Frank Fowley

Title: Towards a Translation Avatar for ISL – TrAvIS

Supervision Team:  Anthony Ventresque, UCD / Carol O’Sullivan, TCD

Description: Members of the Deaf community face huge barriers to access of essential services including health, education, and entertainment. Many people in the Deaf community have a low level of English literacy so although the Internet and other technology have improved access for some, the majority of the people in Ireland who use Irish Sign Language (ISL) as their first and/or preferred language struggle to access vital services. The aim of this PhD project is to propose a tool that translates spoken English to ISL and vice versa in real-time using a virtual avatar to improve accessibility and raise awareness of Sign Language and the issues faced by the Deaf community. This will involve research in Computer Vision, Machine Learning, Computational Linguistics, Audio Processing and Virtual Character Animation.