Luigi Lerose (IT) explains about BiBiKit, in International Sign 

BiBiKit

"A Bilingual Bimodal Reading and Writing Tool for Sign Language Users". 

BiBiKit (pronunciation: " bee-bee-kit" )  is a EU project that started January 1st, 2011.

Click on ' Summary', to see the official project summary.

The name sign

• The right handshape refers to: two languages, or two modalities. Also to: using your eyes to read, and to watch video.
• The movement refers to 'translation' .
• The left-handshape is for ' page', or  'tablet'.

What?

In the BiBiKit project we will develop software, that you can use to ' link'  text to video. You click on a word in the text and you see the ' linked' video. This can be used to make a table of contents, or a dictionary, or to help deaf children learn to read, or to help hearing people learn to sign, or ...

Or: you click on a sentence in the text, and you see the linked video. Or: you play a video and the ' linked' sentences are highlighted. This can be used by deaf children to write stories in sign language and text. It can be used by teachers, to add comments to homework made in sign language. Or vice versa: homework made in text, comments added in sign language. It can be used for sign language teaching. For sign language research.  For teaching reading to deaf children. For teaching any subject to sign language users. For sign bilingual e-learning. For sign bilingual websites and books.For ...

Several organisations and universities have already developed software, that you can use to link text to video. On the left, you can see examples. BiBiKit will be different.

Different?

• We want to make BiBiKit so user friendly, that young children can use it to write their own bilingual stories. 

• We want to make BiBiKit so easy to use, that even the children's grandparents can use it - to look at the stories of their grandchildren, or to write their own stories.

• We want to make BiBiKit so flexible, that not only children and grandparents, but als students, teachers, authors, and publishers will want to use it.

These are our general objectives. All other things are still open: What platform(s)? On-line or off-line? One video-window for sign language, or two, or even more? What video formats? One window for text, or more? Video always on the left or on the right, or can the user decide?

How?

BiBiKit is a 2 year project. In the first year, we develop the software. In the second year, we test the software by using it in different contexts. In the BiBiKit consortium, 6 organisations from 6 EU countries work together. To involve more future BiBiKit users, we ask colleagues and members of other EU consortia to help us. They are our ' associated partners'.

Associated partners?

Associated partners are colleagues in our own country or in other EU countries. At the start of the project, we tell them about BiBiKit and we ask them how they would want to use BiBiKit. Do they want one video window, or more? One text window, or more? On-line, or off-line?

Later, we show them prototypes and ask for feedback: is this what they want? In year 2, the associated partners will get the BiBiKit prototype. We ask our associated partners to use BiBiKit it for their work. Again, we ask for feedback.

Associated partners are very important for us. They help us develop software, that many people can use. We can't pay the Associated Partners for their input, but they get the BiBiKit software for free. And at the end of the project, we will organize a Big BiBiKit conference or happening to thank the associated partners, and to enable them to meet each other, to show each other what they used BiBiKit for, and to discuss future co-operation.

BiBiKit.eu?

BiBiKit.eu the address of this website. Here, we will keep everyone informed of our progress. 

We will add a forum to this website, where you - and we - can ask questions. We will publish mockups on this websites, and ask for your feedback. So please:  watch this space!

on behalf of the BiBiKit Team,

Liesbeth Pyfers, January 2011

email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it