the focus of the workshop are invited,
but topics of particular interest include:

SYMBOLIC TRANSLATION

* Lexicographic and linguistic approaches
* Use of corpora to inform translation
* Modelling of signing space for translation
* Handling of productive signs, classifier constructions, and
constructed action
* Incorporation of non-manual features in production
* Consideration of emotional and prosodic aspects

AVATAR ANIMATION

* Requirements for signing avatar technology
* Linguistically-informed notations for gestural animation
* Use of corpora to inform animation
* Realistic animation of manual and bodily gestures
* Flexibility in animation of facial gestures and mouthing

USABILITY

* Evaluation results for practical translation systems
* Evaluation methodologies for signing translation systems
* Realism and acceptability of signing avatars
* Efficient content creation and editing tools for signing texts

SUBMISSION OF PAPERS

Papers must be a maximum of 8 pages long, in the ACM conference
format http://www.acm.org/sigs/pubs/proceed/template.html. They
should be submitted electronically via the conference Web site
https://www.softconf.com/c/sltat2011/ no later than 17 July 2011.
All submissions will be peer-reviewed. As we will dedicate a
significant amount of time open to open discussions during the
workshop, authors of all selected papers will be asked to prepare
an A0 format poster to accompany their paper in case oral
presentation is not possible.

Important Dates:
Submission                   17 July, 2011
Notification of Acceptance   08 August, 2011
Final Programme              16 September, 2011
Workshop                     23 October, 2011

Websites:
2nd SLTAT Workshop           http://embots.dfki.de/SLTAT
ASSETS 2011 Conference       http://www.sigaccess.org/assets11/index.html

Organisers:
John Glauert (University of East Anglia)
Michael Kipp (DFKI)
Alexis Heloir (DFKI)
Thomas Hanke (University of Hamburg)
Matt Huenerfauth (City University of New York)
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