Sign language translator
First Claim
1. A hand sign language translator apparatus comprising:
- a transmit subsystem having;
a sign language sensor processing subsystem, the sign language sensor processing subsystem generating a hand position signal in response to a hand position; and
a transmitter for transmitting the hand position signal; and
a remote receive subsystem, having;
a receiver for receiving a transmitted hand position signal;
a memory for storing a plurality of symbols, each symbol associated with a reference hand position signal; and
a processing subsystem for generating a comparison signal representative of a symbol by matching the hand position signal to a reference hand position signal associated with the symbol and outputting the symbol as represented by the hand position and processing the comparison signal for output of the symbol as represented by the hand position.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method and apparatus for translation of hand positions into symbols. A glove for wearing on an operator'"'"'s hand includes bend sensors disposed along the operator'"'"'s thumb and each finger. Additional bend sensors are located between selected fingers and along the wrist. A processor generates a hand position signal using bend sensor signals read from the bend sensors and transmits the hand position signal to an output device. The output device receives the hand position signal and generates a symbol representative of the hand position signal using the received hand position signal and a lookup table of hand position signals associated with a set of symbols. The output device then produces either a visual or audio output using the symbol.
56 Citations
39 Claims
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1. A hand sign language translator apparatus comprising:
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a transmit subsystem having;
a sign language sensor processing subsystem, the sign language sensor processing subsystem generating a hand position signal in response to a hand position; and
a transmitter for transmitting the hand position signal; and
a remote receive subsystem, having;
a receiver for receiving a transmitted hand position signal;
a memory for storing a plurality of symbols, each symbol associated with a reference hand position signal; and
a processing subsystem for generating a comparison signal representative of a symbol by matching the hand position signal to a reference hand position signal associated with the symbol and outputting the symbol as represented by the hand position and processing the comparison signal for output of the symbol as represented by the hand position. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. A method of translating hand sign language positions into symbols comprising:
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providing a sign language sensor, the sign language sensor generating a hand position signal in response to a hand position;
transmitting the hand position signal by a transmit system to a remote receive subsystem;
receiving a transmitted hand position signal by the remote receive subsystem;
storing in memory a plurality of symbols, each symbol associated with a reference hand position signal;
generating a comparison signal representative of a symbol by matching the transmitted hand position signal to a reference hand position signal associated with the symbol; and
processing the comparison signal for output of the symbol as represented by the hand position. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38)
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39. A sign language sensor comprising:
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a plurality of voltage dividing sensors, each voltage dividing sensor being respectively adapted for mounting along selected finger, palm and finger gap locations of a hand; and
a voltage source coupled to each voltage dividing sensor being driven;
each respective voltage dividing sensor providing a divided output signal in response to each hand element position, each respective hand element voltage divided output signal being combinable to form a hand position signal representative of a sign language symbol;
wherein the voltage dividing sensors are flexible sensors whose resistance values change when bent; and
wherein the voltage dividing sensors are mounted on a glove worn on a hand that provides the hand position signal.
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Specification