Speaking glove

[magid]

Someone has created a talking glove that translates ASL into speech. It's a fascinating thought; I wonder how easy it would be to reprogram to translate other sign languages into speech. The inventor is also planning to have a two-glove system out sometime in the next couple of years.

Perhaps predictably, there are some who are not in favor (from the linked Globe article above):

But the idea of turning sign language into speech annoys some deaf people who see ASL -- used in the United States and English-speaking Canada -- as part of their unique culture. ''Some feel that being deaf is not a deficiency,'' said Andy Lange, president of the National Association of the Deaf. ''It's simply another way of life and the deaf should not use artificial means to overcome a loss of hearing.''

I've read about how many Deaf see their culture as rather separate from mainstream American culture (in Seeing Voices and Train Go Sorry, for instance), but this seems to be obstructionist: a glove like this could make it much easier for a deaf person to communicate to non-deaf, non-ASL-speaking people.

Comments

[spwebdesign.livejournal.com]

I don't understand the objection either. French is a unique language/culture; does that mean we don't translate French? Do the deaf want to be isolationist? Isn't communication something to be desired?

Deaf culture

[magid.livejournal.com]

A quick Google search found this and this, both about Deaf culture, and how there are different models of viewing Deafness (and, yes, they cap the D in Deaf).

My impression (not that I've done exhaustive research or anything) is that those who champion Deaf culture as a unique affiliation rather than a medical condition tend to reject anything that encourages Deaf speech, whether through getting implants in their ears, or learning some speech, or synthesized speech such as this.
Though I understand there are medical implications for implants, and profoundly deaf people may never have clear speech, I don't understand why these gloves also spark such resistance. I, too, don't understand why the preference to avoid dealing with the hearing world....

(Btw, if your reading list isn't long enough as it is, both the books I mentioned were very interesting reads.)

Re: Deaf culture

[cnoocy]

I think you're overstating the case a little. There are (in my impression) plenty of people who see Deaf culture as its own worthy community who don't necessarily believe that the implants and sign translators are bad things. I have my doubts about the sign translator on a language complexity issue, but that's something else.

Re: Deaf culture

[magid.livejournal.com]

I'm sure you're right; like I said, I haven't done much reading on the topic, so it's entirely possible that I've run across the opinions of a vocal minority (as it were).

I don't know anything about other language technologies (speech synthesizers, programs than translate spoken to written language, etc), so I have no idea how good this is compared to those, and whether being on par with them is enough at a useful level or not.

[jwg.livejournal.com]

Isn't this cultural preservation vs. some form of assimilation/accommodation a hot issue for many cultures these days? I've always thought it is the situation where some members of a culture are afraid of losing their uniqueness no matter what the uniqueness is particularly when people of another culture are attempting to impose a change on them. Many potentially conflicting culture preservation/change activities occur that appear rather odd to people outside/inside of that culture and to some inside/outside as well (note the symmetry). Some examples that I have noticed recently that have some similarities:

Some spanish speaking immigrants to the US want spanish to remain their everyday language even though there is tremendous pressure to make them speak english. Some people offer the justification that it is better for them in terms of getting jobs, traversing the city, combatting prejudice, etc. Others try very hard to make english their primary language. Look at the many layers of controversy, issues, and agendas about the dual-language / immersion issue that culminated in a ballot question in Mass last year.

I've noticed that African American gay men don't seem to want to participate in predominantly white gay political organizations who are working for the betterment of all gay people. Is this due to conflicting feelings based on the history of white -> black prejudice vs. hetero -> gay prejudice?

The french government in trying to preserve the purity of the french language rules against certain english phrases entering the french language. It may seem silly and impractical to do this - but aren't they trying to prevent the slide down a slippery slope of language mutation?

assimilation/preservation

[magid.livejournal.com]

Definitely a hot issue.

Until I went to grad school, I didn't understand why "bilingual education" might be seen as a less-than-positive thing; I assumed it referred to having native English speakers learn another language integrated in the curriculum, rather than having non-native speakers learn English more fully. I don't think that immersion is necessarily right for all kids, nor is bilingual ed right for all kids (why is it so hard for voters to figure out "people are different" so solutions might vary?). And suing teachers just seems like a bad idea.
I don't know much about the language issue outside the school context. I can imagine there's a lot of pressure to learn English; I don't see why it would be better to remain monolingual (actually, that's how I feel about language in general - it would be a good thing if more people were bi-, tri-, or multilingual).

I hadn't realized that there were race divisions in gay political organizations before your comment.

The French government trying to keep French pure: I understand that they don't want to become another form of English, but languages do evolve over time, and there is borrowing in the process. If the French term they come up with is more cumbersome than the borrowed English phrase, I'd think it would be hard to get people to use it. Heck, even if they use English words, how likely is it that an English speaker would recognize them ("Why do you think I have this outraaageous accente?").

I don't know much about the Deaf community. I can see how people would prefer to use ASL (not signed English, etc) for communication within the community. Is it better to rely on interpreters or a glove if one needs to go outside the community, though? I don't see this as changing things within the community, just facilitating communication when one has to deal with people who are illiterate in ASL.

African-American gay men

[magid.livejournal.com]

I don't know if you read the NY Times regularly; there's an interesting article from the Sunday magazine about African American men on the DL (Down Low), and how that's not seen as the same as gay or bi.

[missdimple.livejournal.com]

Did you know that a high school kid invented this? I heard about him on some NPR piece last year. Cool, huh?

[magid.livejournal.com]

According to the article, the guy is in grad school; maybe he came up with the idea and an early prototype in high school?