SHIFT Learning by Design speech activated letter display

This paragraph appears in search results and previews for this page. In three to five sentences, summarize the whole project from background to result: what you designed, for whom, where and when, why it matters, and how it turned out. Write this last. It should make sense to someone who has never heard of your project, your client, or Humboldt County.

Describe the background of the project, covering who, what, when, why, and where: the client, the site, the course (Engr205 Introduction to Design at Cal Poly Humboldt), the semester, and your team. This page will be read by people around the world and in the future, so give enough context that a stranger understands it. Refer to your images in the text, e.g., Figure 1 shows the site before the project.

Images uploaded to Appropedia must be free to share and uniquely named. Start each file name with your project name, e.g., CCAT_compost_bin_background.jpg. Use File:Default.png as a placeholder until you have the real image. Give every image alt text (alt=) that describes it for readers using screen readers; the caption is what everyone reads, the alt text is what the image shows.

The objective of this project is to design, build, and test a... Write this so that a reader would know when the project is complete. You will refine this statement throughout the semester.

Moving away from the speech- activated and ASL alphabet component of our project, the problem that arose in our design included the effectuality of using our board in a classroom for educational purposes. Such that our designed now focused on facilitating the learning of ASL beginner hand signs for speaking and non speaking children, and the interactions between student(s) and teacher(s) in daily classroom settings.

The specifications for this project include:

• Client Group: American Sign Language Student Club Group
• Client Liaison: Aryn Prieto and Cate Carlson
• For Child Development Center classroom
• Budget from SHIFT foundation, maximum budget $475
• Maximum size: 56"x 48"

The considerations for this project include:

• Mobility within the classroom (disassembly for storage)
• Predominant users are ages 3 to 5 (or approximate)
• Keyboards are seen as toys, must be incorporated for adult use only

Table 1 lists the criteria, constraints, and weights for this project. Criteria are the basis for judging solutions; constraints are the limits each criterion must meet.

Table 1: Criteria and constraints for Interactive Word Display Board

Criterion	Constraint	Weight (0–10, 10 highest)
Cost	Within allocated budget	9
Usability	Understandable visuals for ASL translation and interpretation	10
Educational Value	Facilitates ASL learning for speaking and nonspeaking children	9
Aesthetics	Appeals to children for educational engagement	8
Durability	Safe to use in daily classroom setting among young children	8
Weight	Weight of the display	6
Storability	Ability to be stored when not in use	7

Our design will be used in a classroom setting for occasional and/ daily group lessons of beginner hand signs with children ages 3 to 5, and as an additional aid for nonspeaking children in routine day to day interactions. Our design is expected to be used daily, or as needed, in classes held at the child development center. Only one design will be made and no replication is needed at the moment.

This literature review is an annotated bibliography covering the client, similar aiding alphabet display boards, electronic components, screen/visual display(s), ASL learning guidelines and/ or standards, and child learning processes. Together these sources inform what the display should teach, how students might interact with it, and the overall goal and aid that the display will provide for nonspeaking children/ students.

The client group is the American Sign Language Student Club, and the client liaison are Aryn Prieto and Cate Carlson. However, the display will be used in a classroom setting to teach ASL as a second language, apart from the English language, and/or aid nonspeaking students who will use ASL as their main form of communication, so the display itself has been made kid-user friendly.

Client interview

Prieto, A. (2026). Interview by WTC Engineers, September 24,2026, Arcata, CA.

Summary: We interviewed Aryn Prieto, who is one of the client liaisons for the American Sign Language Student Club, and we spoke about the goals that would make this project successful. Such that the targeted user would be a young child, as well as a group of children in a classroom setting. Prieto also expressed that ASL not only includes hand gestures but is also dependent on facial expressions.

Relevance: Gave our team a general idea of the size that our display board needed to be in order to encompass a small group of children to sit in front of and learn from. As well, Prieto communicated which interactive components were most desirable and could serve the best for ASL learning. Gave us a number and suggestion of which beginner signs to use.

Interview

Alternate ASL learning application between user and learning device.

Web-based Sign Language Learning Application

Orovwode, H., Ibukun, O., and Abubakar, J. A. (2024). “A machine learning-driven web application for sign language learning.” Frontiers in Artificial Intelligence, 7, 1297347. <https://doi.org/10.3389/frai.2024.1297347> (Sept. 24, 2026).

Summary: This Frontiers article covers an extremely involved project using a web application utilizing cameras and sensors to detect hand movements while signing. The program assigns words for the user to spell, and uses cameras to grade accuracy and assign points. The article focuses on the model training, the hardware, the programming of the system, and the results.

Relevance: The source informs this design by providing a “reach” project, that may involve cameras or sign recognition. This is an ambitious alternative, but provides insight as to what has been done to incorporate technology into the training process.

Peer-reviewed journal article

The project was provided with vague specifications, so similar alphabet display boards were sought to provide attainable designs and functionality.  

Interactive Alphabet Touch Board

Kim, D. (2024). “Interactive Alphabet Touch Board.” Instructables, Dec. 6, <https://www.instructables.com/Interactive-Alphabet-Touch-Board/> (Sept. 24, 2026).

Summary: This Instructables source showcases a DIY project of an interactive alphabet touch board. It includes the electronics and materials needed, as well as step by step building instructions. This project utilizes a Raspberry Pi Pico, and has multiple modes, including a quiz mode.

Relevance: The source informs this design by providing instructions, photos, code used,  and a supply list similar to this projects’ needs. The touch pads are an alternative option that may influence this project.

Web

Display requires ASL alphabet, so functional ASL format for learning was needed, particularly focusing on child- friendly visuals.

ASL Alphabet through Illustrations

Heller, L. (2012). Sign Language ABC. Sterling Children’s Books, New York. ISBN 978-1-4027-6392-2.

Summary: This source is the project, and contains concepts crucial to the success of this project. This book teaches the English alphabet and its letters alongside the ASL alphabet handshapes. It includes visual objects / colors to reinforce the letter or sign.

Relevance: The source informs this design with key concepts needed to help children grasp the connection between the letters and signs. This will translate to colors / objects used on the training board to make it more engaging and effective.

Book

Used to understand the learning process of ASL compared to the standard English language, in order to adapt the display board as a teaching tool for ASL language.

ASL Learning in Homes

Ritmeester, J., Sümer, B., Boonstra, M., de Meulder, M., van der Aa, B., and Roelofsen, F. (2025). “Navigating sign language learning: Insights from hearing parents of deaf and hard-of-hearing children.” Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education, 31(1), 85–103. https://doi.org/10.1093/jdsade/enaf059.

Summary: Study of “hearing parents” who have children who are either hard of hearing or nonspeaking. Addresses how the parents’ lack of knowledge of ASL shapes the learning of the children in early development. Such that the lack of resources to the parents translates into challenges for the child to access and learn sign language.

Relevance: Aids our focus to provide an easy and accessible display to teach the “basics” of ASL, as well as encourage further learning to unimpaired speech users.

Peer-reviewed journal article

The display will be used to teach children in a classroom setting, so the team wanted to explore the best ways to grasp a child’s attention.

Guidelines and Recommendations for Childhood Education

National Association for the Education of Young Children. (n.d.). Principles of child development and learning and implications that inform practice. <https://www.naeyc.org/resources/position-statements/dap/principles>  (09/25/2026)

Summary: Describes the principles of child development and which learning practices are the most effective in childhood education. Condensed down to nine different principles, each differing in overall complexity and conditions that child may or may not experience.

Relevance: Aided our decision of creating the display into a more interactive and “kid-friendly” design. Allowing children to interact as well as be engaged with the displays/ images.

Web

Apart from the ASL alphabet our team needed appropriate beginner signs, so we looked for the best possible visual demonstration or illustrations.

ASL Sign Illustrations

Valli, C., Lott, P.S., Renner, D., and Hills, R.. 2021. The Gallaudet Dictionary of American Sign Language. Gallaudet University Press.

Summary: Gave background information of ASL as a language, as well as the American deaf community as a whole. Includes visuals for many different hand signs in alphabetical order and the appropriate hand gestures needed for that word.

Relevance: Introduced us to the ASL language and provided possible visual guides that were used for our basic hand signs.

Book

Our display board required a speech recognition component, so we needed to find out how to program and code this essential feature.

Speech Recognition Library Reference

Zhang, A. 2014 “Speech Recognition Library Reference” github.com 09/27/2026. https://github.com/Uberi/speech_recognition/blob/master/reference/library-reference.rst

Summary: This page provides a list of many of the different speech to text functions in python. Included are various examples of applications of functioning code with walkthroughs.

Relevance: This page will provide us the needed assistance in speech to text use for python which will be essential for our speech activated board. A raspberry pi with a microphone running speech detection program will be the basis for our project.

Web

Client wanted interactive features, including lights, voice recognition, and possible screen.

Electronics and Circuits

The Art of Electronics by Thomas C. Hayes and David Abrams

Thomas Hayes. C, and D Abrams. 2016. The Art of Electronics Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

Summary: This book provides everything you need to know about electronics and circuits. It is mainly a teaching tool that can be used by instructors or students to learn electronics. It is a full course with more than 20 lessons covering nearly everything there is to know about circuits and electronics. It also includes many lab outlines for you to work on to further your understanding on most topics. It goes from very basic circuitry to some microcontroller labs.

Relevance: This resource will be crucial when it comes to our project because it will include some basic circuitry. We are planning on having LEDs and possible speakers or microphones involved and will need to know how to properly incorporate them into a circuit.

Book

Applications of Raspberry Pi’s

Mathe, S E. 2024 “A comprehensive review on applications of Raspberry Pi.” Computer science Review, 52

Summary: This article provides in depth examples of various uses for raspberrypi computers. It lists various models each with their advantages and disadvantages. It also includes some basic user information regarding the raspberrypi itself but also when it comes to coding and choosing IDE’s.

Relevance: Although we have some light experience with raspberrypi’s and their attachments it was brief and with lots of help. This article will help guide us where our own knowledge does not suffice. The pros and cons of each of the different models will be specially useful in choosing which model is best for our board.

Peer-reviewed journal article

• Child learning is dependent on the effectiveness of instruction and interactiveness.
• ASL language is best learned in a visual presentation.
• Electronics must be synced accordingly for either speaking or non-speaking users.

Introduce this section in one to two sentences specific to your project.

Describe four to eight alternatives, each under its own 'step template' as shown below and each with a catchy, descriptive name.

Continue this for the four to eight alternatives you have.

To choose how our alphabet and word display would be oriented and supported in the child development lab, our team compared 5 alternatives using a decision matrix. These ratings are based on what we learned from meetings with clients, experts, and customers, to test optimal stand heights and board orientations.

Cost

The material cost of the support system of the board. This includes the stand and its components, mounting hardware, etc. A lower cost scores higher.

Usability

Ease of use for children aged 1-5 to interact with the tablet, and view in group setting. Also ease of use for instructor while sitting in low chair or floor.

Educational Value

How well the board helps the children connect the English and ASL alphabets.

Aesthetics

How colorful, enticing, and engaging the board looks to the children. How well it encourages the children to interact.

Durability

How well the board holds up to use from children. This includes its resistance to tipping, pinching, bumping spilling.

Weight

How light the unit is, so any teacher can lift and carry with ease, as not to be a chore or unwanted task. Lighter board scores higher.

Storability

How easily the board can be folded or broken down and put away. How much floor space the display takes up when not in use.

We used a Delphi-Style weighted decision matrix to make our decision. Each team member rated the alternatives from 0-10 privately without influence from other team members. We compared our ratings and agreed on one score to represent our teams decision. We multiplied each score by the criterions weight from Table 1 and added the results to create a weighted total. The maximum score is a 570.

Table 2: Decision matrix. Scores are 0-10; weighted totals are the sum of weight × score.

Criterion	Weight	Easel Display Stand	Low Display Stand	High Display Stand	Vertical Display	Horizontal Display
Cost	9	8	6	7	7	7
Usability	10	7	9	8	9	8
Educational Value	9	8	9	9	9	9
Aesthetics	8	7	8	8	9	9
Durability	8	6	10	9	9	9
Weight	6	6	9	8	8	8
Storability	7	5	9	8	8	8
Weighted total		389	486	464	482	472

Our team chose a vertical display on a low display stand. Table 2 compares two kinds of alternatives: how the board is supported, and its orientation. We chose the highest scoring option for each group individually which will be our design.

The Low Display Stand had the higher weighted total if its alternatives with a 486 out of 570. This design scored well because it is lower to the ground allowing for easy interactions from students and instructors while also maintaining a lower center of gravity and smaller presence. These features made the Low Display Stand the winner of that category.

The Vertical Display scored a 482 out of 570, the highest within those alternatives. When we tested our cardboard prototypes, both the children and the instructors preferred the vertical orientation, the horizontal had too much of a "sweet spot" where the vertical can be accessed easily from both ends of the height spectrum.

Together these choices give the classroom a display that both students and faculty can easily interact with, and can be moved around the classroom easily.

Show your most impactful prototypes from earliest to final. Include at least one prototype for function (does it work? e.g., testing a mechanism, material, or dimension) and at least one prototype for desire (will people want to use it? e.g., a mockup shown to the client or users for feedback). Each caption should say what the prototype is, whether it tested function or desire, and what you learned from it. Early sketches, failed attempts, and photos of materials and hands at work all help tell the story.

• 
  Prototype for desire: cardboard mockup of ... shown to the client. We learned that ...
• 
  Prototype for function: test of ... We learned that ...

Describe the final design, starting with the big picture and then going into detail. Use labeled images and refer to them in the text. This is usually a big section.

• 
  CAD drawing of ... by Yourname1.
• 
  Drawing of ... by Yourname2.

Give a complete description of how the final design is built, with lots of images, so someone else could replicate it. Use one {{Step}} per step. This is much easier to write as descriptive (what you did) instead of prescriptive (what another person should do), but you can take either approach.

Table 3 presents the proposed project timeline from our original problem statement until completion, highlighting key milestones and their status.

Table 3: Project timeline.

Date	Description	Status
September 20, 2026	Background and problem statement posted	Complete
September 27, 2026	Literature review posted	Complete
October 3, 2026	Finalize design with client	Complete
October 4, 2026	Interviews	In progress
October 18, 2026	Finish programming	In progress
October 18, 2026	First prototype built of "shell"	Not started
November 1, 2026	Dry fit / all electronic components done	Not started
November 22, 2026	Final design installed and tested	Not started

Introduce the three kinds of cost below in one to two sentences.

Show the total human hours your team spent outside of class, grouped into categories (e.g., research, brainstorming, prototyping, construction, documentation). Three teammates working for one hour is three human hours.

Below the bill of materials includes purchased materials, as well as materials included in package deals when purchasing certain components. Tentatively, materials for stand and box are not included. Projected cost exceeds $400 budget, but expect to use donations and/ or reused materials to reduce further costs. Replication cost is expected to be more than current projected cost. We expect to use part of $225 budget from the team contributions.

Item	Amount	Cost per unit	Total
UPS HAT (E) battery board — Purchased	1	USD 44.99	USD 44.99
21700 Li-ion cells — Purchased	4	USD 6.99	USD 27.96
USB-C wall charger (27W) — Purchased	1	USD 10.00	USD 10.00
Panel-mount USB-C cable — Purchased	1	USD 10.00	USD 10.00
USB-A male plug breakout (turns the HAT's USB-A port into wires) — Purchased	1	USD 4.95	USD 4.95
FEather terminal kit — Purchased	1	USD 5.95	USD 5.95
10.1-inch 1024x600 display — Purchased	1	USD 46.00	USD 46.00
Micro-HDMI cable — Included in kit with screen	1	USD 0.00	USD 0.00
NeoPixel LEDs (packs of 5) — Purchased	6	USD 4.95	USD 29.70
Level shifter — Purchased	1	USD 1.49	USD 1.49
Resistor, 330 ohm — Purchased	1	USD 1.49	USD 1.49
Capacitor, 1000 uF, 10V or more — Purchased	2	USD 1.00	USD 2.00
14 pin socket — Purchased	1	USD 0.91	USD 0.91
0.1uF capacitor — Purchased	3	USD 0.75	USD 2.25
Button input boards — Purchased	2	USD 5.95	USD 11.90
Push buttons — Purchased	18	USD 2.50	USD 45.00
Quick-connect wires — Purchased	2	USD 4.95	USD 9.90
Hookup wire, 22 to 26 AWG (use 20 AWG for LED power) — Purchased	1	USD 19.95	USD 19.95
Jumper wires pack of 20 — Purchased	1	USD 1.95	USD 1.95
STEMMA QT cable — Purchased	1	USD 0.95	USD 0.95
Perfboard — Purchased	1	USD 12.50	USD 12.50
microSD card, 32 GB or more — Purchased	2	USD 10.00	USD 20.00
USB keyboard — Not purchased	1	USD 25.00	USD 25.00
Breadboard (for testing) — Purchased	1	USD 6.95	USD 6.95
Inline fuse holder and 3A fuse — Purchased	1	USD 4.99	USD 4.99
Raspberry Pi — Purchased	1	USD 70.00	USD 70.00
PrintGrand total			USD 416.78EUR 358.43 <br />GBP 304.25 <br />CAD 516.81 <br />MXN 8,689.86 <br />INR 31,195.98 <br />

Introduce the ongoing costs in time and money, usually per year.

Table 4: Yearly maintenance cost.

Task	Frequency	Time per year (hours)	Cost per year (USD)
Example task	Monthly	2	0.00
Total		2	0.00

Introduce how to use the design, then give step-by-step instructions with labeled images. Use {{Step}} if the process has more than a few steps. A short video is a great addition:

Introduce this maintenance section. Answer these questions:

• Are there any needed actions for maintenance?
• How often?
• Who should perform maintenance?

This is when to maintain what. Please keep the format the same as it can be used to auto-populate maintenance tables.

Daily

• A daily task
• A daily task

Weekly

• a weekly task
• a weekly task

Monthly

• a monthly task
• a monthly task

Yearly

• a yearly task
• a yearly task

Every __ years

• task
• task

Give step-by-step maintenance instructions, using {{Step}} if helpful.

Describe how you tested the final design and what the results were. Compare the results to your criteria, e.g., in a table like Table 5.

Table 5: Final design performance against criteria.

Criterion	Constraint	Result	Met?
Cost	Less than or equal to $3 per ounce	$2.50 per ounce	Yes

Discuss what the testing results mean.

Discuss what your team learned and what you would do differently next time.

Discuss next steps for the project as it goes on into the future.

Cover basic operating problems only. For complex issues, the suggestion might be to contact ________.

Problem	Suggestion
Example issue	Example solution or suggestion
Does not turn on	Make sure it is plugged in.
Another issue	Etc.

Include an inspirational video for sharing.

Introduce the team and semester, e.g., This project was completed in SEMESTER YEAR by Team TEAMNAME:

• Lonny Grafman
• Emilio Velis
• One bullet for each team member, in the format [[User:Username|Full Name]].