ASL Translator

Our project fixes this problem of translating ASL to English by using ASL's five parameters to allow users to narrow down signs to find the one they are looking for.

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Inspiration

As the leader of this group, I was inspired to make this page based on my passion for all and the difficulties I faced when learning ASL that many of my fellow students also struggled with, which was translating an unknown ASL sign back to English, which is the problem our website fixes.

What it does

Our project allows the translation of English into an ASL sign by giving the user a GIF file showing the live signing of an ASL term. It also allows a user to use filters to search for ASL signs that can be translated back to English using the five parameters of handshape, location, movement, orientation, and facial expression.

How we built it

Frontend

There is an index file for the main search page, a tutorial file that populates with a word's data, and a CSS file for styling. The HTML files include Javascript for dynamic pages and pulling the data from the database. Everything is raw HTML and CSS, on a folder on the server.

Backend

  • The everything is running on a local raspberry pi 4b
  • It currently accessible on the Kent State’s network
  • The main website is running with Express.js
  • The database is running on a MySQL-Server with Express.js's MySQL module
  • In order for the frontend to access the database there is a node.js app posting the data. This is to simulate accessing a non-local database for the future

Data Base

The database was created using SQL and stored on a Raspberry Pi 4b. The database was Initially created and tested locally using XAMPP Control Panel and copied over onto the Raspberry Pi

Challenges we ran into

We had a huge problem trying to work in React as most of our team did not know how to use it, set it up, or even simply commit it to a git hub for unknown reasons. Eventually, we scraped our original idea and returned to basic HTML and CSS. We also had various problems with the back end setting it up and just connecting everything to the database.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We got the backend set up and properly working.

What we learned

Conner Brunner

I learned a large amount of HTML and how to integrate it with both the backend and a database.

Ian Rohrbacher

I have gained a deeper understanding of backend services, primarily with hosting the website and MySQL. I also helped with the HTML when it required backend services.

Miles Keffer

Personally, this project was an excellent opportunity to brush up on my SQL skills and allowed me to learn more about operating SQL via an SSH. I also learned how databases interact with image and video files.

Ben Ams

I worked with HTML briefly in the fall, and didn't try to make it fancy or professional at all. I coded it in notepad and only focused on making it look good in one window size. With this project, I wanted to make the website responsive and the source code for it much more organized, learning HTML classes and CSS styling for the first time. This was great to learn a whole lot about web development.

What's next for ASL Translator

In the future, the goal is to expand on other options to help others better learn ASL and make it generally easier for anyone to learn ASL. One of the main ideas is adding more categories and the ability to preview signs without clicking on each specifically.

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