Kazuo Kamata

An approach to Japanese-sign language translation system

A method was developed for translating written (spoken) language (text in Japanese) into a sequence of sign words of Japanese sign language called Simultaneous Japanese Sign Language (SJSL). The Japanese-to-Sign translation system is described that uses a Japanese-to-Sign translation dictionary with about 250 signs.<<ETX>>

A study on deaf people supporting systems using cellular phone with Bluetooth in disasters

Telecommunications are powerful tools to reduce loss of life and property damage during disasters. Especially, for the people with disabilities, information provided through their own telecommunication devices is indispensable to move to a place of refuge safely and rapidly. In this paper, we propose the wireless system to send information on disasters to people with disabilities (especially deaf people) and to identify their location at the refuge when they are evacuated. The system consists of cellular phone, web server and electronic display, which are concatenated by Short Message Service (SMS) and Bluetooth. By using these devices and public network services, the system provides a function to send appropriate information to people with disabilities rapidly. The system provides the network platform to share information about their whereabouts with related persons. Finally, we summarize results from demonstration of our system to the deaf people experienced large earthquake.

Inference Methods For Tree Automata From Sample Set Of Trees

A method for inferring of a frontier-to-root tree automata from a finite sample set of trees is presented. The method uses the concept of a k-tail of a tree with respect to a sample set of trees, which Is defined in this paper. The properties of an inferred tree automaton and some modification of the method are also presented.

A Structural Recognition Algorithm For Handwritten Numerals

A new structural recognition method for handwritten numerals is proposed that uses (i) a set of topological pattern primitives, (ii) an adaptive hierachical image segmentation technique and (iii) a tree automaton. Experimental results are also presented.

Study on accessibility of urgent message transmission service in a disaster

In this paper, the layer model of urgent message transmission service is proposed and the semantic level channels of communication inescapable when considering the accessibility of an urgent message are discussed.

Generating JSL gloss messages for the deaf

This paper presents the experimental results of generating indirect JSL (Japanese Sign Language) messages in emergency situations for deaf people. In emergency situations as well as ordinary ones deaf people need messages in JSL, because it is their own language. We have various restrictions in using information media such as voice, text, movies and others in emergency situations. In this paper, the indirect messaging method that uses JSL glosses in text form instead of the medium of movie that JSL essentially requires for transmission. From the results of experiments with deaf people and signed language interpreters, we can say JSL-gloss based messaging method is one of candidates for information transmission in certain situations with restrictions in resources. We show certain experimental results and issues to be further considered for practical use.

Facilitation of listening comprehension by visual information under noisy listening condition

Comprehension of a sentence under a wide range of delay conditions between auditory and visual stimuli was measured in the environment with low auditory clarity of the level of -10dB and -15dB pink noise. Results showed that the image was helpful for comprehension of the noise-obscured voice stimulus when the delay between the auditory and visual stimuli was 4 frames (=132msec) or less, the image was not helpful for comprehension when the delay between the auditory and visual stimulus was 8 frames (=264msec) or more, and in some cases of the largest delay (32 frames), the video image interfered with comprehension.

Designing auditory Kanji-character explanation for the blind

In this paper, we describe the design issues for an auditory Kanji explanation system for blind and visually impaired people. The system helps them with understanding, and selecting an appropriate Kanji when they read, and write Japanese text with the use of a computer.

Improving Understandability of 3-Dimensional Maps for Pedestrian Navigation.

This paper discusses navigation services utilizing 3-dimensional maps for pedestrians. We conduct two kinds of experiments.The first compares the understandability of 2- and 3-dimensional maps with different display sizes corresponding to PDAs (Personal Digital Assistants) and mobile phones. Our results indicate that 3-dimensional maps are much easier to understand than conventional 2-dimensional maps and that understandability is affected by display size.The second one deals with improving understandability of 3-dimensional maps on small display screen and it is based on the “compensation method”, which we proposed in a previous report.The compensation method adjusts parameters, such as contrast and view angle, through statistical procedures.Our findings show that the understandability of 3-dimensional maps can be improved significantly, compared with a case of usual parameter values.

Description method of Japanese manual alphabet using image features

A description is given of a method for handshapes of the Japanese manual alphabet (JMA) based on their contour features. JMA has 46 patterns each of which represents a voiceless sound of the Japanese spoken language. Since 5 fingerspellings have motion, the authors adopt a set of 41 fingerspellings.<<ETX>>