Head mounted displays and deaf children: Facilitating Sign Language in Challenging Learning Environments

Headmounted displays (HMDs) are evaluated as a tool to facilitate studentteacher interaction in sign language. Deaf or hardofhearing children who communicate in sign language receive all instruction visually. In normal deaf educational settings the child must split visual attention between signed narration and visual aids. Settings in which visual aids are distributed over a large visual area are particularly difficult. Sign language displayed in HMDs may allow a deaf child to keep the signed narration in sight, even when not looking directly at the person signing. Children from the community who communicate primarily in American Sign Language (ASL) participated in two phases of a study designed to evaluate the comfort and utility of viewing ASL in an HMD.