How this works

(Not all mentioned features may be implemented yet)

Start / Stop

Begins or ends a continuous loop of random words being fingerspelled.

Language

Choose which sign language to practice. Your progress settings (focus letters, sign-variation preferences) are remembered separately per language.

Character

Only shown when more than one character model is available. Your first-ever session picks one at random; after that, whichever you last chose is remembered.

Sign variations

Some letters have more than one real variant in everyday use (e.g. a regional dialect split, or just a more comfortable handshape). Untick a group to stop it appearing in practice — if that would leave a letter with nothing to show, that one letter ignores the exclusion rather than breaking.

By word length / By focus letters

Either practice words of a chosen length, or pick specific letters — words are drawn from the real dictionary when possible (matching both your chosen length and at least one focus letter), with a generated nonsense string as the fallback if nothing fits. The word length limit applies to both modes.

Use nonsense words

Only shown in "by focus letters" mode. Skips real dictionary words entirely — every word is a generated string that includes your selected letters plus random filler, useful once you want pure letter recognition without word-guessing helping you along.

Reveal after each sign

Off: pure guessing practice. On: the word appears once the sign finishes, so you can check yourself.

Signing speed

Controls how quickly the figure moves between letters, in fixed, numbered steps.

Lighting / Background

Adjust the lighting arrangement and background colour for comfort or contrast.

Camera

Drag to look around the figure from any angle; scroll to zoom in or out.

Purpose

This is a small web application for practising Auslan fingerspelling comprehension. It was originally built as a personal project but is available for anyone who finds it useful.

Known issues

• The Q handshape transitions into position unnaturally.
• The hand mesh can deform when the wrist rotates sharply.
• The left and right hand meshes occasionally intersect.

These issues are currently known and may or may not be addressed in the future.

Version History

• Initial release

• Signing speed now has fixed, numbered steps
• Settings are saved between sessions
• Focus letters improved: You can set word length or generate nonsense words for better targeted practice
• Statistics page added
• The Mannequin is no longer wearing what looks like a wetsuit
• Mannequin now has some baseline movement and should look less "wooden"

• Some poses weren't displaying correctly. Particularly those involving wrist rotation. Poses should now be more precise

Looking for something more polished?

If you're interested in a more comprehensive and professionally developed Auslan fingerspelling system, have a look at AuslanSpell, a research project developed by researchers at Monash University.

Research paper

AuslanSpell: an interactive technology for improving Auslan fingerspelling comprehension

GitHub

monash-assistive-tech/auslan-spell-web

This project is not affiliated with Monash University or the AuslanSpell project.

Character model:

Top half derived from a Mixamo model

Jeans and shoes by ThetankOmeter, licensed under CC-BY. Source: https://blendswap.com/blend/8423.

Word list credits:

This application uses a word frequency list derived from the Wiktionary English Wikipedia (2016) frequency lists.

Source

Wiktionary – English Wikipedia (2016) Frequency Lists

Based on

Wortschatz Leipzig 2016 English Wikipedia corpus.

Licence

Wiktionary content is licensed under CC BY-SA.

Software:

Babylon.js

3D rendering engine. babylonjs.com — Apache License 2.0.

Practice stats

Time spent signing

Letters shown