[sw-l] Computer Applications for SignWriting

Tue May 3 02:25:02 UTC 2005

SignWriting List
May 2, 2005

Dear SW List:
I am writing a grant for new software development and I need to 
summarize all of our past and current software programs. I know there 
are some I have forgotten...Can you think of some other programs? Like 
recently, from Brazil, I know there is new software? Please write to 
tell us, so I can list it here...and if you find mistakes below, I 
would love to know...many thanks!  Val ;-)

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Computer Applications for SignWriting

	SignWriter for Apple //e and //c (1986-1988):  The original 
SignWriting computer program was written for the Apple //e and //c 
computers by Richard Gleaves, one of the developers of Apple Pascal, 
Modula 2 computer language.
       SignWriter DOS for MS-DOS (1988-today):  SignWriter for the Apple 
//c was ported over to MS-DOS in 1988. SignWriter DOS is still used 
today around the world on older computers running Windows 98 or ME. It 
does not run on Windows NT, 2000 or XP. To solve this problem, newer 
versions of SignWriter are under development. SignWriter is the first 
Sign-Language-Processing program in history, providing the ability to 
create long typed documents in the movements of signs. It also provides 
extensive Word-to-Sign dictionary features.
       SignWriter Java (1999-Today):  SignWriter DOS could not be ported 
over to the new Java computer language back in 1996, so it was 
re-written from the ground up in Java, but due to financial reasons, 
SignWriter Java could never be completed. Even so, it can be downloaded 
for free on the Internet anyway, and many people use it, because it can 
be used on modern operating systems, such as Mac OS X and all Windows 
operating systems. It will be replaced by SignWriter Tiger (see below), 
which is also a form of Java, in 2005.
        SignWriter Tiger (2005 beta):  The SignWriter Java program is 
being re-built again, this time by German-Swiss Deaf programmer Daniel 
Noelpp. It is scheduled for beta testing in May 2005. Daniel is 
programming in the newest version of Java, named Tiger. Hence, 
SignWriter Tiger will fix and improve the old 1999 program, plus add 
new features.
         SignWriter Python (2005 beta): SignWriter is also being 
re-written in the new Python computer language, by German programmer 
Lars Majewski, at the request of SignWriting teacher Stefan Woehrmann. 
Already, the old SignWriter DOS files can be viewed in any operating 
system, using the new SignWriter Python Document and Dictionary Viewer.
         SW-Edit (2000-Today):  Created in Brazil by Rafael Piccin 
Torchelsen & Professor Antonio Carlos da Rocha Costa for the SIGN-Net 
Project in 2000, the SW-Edit program is an editing tool for 
SignWriting. Drag and drop the symbols into an editing box. This 
creates signs in SWML.
	  SWML (1999 to Today):  There are four forms of SWML, the SignWriting 
Markup Language in the world:  SWML-UCPel: the original SWML Formats, 
SWML-D: for the Flemish Online Dictionary, SWML-S: for SignPuddle 
Online Dictionaries, and SWDB: for UCPel Linguistic SignWriting 
Database.
	SignWriting TrueType Fonts (2000-Today):  There are three families of 
TrueType fonts with SignWriting symbols: The Sutton Fonts are 
Fingerspelling Fonts for 18 different countries, the Woehrmann Fonts 
include commonly-used signs in German Sign Language (DGS), and the 
Parkhurst Fonts were used to create the textbooks on SignWriting 
written in Spain, by Steve and Dianne Parkhurst, including their 
well-known book SignoEscritura. The symbols in the Parkhurst Fonts are 
specific to writing the Spanish Sign Language dialect of Madrid.
	The Flemish Sign Language Dictionary on the web (2004 to Today) can be 
searched by words or by sign-symbols. Converts SignWriter DOS 
dictionary files automatically. Search for over 6,000 Flemish signs. An 
important feature is the ability to search for signs by handshape 
and/or contact symbols. This creates a two-way bilingual dictionary. 
Signs are created with SWML.	VSigns (2004 to Today) from Greece. 
Synthesis of Virtual Reality Animations from SWML using MPEG-4 Body 
Animation Parameters… Find a sign. Read it in SignWriting. Then click 
on an animated figure and see the sign move. VSigns generates VRML 
animation sequences from SignWriting, based on MPEG-4 Body Animation. 
The SignWriting of each sign is provided as input and is initially 
converted to SWML (SignWriting Markup Language).
	Sign WebMessage (2004 to Today) from Brazil. SWM is a web-tool that 
enables communication either in Portuguese or in Brazilian Sign 
Language (Libras). In the messages, the signs can be written in 
SignWriting in Libras and, optionally, their meaning in Portuguese.
          SignPoster (2005 beta) from Great Britain. Programmer Sandy 
Fleming is developing a way to touch type SignWriting symbols, using a 
limited symbol set for one sign language.
	SignWriting in Unicode is a project in discussion, at the Summer 
Institute of Linguistics, directed by Albert Bickford in Arizona, with 
the guidance of Unicode expert Michael Everson, in Dubin, Ireland. The 
project is on hold until funding can be found. It will take several 
years to create a Unicode for SignWriting, which will expand 
SignWriting’s use in other programs.
	SignBank 2002-2004 Database Software in FileMaker Pro 5.0-6.0 from 
USA, by Valerie Sutton and Todd Duell. This groundbreaking 
multi-lingual database was designed to publish large SignWriting 
dictionaries sorted by Sign-Symbol-Sequence (the SSS), and provides the 
full SymbolBank, with all symbols in the entire SignWriting system. The 
International Movement Writing Alphabet (the IMWA) is every symbol for 
writing body movement and can be searched and studied through SignBank 
2004. SignBank 2004 also provides Deaf children with illustrated 
dictionaries, and researchers a place to store their video clips and 
foreign signs. Sophisticated linguistic searches make it possible to 
find all the signs with the same handshape, or all the signs with the 
same combination of symbols, or all the signs with the exact 
SignSpelling…and several other search routines. New search routines can 
be created on the fly. The SignSpelling database is the first in 
history to give editors the chance to establish the sorting routines 
for their Sign-to-Word multi-lingual dictionaries. There are 20 print 
formats, and a special linguistic area for adding definitions written 
in Sign Language, and a place to add animated SignWriting for children.
	SignPuddle 2004-2005: Stephen Slevinski has brought SignWriting to the 
web with a series of web-based programs designed for the everyday use.  
These programs include SignMail, for sending email in SignWriting,  
SignTranslate, for translating spoken language glosses to signs, and 
SignMaker, a way to create new SignWriting signs on the web by dragging 
and dropping symbols into a SignBox, and then saving them to the online 
SignPuddle dictionary. One can use the new signs immediately in email 
or in SignWriting documents, created by another program, SignText. 
Dictionaries can be edited by editors who are invited to review 
dictionary entries. And Slevinski is currently working on another 
related program called SignType, which will allow SignMaker to work 
with keyboard strokes as well as with a mouse.
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