Sign Language Tutor – Digital improvement for people who are deaf and hard of hearing Nevena Ackovska, Magdalena Kostoska, Marjan Gjurovski Faculty of Computer Science and Engineering, St. Cyril and Methodious University, Skopje, Republic of Macedonia {nevena.ackovska, magdalena.kostoska}@finki.ukim.mk, maki.gjuroski@gmail.com Abstract. This paper is an introduction to the world of deaf and hard of hearing people and their everyday challenges (and opportunities) with technology and computer interaction. The requirements of this focus group in human-computer interaction and the currently available computers tools and technologies in the world, and especially Macedonia will be discussed. An overview of the present research directions and the possibilities of the visualization and 3D technology for this target group will be stated. In this paper the Sign Language Tutor – sign language interactive e-learning platform will be presented. It represents a collection of modules and games ded- icated to ease the learning of the Macedonian Sign Language (MSL), but also to improve the mental and memory capabilities, especially of the younger part of our target group – the deaf children. The central part of this project is 3D simu- lation – given a 3D model of a girl the subject should sign a chosen letter or ob- ject. Computer games to assist with the learning are used: one is a 2D adventure where the hero fights monsters and collects items as rewards – sign of the col- lected object, the other is memory where the subject should connect a card with a sign of the letter. The platform is built using the Microsoft XNA technology. Keywords: deaf, hard of hearing, sign language, children, tutorial, human- computer interaction 1 Introduction The community of deaf and hard of hearing people is not a small community. According to the World Health Organization in 2004 there were over 275 million people globally with moderate-to-profound hearing impairment [1]. Even more, this group of people don’t want to be considered as a part of the community of disabled. According to the World Federation of Deaf “Deaf and hard of hearing people do not identify as having a disability or see themselves as experiencing a limitation. Instead, ICT Innovations 2012 Web Proceedings ISSN 1857-7288 103 S. Markovski, M. Gusev (Editors): ICT Innovations 2012, Web Proceedings, ISSN 1857-7288 © ICT ACT – http://ictinnovations.org/2012, 2012