Abstract

This thesis aims to provide an educational and interactive tool where deaf children and their hearing parents can learn, bond, enjoy and interact with each other.

More than 90% of children which severe to profound hearing losses are born to normally hearing families. When parents are told that their child is deaf, their dreams are crushed and a grief response may be triggered (Weaver, K. A., & Starner, T, 2011). Due to this lack of knowledge when faced with a deaf family member for the first time, parents tend to base their perceptions on obsolete stereotypes which can greatly affect the development of the child. Delayed cognitive and language development in early childhood that leads to academic difficulties and underperformance when they begin schooling. Despite the government, schools, and professionals having good intentions, this situation persists, leading to significant under-education and underemployment for persons who are deaf or hard of hearing. Because there is not enough spoken or sign language, the effects of early language deprivation or limited exposure to language are often very serious, leading to serious problems in the health, education, and quality of life issues of these children. Family engagement has a more positive impact if it begins early in a child’s educational experience.

My solution is using object recognition with augmented reality to help facilitate language acquisition for deaf kids and their hearing parents. Through this thesis project, I intend to develop an interactive tool that engages a deaf child and their hearing family to learn sign language together, create better communication and improve life quality.

According to existing education sign language ways, most of them are still in a traditional way like books, online or offline courses, and some text/image-oriented applications. An interactive visualized educational tool gives the family more motivation to learn the knowledge and help them learn it in an efficient and cheerful way. Integrating with augmented reality technology has also created a new method to display the content in this field.

Library of Congress Subject Headings

American Sign Language--Study and teaching--Interactive multimedia--Design; Parents of deaf children--Services for; Deaf children--Means of communication--Interactive multimedia--Design; Deaf children--Family relationships; Augmented reality--Design

Publication Date

12-18-2019

Document Type

Thesis

Student Type

Graduate

Degree Name

Visual Communication Design (MFA)

Department, Program, or Center

School of Design (CAD)

Advisor

Adam Smith

Advisor/Committee Member

Miguel Cardona

Advisor/Committee Member

Mike Strobert

Campus

RIT – Main Campus

Plan Codes

VISCOM-MFA

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