Abstract

This undergraduate thesis describes the design and execution of "Silent Spell", a game demo to teach German sign language. It starts with a background chapter discussing gaming and the potential and issues related to Serious gaming. This also looks at sign language, explaining its fundamentals and the differences between it and spoken and written languages, and it and signed language. Given its importance, the chapter also considers Hand Gesture Recognition Technology approaches, challenges and use of sensors. The next chapter looks at related work, sharing its focus on educational games for sign language learning and, what is felt to be important, a section of the use of sign language in Video games. Chapter 4 then considers the Game itself, including game design (Overview, Objectives, Levels, Mechanics and Dynamics) and Visual Aspects (Models and Assets and User Interface), closing with a description of the technology adopted for Hand gesture recognition. There is then a chapter discussing the stages, issues and challenges, and learnings and findings from the design and development of this game. A Chapter then considers future work in terms of possible changes in the game and technology. User testing and Expert review is also considered here. Finally, the conclusion underlines the importance of developing educational games that embrace the full complexity of the subject matter they aim to teach and provide a more comprehensive learning experience for players. It also recognizes that technology–heavy games can become obsolete quickly, especially given the rapid pace of advancements in areas like machine learning. Moreover, it is felt that successful educational games do more than present learning material, but seamlessly integrate this into the core gameplay. In short, "Silent Spell" provides a solid foundation and has the potential to become a powerful tool for teaching sign language effectively.

Results/Implementation/Project Description

Conclusion

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