Poor Gabe is really not that good a public speaker, and watching his uncertain hand motions next to a professional signist is actually sort of a funny juxtaposition.
But I'm heartened to see that Valve vaules accessability so highly. The idea of a visual chatbox in multiplayer games would be a bit difficult- video takes much more bandwidth than audio- but I can see where it would help the hearing-impaired immensely.
To those who think that Alyx teaching D0g sign language so that he could teach her is a backwards plot point: Remember that D0g is a robot and learns things instantaneously. Humans need practice to integrate it into their minds, especially if it's something they're learning later in life. It's not at all hard to imagine Alyx finding a beat-up old practice booklet for American Sign Language, working over it once with D0g (who would then retain that information with precise computer clarity) and then having him practice with her.
One advantage the Source engine has in this field is that the characters are so expressive. It's easy to tell when Alyx is angry or sad, when Dr. Kleiner is befuddled (85% of the time), when Barney is determined. D0g is a bit tricker- much of his communication is the tone of the beeps he makes- but he does use body language effectively. (Case in point: The beginning of Episode 1. Alyx asks D0g if he's done the math regarding throwing a van across a chasm. D0g slouches his shoulders, grumbles and shakes his head "no".) Valve has done a whole lot of work at making their characters seem lifelike, so I don't imagine that they'll have too much difficulty adapting to the inclusion of a deaf character. Gathering a mini-symposium of deaf people to get their input is a good idea, in that regard as well as a few others.
As someone who once aspired to be an actor, I understand the importance of body language and facial expressions in communication. Anyone who's ever watched a "wooden" actor or actress deliver dialogue with a ramrod-straight stance and stone expression probably knows what I'm talking about. Not only does this discussion help Valve reach out to the hearing-impaired, but it gives them even more insight on how to be better storytellers and how to create more human (or inhuman) characters.
And for those of you griping: Really, knock it off. I sincerely doubt that this is the one reason why Valve haven't released the game yet.
But I'm heartened to see that Valve vaules accessability so highly. The idea of a visual chatbox in multiplayer games would be a bit difficult- video takes much more bandwidth than audio- but I can see where it would help the hearing-impaired immensely.
To those who think that Alyx teaching D0g sign language so that he could teach her is a backwards plot point: Remember that D0g is a robot and learns things instantaneously. Humans need practice to integrate it into their minds, especially if it's something they're learning later in life. It's not at all hard to imagine Alyx finding a beat-up old practice booklet for American Sign Language, working over it once with D0g (who would then retain that information with precise computer clarity) and then having him practice with her.
One advantage the Source engine has in this field is that the characters are so expressive. It's easy to tell when Alyx is angry or sad, when Dr. Kleiner is befuddled (85% of the time), when Barney is determined. D0g is a bit tricker- much of his communication is the tone of the beeps he makes- but he does use body language effectively. (Case in point: The beginning of Episode 1. Alyx asks D0g if he's done the math regarding throwing a van across a chasm. D0g slouches his shoulders, grumbles and shakes his head "no".) Valve has done a whole lot of work at making their characters seem lifelike, so I don't imagine that they'll have too much difficulty adapting to the inclusion of a deaf character. Gathering a mini-symposium of deaf people to get their input is a good idea, in that regard as well as a few others.
As someone who once aspired to be an actor, I understand the importance of body language and facial expressions in communication. Anyone who's ever watched a "wooden" actor or actress deliver dialogue with a ramrod-straight stance and stone expression probably knows what I'm talking about. Not only does this discussion help Valve reach out to the hearing-impaired, but it gives them even more insight on how to be better storytellers and how to create more human (or inhuman) characters.
And for those of you griping: Really, knock it off. I sincerely doubt that this is the one reason why Valve haven't released the game yet.
