When (Shared) Space and Time Don’t Matter. Remote Video-Mediated (Synchronous and Asynchronous) Communication in Flemish Sign Language.

This paper addresses the potential impact of video-mediated and video-recorded communication on the sign language production of Flemish signers. We present preliminary results of a comparison of face-to-face communication in Flemish Sign Language with real-time online communication and with video-recorded messages intended for later viewing. We pay particular attention to the use of the signing space, simultaneity and referent tracking mechanisms. A better understanding of this effect is needed for the design and development of sign language recognition, which is fundamental for machine translation of these languages and the development of avatar technology.