Sign Language Learning App: Empowering Deaf Inclusion

This article addresses communication and the inclusion of deaf people through the development of a mobile application for learning sign language. It emphasizes the importance of sign language in the rights of deaf people and mentions that, although Ecuador recognizes at signal language as an official language, the majority of deaf individuals and their families do not know it, creating communication barriers. The main objective is to develop an application features interactive 3D animations of commonly used phrases in a mobile application (called LSEC). The architecture of the application is described, which uses technologies such as Blender for animation design, the Kinect sensor for motion capture. The development process is detailed, and evaluation scenarios are mentioned where the learning of LSEC using the developed application was compared to traditional learning through YouTube videos. The evaluation results show that the participating children achieved better results in learning gestures using the mobile application compared to the traditional method. Additionally, a usability evaluation of the application was conducted through a questionnaire. In conclusion, the proposed mobile application offers an interactive and accessible tool for deaf children and those interested in learning signal language to improve their communication and educational quality, the results of the evaluations carried out showed an acceptance rate of over 80%. The study highlights the importance of using technology and 3D animations to facilitate sign language learning and promote the social inclusion of deaf individuals.