Do predictability factors towards signing avatars hold across cultures?
Abdelhadi Soudi Manal El Hakkaoui Kristof Van Laerhoven
Avatar technology can offer accessibility possibilities and improve the
Deaf-and-Hard of Hearing sign language users access to communication, education
and services, such as the healthcare system. However, sign language users
acceptance of signing avatars as well as their attitudes towards them vary and
depend on many factors. Furthermore, research on avatar technology is mostly
done by researchers who are not Deaf. The study examines the extent to which
intrinsic or extrinsic factors contribute to predict the attitude towards
avatars across cultures. Intrinsic factors include the characteristics of the
avatar, such as appearance, movements and facial expressions. Extrinsic factors
include users technology experience, their hearing status, age and their sign
language fluency. This work attempts to answer questions such as, if lower
attitude ratings are related to poor technology experience with ASL users, for
example, is that also true for Moroccan Sign Language (MSL) users? For the
purposes of the study, we designed a questionnaire to understand MSL users
attitude towards avatars. Three groups of participants were surveyed: Deaf
(57), Hearing (20) and Hard-of-Hearing (3). The results of our study were then
compared with those reported in other relevant studies.