The University of Washington announced Thursday that a group of engineers have developed software that for the first time enables deaf and hard-of-hearing Americans to use sign language over a mobile phone.

This is the first time two-way real-time video communication has been demonstrated over cell phones in the United States. The engineers have received a U.S. National Science Foundation grant for a 20-person field project that will begin next year in Seattle.

The research team posted a video of the working prototype on YouTube. "A lot of people are excited about this," said principal investigator Eve Riskin.

For mobile communication, deaf people now communicate by cell phone using text messages. "But the point is you want to be able to communicate in your native language," Riskin said. "For deaf people that's sign language."

Video is much better than text-messaging because it's faster and it's better at conveying emotion, said Jessica DeWitt, a researcher in psychology who is deaf. She says a large part of her communication is with facial expressions, which can be transmitted over the video phones.

Mobile video sign language won't be widely available until the service is provided through a commercial cell-phone manufacturer, Riskin said. The team has already been in discussion with a major cellular network provider that has expressed interest in the project.

(Xinhua News Agency August 22, 2008)