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Scientists at Science Day 2025: Digital sign language interpreter

9 september 2025

At Science Day (‘Wetenschapsdag’) 2025, visitors will be introduced to the full range of sciences at Science Park, featuring various experiments, demonstrations, and tours. We highlight some of these activities, such as the demonstration by the Institute for Logic, Language and Computation (ILLC).

The Avatar

This demonstration revolves around a fairy-tale character avatar that can communicate in sign language with deaf and hearing-impaired children. At Science Day in Lab42’s main hall, children can stand in front of the large screen, with a webcam below it. This webcam is connected to the Visualisation Lab, where a sign language volunteer wearing a motion capture suit can respond live to the children's gestures. The audience will then see the avatar react on the screen.

The lab is open: you can also see the volunteer working in the motion capture suit and ask questions about how it all works.

SignLab at Science Day

SignLab Amsterdam

This is one of the projects related to sign language by SignLab Amsterdam, such as an app for better communication with deaf and hearing-impaired children. “There are various projects that can also support each other. The app is an example. You can see a video of the gesture, but also the avatar performing it. This way, you can learn entire sentences,” says Gomèr Otterspeer, a software engineer at SignLab. “Ultimately, we are trying to gain more insight into sign language from a scientific perspective, so that linguists can use our material.”

“We aim to provide as much data as possible to conduct scientific research with. That is the goal of our activities here,” says Jari Andersen, a Motion Capture Specialist.

Additionally, they also engage in volunteer projects for deaf children. Earlier this year, for instance, they visited a school for the deaf, where they also streamed an avatar. In the Visualisation Lab, a deaf volunteer was present, and children could interact with him via a webcam.

“For children, this was quite special. Normally, when you watch an animated film, you can only look at the character. This was the first time for these children that they could also talk to the character, to the avatar,” explains Gomèr. “He also read a storybook in sign language, which was about being allowed to be who you want to be. We wanted to encourage that if children, for example, want to become a doctor, that it is possible, regardless of their deafness.”

Would you like to learn more about Wetenschapsdag? Check out the event page.