Sign Processing Workshop
Lisbon, May 30, 2004

A SIGN MATCHING TECHNIQUE
TO SUPPORT SEARCHES
IN SIGN LANGUAGE TEXTS

by Antonio Carlos da Rocha Costa, Gracaliz Pereira Dimuro, Juliano Baldez de Freitas

Abstract
This paper presents a technique for matching two signs written in the SignWriting system. We have de€ned such technique to support procedures for searching in sign language texts that were written in that writing system. Given the graphical nature of SignWriting, a graphical pattern matching method is needed, which can deal in controlled ways with the small graphical variations writers can introduce in the graphical forms of the signs, when they write them. The technique we present builds on a so-called degree of graphical similarity between signs, allowing for a sort of “fuzzy” graphical pattern matching procedure for written signs.

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