A new Italian sign language database

Abstract

In this work a new video database of Italian Sign Language (Lingua Italiana dei Segni - LIS) is proposed. Several other attempts have been made in the literature, but they are typically oriented to international languages (like the American Sign Language - ASL). As in speech, also this kind of language presents different peculiarities strictly depending on the geographical location where it is used. The authors have firstly observed that a specific database for LIS is missing and this shoved them to develop the one here presented. It has been conceived to be used in Automatic Sign Recognition and Synthesis (often referred as Automatic Translation into Sign Languages) applications, which represent an important technological opportunity to augment the social inclusion of people with severe hearing impairments. The Database, namely A3LIS-147, is free and available for download. © 2012 Springer-Verlag.