JASigning 0.9.5d

2008-12-13
The most prominent changes in this release are the introduction of a new JASigning applet, the SiGML Player Applet, the introduction of an installation-wide avatars configuration properties file, and some improvements in the robustness and consistency of JASigning GUI components. The change list gives further details.


Introduction

JASigning is a software system for scripted performance of sign language animations by a virtual human, or avatar. The scripting language used to define these animations is SiGML (Signing Gesture Markup Language).

SiGML is an XML application language, derived from HamNoSys, the sign language notation system developed at the University of Hamburg.

JASigning is based on work undertaken at UEA in conjunction with our partners in the ViSiCAST and eSIGN projects. It is an alternative to the Avatar Plugin software released at the end of the eSIGN project. One important difference is that JASigning runs on Mac OS X as well as Windows.

JASigning is a combination of Java software with supporting native libraries. So, to run JASigning a computer system must have the Java runtime software, version 5 or later, installed on it.
(Java is pre-installed on all Mac OS X systems, and on many Windows systems.)

The standard method of accessing a JASigning application or applet is via Java Web Start using JNLP, the Java Network Launch Protocol. For example:


JASigning Applets in HTML Pages

Instead of accessing a JASigning application via Java Web Start, it is possible to use a conventional Web browser to access a JASigning applet in an HTML page.

JASigning currently uses the experimental JNLP Applet Launcher, allowing signing applets to be used in a Web browser without any prior installation of the native libraries that JASigning uses.

N.B.   On a MS Windows system, depending on the Java version and graphics drivers in use, in order to use JASigning applets the user may need to adjust the system's Java Applet Runtime Parameters to use OpenGL graphics -- instructions for doing this are given below.

The standard JASigning applet is controlled via an HTML/Javascript GUI using the LiveConnect interface:

Note that the first time a JASigning applet is started, there is likely to be a noticeable delay while the supporting software libraries are downloaded and cached locally.

Note also that some Java versions require all HTML applets used in a given browser session to be loaded by a single class loader. A precondition for this is that the archive attribute in each applet tag should specify precisely the same list of jars (including embedded punctuation/whitespace, apparently).

How to Set Java Applet Runtime Parameters for OpenGL on Windows

Open the standard Java Control Panel, select the Java tab, and click the Java Applet Runtime Settings button. Then edit the Java Runtime Parameters field for the standard JRE so that it includes the following parameter definitions, separated by a space character:

and then click the OK buttons on the Runtime Settings panel and the main Java Control panel.


JASigning Developer Documentation

JASigning is a collection of software libraries which support virtual human signing applications, together with a few demonstrator applications and applets.

So the JASigning libraries can be used to develop new applications and applets as alternatives to the demonstrators provided. To support this there is some rudimentary JASigning developer's documentation.


RE    2008-12-16