Holograms could become the next wave of communications.
Pupils from America’s oldest higher learning institution for Deaf students are testing how holograms might pair with America Sign Language communication.
Communications company Proto developed two-metre-tall units. Proto’s software captures a user’s actual physical scale and nuances like shadows and reflections. On each end is a set of encoders and decoders that communicate only with each other through cloud software. The person projected as a hologram into the Proto box can see the people on the other side and hear anything they say.
“The feeling of presence, the feeling of physically being there, creates almost a chemical reaction within the body that allows the people sharing that experience to feel connected,” founder and CEO David Nussbaum told Technical.ly.
Gallaudet University’s Chief Bilingual Officer Laurene Simms said holograms are better for sign language because of the 3D nature of the language, whereas Zoom is more 2D. In the same way that vocal intonations can change a message in English, facial expressions are essential in ASL. Body language is also necessary to communicate fully; certain words build on other signs, which is easier to see in 3D.
Simms said that Gallaudet University had experimented with a GoPro-type technology for 3D interaction: ultimately it was less cost-effective than the hologram tech. How Gallaudet University would incorporate holograms into everyday teaching and campus life is yet to be seen.
“With the hologram, there are so many possibilities as far as being able to interact. You don’t have to be physically present at that place, and you can be somewhere else and still have more people at different places watching and interacting with one another.”
What about avatars?
Avatars or animated characters are computer-generated visual representations that can mimic sign language gestures.
Signing avatars are not (yet) regarded as replacements for human sign language interpreters because they lack the full range of expression and cultural nuances that human sign language interpreting provides.
Avatars are useful tools in straightforward communications, it’s just that they may fall short in complicated situations.