The Effect of Ambient Occlusion Shading on Perception of Sign Language Animations
The goal of the study reported in the paper was to
determine whether Ambient Occlusion Shading (AOS) has a significant effect on users' perception of American Sign Language (ASL) finger spelling animations. Seventy-one (71) subjects
participated in the study; all subjects were fluent in ASL. The participants were asked to watch forty (40) sign language animation
clips representing twenty (20) finger spelled words. Twenty (20) clips did not show ambient occlusion, whereas the other twenty (20) were
rendered using ambient occlusion shading. After viewing each animation, subjects were asked to type the word being finger-spelled and rate its legibility. Findings show that the presence of AOS had a significant effect on the subjects perception of the signed words.
Subjects were able to recognize the animated words rendered with AOS with higher level of accuracy, and the legibility ratings of the animations showing AOS were consistently higher across subjects.
[1] Burgstahler, S. (1994). Increasing the representation of people with
disabilities in science. Journal of Information Technology and Disability
24(4).
[2] GRI Demographics (2007). Available at:
http://gri.gallaudet.edu/Demographics/
[3] Wilbur, R. B. (2000). The use of ASL to support the development of
English and literacy. Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education, 5: 81-
104.
[4] Hoffmeister, R. (2000). A piece of the puzzle: ASL and reading
comprehension in deaf children. In C. Chamberlain, J. P. Morford, & R.
I. Mayberry (eds.), Language acquisition by eye, pp. 143-164. Mahwah,
NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
[5] Elliott, R., Glauert, JRW, Kennaway, JR, Marshall, I (2000). The
Development of Language Processing Support for the ViSiCAST
Project. Proc. of ASSETS 2000, pp. 101-108.
[6] Vcom3D. Available at: http://www.vcom3d.com/
[7] TERC. Available at: http://www.terc.edu/
[8] eSIGN. Available at:
http://www.visicast.cmp.uea.ac.uk/eSIGN/index.html
[9] Sims, E. (2000). SigningAvatars. Final Report for SBIR Phase II Project,
U.S. Department of Education.
[10] Vesel, J. 2005. Signing Science. Learning & Leading with Technology,
32 (8): 30-31.
[11] Signing Science (2007). Available at: http://signsci.terc.edu/
[12] Adamo-Villani, N., Wilbur, R. (2008). Two Novel Technologies for
Accessible Math and Science Education. IEEE Multimedia ¶Çé▒ Special
Issue on Accessibility, October -December 2008, pp. 38-46.
[13] Adamo-Villani, N., Wilbur, R. (2010). Software for Math and Science
Education for the Deaf. Disability and Rehabilitation: Assistive
Technology, Vol. 5, No. 2, pp. 115-124.
[14] Gaitatzes, A., Yiorgos C., and Papaioannou, G. (2008). "Presampled
Visibility for Ambient Occlusion." Computer Graphics Group.
Retrieved 5 Nov. 2009 from:
graphics.cs.aueb.gr/graphics/docs/papers/PreseampledVisibilityforAmbi
entOcclusionWSCG2008.pdf.
[15] Tarini, Marco. (2006). Ambient Occlusion and Edge Cueing to Enhance
Real Time Molecular Visualization. IEEE Transactions on Visualization
and Computer Graphics, Vol. 12, No. 5. Retrieved from
Tarini_FinalVersionElec.pdf.
[16] Mendez-Feliu, A., Sbert, M. (2009). From obscurances to ambient
occlusion: A survey. Visual Computer (2009) 25, pp. 181¶Çé▒196.
[17] Flodin, M. (1994). Signing Illustrated: The Complete Learning Guide.
Berkley Publishing Group.
[18] Battison, R. (1978). Lexical borrowing in American Sign Language.
Silver Spring, MD. Linstok Press.
[19] Kantowitz, B.H., Roediger, H.L., Elmes, D.G. (2009). Experimental
Psychology. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.
[20] Adamo-Villani, N. (2008). 3D rendering of American Sign Language
finger-spelling: a comparative study of two animation techniques. Proc.
of ICCIT 2008 - 5th International Conference on Computer and
Instructional Technologies, 29-31 October 2008, Venice, Italy, Vol. 34,
pp. 808- 812.
[21] Adamo-Villani, N., Wilbur, R., Eccarius, P., Abe-Harris, L. (2009).
Effects of character geometric model on the perception of sign language
animation. IEEE Proc. of IV09 -13th International Conference on
Information Visualization, 14-17 July, Barcelona.
[1] Burgstahler, S. (1994). Increasing the representation of people with
disabilities in science. Journal of Information Technology and Disability
24(4).
[2] GRI Demographics (2007). Available at:
http://gri.gallaudet.edu/Demographics/
[3] Wilbur, R. B. (2000). The use of ASL to support the development of
English and literacy. Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education, 5: 81-
104.
[4] Hoffmeister, R. (2000). A piece of the puzzle: ASL and reading
comprehension in deaf children. In C. Chamberlain, J. P. Morford, & R.
I. Mayberry (eds.), Language acquisition by eye, pp. 143-164. Mahwah,
NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
[5] Elliott, R., Glauert, JRW, Kennaway, JR, Marshall, I (2000). The
Development of Language Processing Support for the ViSiCAST
Project. Proc. of ASSETS 2000, pp. 101-108.
[6] Vcom3D. Available at: http://www.vcom3d.com/
[7] TERC. Available at: http://www.terc.edu/
[8] eSIGN. Available at:
http://www.visicast.cmp.uea.ac.uk/eSIGN/index.html
[9] Sims, E. (2000). SigningAvatars. Final Report for SBIR Phase II Project,
U.S. Department of Education.
[10] Vesel, J. 2005. Signing Science. Learning & Leading with Technology,
32 (8): 30-31.
[11] Signing Science (2007). Available at: http://signsci.terc.edu/
[12] Adamo-Villani, N., Wilbur, R. (2008). Two Novel Technologies for
Accessible Math and Science Education. IEEE Multimedia ¶Çé▒ Special
Issue on Accessibility, October -December 2008, pp. 38-46.
[13] Adamo-Villani, N., Wilbur, R. (2010). Software for Math and Science
Education for the Deaf. Disability and Rehabilitation: Assistive
Technology, Vol. 5, No. 2, pp. 115-124.
[14] Gaitatzes, A., Yiorgos C., and Papaioannou, G. (2008). "Presampled
Visibility for Ambient Occlusion." Computer Graphics Group.
Retrieved 5 Nov. 2009 from:
graphics.cs.aueb.gr/graphics/docs/papers/PreseampledVisibilityforAmbi
entOcclusionWSCG2008.pdf.
[15] Tarini, Marco. (2006). Ambient Occlusion and Edge Cueing to Enhance
Real Time Molecular Visualization. IEEE Transactions on Visualization
and Computer Graphics, Vol. 12, No. 5. Retrieved from
Tarini_FinalVersionElec.pdf.
[16] Mendez-Feliu, A., Sbert, M. (2009). From obscurances to ambient
occlusion: A survey. Visual Computer (2009) 25, pp. 181¶Çé▒196.
[17] Flodin, M. (1994). Signing Illustrated: The Complete Learning Guide.
Berkley Publishing Group.
[18] Battison, R. (1978). Lexical borrowing in American Sign Language.
Silver Spring, MD. Linstok Press.
[19] Kantowitz, B.H., Roediger, H.L., Elmes, D.G. (2009). Experimental
Psychology. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.
[20] Adamo-Villani, N. (2008). 3D rendering of American Sign Language
finger-spelling: a comparative study of two animation techniques. Proc.
of ICCIT 2008 - 5th International Conference on Computer and
Instructional Technologies, 29-31 October 2008, Venice, Italy, Vol. 34,
pp. 808- 812.
[21] Adamo-Villani, N., Wilbur, R., Eccarius, P., Abe-Harris, L. (2009).
Effects of character geometric model on the perception of sign language
animation. IEEE Proc. of IV09 -13th International Conference on
Information Visualization, 14-17 July, Barcelona.
@article{"International Journal of Information, Control and Computer Sciences:62516", author = "Nicoletta Adamo-Villani and Joe Kasenga and Tiffany Jen and Bryan Colbourn", title = "The Effect of Ambient Occlusion Shading on Perception of Sign Language Animations", abstract = "The goal of the study reported in the paper was to
determine whether Ambient Occlusion Shading (AOS) has a significant effect on users' perception of American Sign Language (ASL) finger spelling animations. Seventy-one (71) subjects
participated in the study; all subjects were fluent in ASL. The participants were asked to watch forty (40) sign language animation
clips representing twenty (20) finger spelled words. Twenty (20) clips did not show ambient occlusion, whereas the other twenty (20) were
rendered using ambient occlusion shading. After viewing each animation, subjects were asked to type the word being finger-spelled and rate its legibility. Findings show that the presence of AOS had a significant effect on the subjects perception of the signed words.
Subjects were able to recognize the animated words rendered with AOS with higher level of accuracy, and the legibility ratings of the animations showing AOS were consistently higher across subjects.", keywords = "Sign Language, Animation, Ambient Occlusion Shading, Deaf Education", volume = "5", number = "11", pages = "1430-5", }
