Areas of interest

• Natural Language Analysis
• Natural Language Processing
• Language based Assistive Technology
• Sign Language Technologies
• Human-Computer Interaction
• Educational Applications of Language Technology

CV data

Dr Eleni Efthimiou is Research Director at ILSP/ATHENA RC, where she has been working as a researcher since 1992.

In 1982 she graduated from the Philosophical Faculty of the University of Athens and in 1986 she received her Ph.D. degree from the Department of Linguistics of the University of Salzburg (Austria).

Her main research interests focus on theoretical linguistic analysis of natural language, Natural Language Processing based prototype development and optimisation techniques for Human-Computer Interaction.

In 1999 she founded the ILSP Team for Basic Research and Resources Collection for the Greek Sign Language (GSL). Work of the team resulted to methodologies for lexicon collection and terminology creation in GSL, creation of the first electronic resources collection for GSL, as well as to the first lexicographical products for the language. She currently heads the Sign Language Technologies Lab and co-ordinates the Assistive Technology Group at ILSP/ATHENA RC. The SLT Lab focuses on creation of wide scale electronic sign language resources (corpora, vocabularies and grammar), SL synthesis by means of virtual agent (avatar) technologies, SL recognition, development of sign language educational and communication tools, as well as implementation of principles of Universal Access for system architecture. In the context of language based Assistive Technology activities, ILSP is a member of the national accessibility network GR-DeAN (www.e-accessibility.gr) and the European accessibility network Ε-DeAN (www.e-accessibility.com ).

Having coordinated and/or participated in the development teams of various R&D projects in the domain of language technology in the past, she currently co-ordinates DICTA-SIGN project (FP7-ICT)(http://www.dictasign.eu/ ).

In parallel, she presents a continuous teaching activity in Theoretical and Computational Linguistics (University of Kreta: 1987-1990 - Lecturer, University of Umea - Sweden: 1990 - Invited Lecturer, University of Athens: 1991 and 1993-1994 - Reader, National Technical University of Athens (NTUA): 1991 - seminars, University of Salzburg - Austria: 1993 - Invited Lecturer, Language Technology: Interdisciplinary M.S. Program (NTUA, University of Athens, ILSP / ATHENA RC): 1999-).

Her publications include four books, series of ILSP internal editions and conference proceedings, numerous scientific articles, two electronic dictionaries of GSL (http://www.ilsp.gr/noema_eng.html), a trilingual educational tool for the training of the Deaf in the ECDL context (http://www.ilsp.gr/diolkos.html) and the educational software “MtN1” (http://www.ilsp.gr/noimata.html), which is part of the official curriculum of Nursery and Primary School education level of Special Education in Greece.

• Vacalopoulou, A., Giouli, V., Efthimiou, E. & Giagkou, M. (2012). Bridging the gap between disconnected languages: the eMiLang multi-lingual database. In In Proceedings of the 4th International Language Resources and Evaluation Conference Workshop on Creating Cross-language Resources for Disconnected Languages and Styles (CREDISLAS, 2012). Istanbul, Turkey. [...] 
• Efthimiou, E., Fotinea, S., Hanke, T., Glauert, J., Bowden, R., Braffort, A. et al. (2012). Sign Language technologies and resources of the Dicta-Sign project. In Proc. of the 5th Workshop on the Representation and Processing of Sign Languages: Interactions between Corpus and Lexicon. Satellite Workshop to the eighth International Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC-2012), pages 37-44. Istanbul, Turkey. [...] 
• Efthimiou, E., Fotinea, S., Hanke, T., Glauert, J., Bowden, R., Braffort, A. et al (2012). The Dicta-Sign Wiki: Enabling Web Communication for the Deaf. In Miesenberger, K., Karshmer, A., Penaz, P. et al (editors), Computers Helping People with Special Needs (Part II). Springer. [...] 
• Fotinea, S., Efthimiou, E. & Dimou, A (2012). Sign Language Computer-Aided Education: Exploiting GSL Resources and Technologies for Web Deaf Communication. In Miesenberger, K., Karshmer, A., Penaz, P. et al (editors), Computers Helping People with Special Needs (Part II). Springer. [...] 
• Dimou, A., Pitsikalis, V., Goulas, T., Theodorakis, S., Karioris, P., Pissaris, M. et al. (2012). A GSL Continuous Phrase Corpus: Design and Acquisition. In Proceedings of the 5th Workshop on the Representation and Processing of Sign Languages: Interactions between Corpus and Lexicon (LREC), pages 23-26. Istanbul, Turkey. [...] 
• Vacalopoulou, A., Giouli, V., Giagkou, M. & Efthimiou, E. (2011). Online Dictionaries for immigrants in Greece: Overcoming the Communication Barriers. In Proceedings of eLEX2011, pages 274-279. Bled, Slovenia. [...] 
• Dimou, A., Goulas, T., Fotinea, S. & Efthimiou, E. (2011). Exploiting the Dicta-Sign corpus data: teaching material for the Greek Sign Language. In 2nd Symposium in Applied Sign Linguistics. Bristol , UK. [...] 
• Dimou, A., Goulas, T. & Efthimiou, E. (2011). Grammar/Prosody Modelling in Greek Sign Language: Towards the Definition of Built-in Sign Synthesis Rules_1. In E. Efthimiou & G. Kouroupetroglou (editors), Proc. of the 9th International Gesture Workshop, pages 88-91. Athens, Greece. [...] 
• Goulas, T., Fotinea, S. & Efthimiou, E. (2010). SiS-Builder: A Sign Synthesis Support Tool.. In Proc. of the 4th Workshop on the Representation and Processing of Sign Languages: Corpora and Sign Language Technologies (CSLT 2010), 2010, Satellite workshop of the LREC-2010 Conference, pages 102-105. Valetta, Malta. [...] 
• Matthes, S., Hanke, T., Storz, J., Efthimiou, E., Dimou, A., Karioris, P. et al. (2010). Elicitation tasks and materials designed for Dicta-Sign's multi-lingual corpus. In LREC 2010, Proceedings of the 4th Workshop on Representation and Processing of Sign Languages: Corpora and Sign Language Technologies. Valetta, Malta. [...] 
• Efthimiou, E., Fotinea, S., Dimou, A. & Kalimeris, C. (2010). Towards decoding Classifier function in GSL. In LREC 2010, Proceedings of the 4th Workshop on Representation and Processing of Sign Languages: Corpora and Sign Language Technologies, pages 76-79. Valetta, Malta. [...] 
• Efthimiou, E., Fotinea, S., Hanke, T., Glauert, J., Bowden, R., Braffort, A. et al. (2010). DICTA-SIGN: Sign Language Recognition, Generation and Modelling with application in Deaf Communication. In Proc. of the 4th Workshop on the Representation and Processing of Sign Languages: Corpora and Sign Language Technologies (CSLT 2010), 2010, Satellite workshop of the LREC-2010 Conference, pages 80-83. Valetta, Malta. [...] 
• Kouremenos, D., Fotinea, S., Efthimiou, E. & Ntalianis, K. (2010). A Prototype Greek Text to Greek Sign Language (GSL) Conversion System. Behaviour & Information Technology Journal (TBIT), 29(5), 467-481. [...] 
• Fotinea, S., Efthimiou, E., Caridakis, G., Diamanti, O., Mitsiou, N., Tzafestas, K. et al. (2009). DIANOEMA: Visual analysis and sign recognition for GSL modelling and robot teleoperation. In Proc. of the 8th International Gesture Workshop. Bielefeld, Germany. [...] 
• Efthimiou, E., Fotinea, S., Vogler, C., Hanke, T., Glauert, J. & Bowden, R. (2009). Sign Language Recognition, Generation, and Modelling: A Research Effort with Applications in Deaf Communication. In Proc. of the HCII-09. San Diego, USA. [...] 
• Fotinea, S. & Efthimiou, E. (2009). A platform for sign language content presentation. In Proc. of the V International Conference on Multimedia, Information and Communication Technologies in Education (m-ICTE 2009), pages 681-685. Lisbon, Portugal. [...] 
• Fotinea, S. & Efthimiou, E (2008). Tools for Deaf accessibility to an eGOV environment. In Miesenberger, K. , Klaus, J. , Zagler, W. et al (editors), Book Computers Helping People with Special Needs. Berlin / Heidelberg : Springer. [...] 
• Fotinea, S., Efthimiou, E., Karpouzis, K. & Caridakis, G. (2008). A knowledge-based sign synthesis architecture. Universal Access in the Information Society, 6(4), 405-418. [...] 
• Efthimiou, E. & Fotinea, S. (2008). Annotation and Maintenance of the Greek Sign Language Corpus (GSLC). In Proc. of the 3rd Workshop on the Representation and Processing of Sign Languages: Construction and Exploitation of Sign Language Corpora workshops series, June 1, 2008, Satellite workshop of the LREC-2008 Conference, pages 58-63. Marrakech, Morocco. [...] 
• Efthimiou, E., Fotinea, S. & Glauert, J. (2008). Special Issue: Emerging Technologies for Deaf Accessibility in the Information Society-Editorial. Universal Access in the Information Society, 6, 321-322. [...] 
• Efthimiou, E. & Fotinea, S. (2007). An Environment for Deaf Accessibility to Educational Content. In Proc. of the first International Conference on Information and Communication Technology and Accessibility, pages 125-130. Hammamet, Tunisia. [...] 
• Efthimiou, E., Fotinea, S. & Sapountzaki, G. (2007). Feature-based natural language processing for GSL synthesis. Sign Language & Linguistics Journal (SL&L), 10(1), 3-23. [...] 
• Karpouzis, K., Caridakis, G., Fotinea, S. & Efthimiou, E. (2007). Educational resources and implementation of a Greek sign language synthesis architecture. Computers & Education, 49(1), 54-74. [...] 
• Efthimiou, E. & Fotinea, S (2007). GSLC: Creation and Annotation of a Greek Sign Language Corpus for HCI. In Stephanidis & Constantine (editors), Universal Acess in Human Computer Interaction. Coping with Diversity. Springer Berlin / Heidelberg. [...] 
• Σαπουντζάκη, Γ., Efthimiou, E. & Fotinea, S. (2006). Digital Technology in the service of Greek Sign Language Learning for Primary Education. In Πρακτικά Πανελληνίου Συνεδρίου "Ψηφιακό Εκπαιδευτικό Υλικό: ζητήματα δημιουργίας, διδακτικής αξιοποίησης και αξιολόγησης", pages 161-170. Volos, Greece. [...] 
• Efthimiou, E., Fotinea, S. & Sapountzaki, G. (2006). E-accessibility to educational content for the deaf. European Journal of Open, Distance and E-Learning, II. [...] 
• Σαπουντζάκη, Γ., Efthimiou, E. & Fotinea, S. (2006). Web-based Distance Learning for Greek Sign Language Teaching of deaf students. In Πρακτικά Διημερίδας «Εξ Αποστάσεως Εκπαίδευση με χρήση ΤΠΕ». Lamia, Greece. [...] 
• Efthimiou, E. & Fotinea, S. (2006). Μαθαίνω τα Νοήματα 1 - Βιβλίο Δασκάλου. [...] 
• Fotinea, S. & Efthimiou, E. (2006). Μαθαίνω τα Νοήματα 1 - Εγχειρίδιο χρήσης & Οδηγός Εγκατάστασης. [...] 
• Efthimiou, E., Fotinea, S. & Sapountzaki, G. (2006). Processing linguistic data for GSL structure representation. In Proc. of the Workshop on the Representation and Processing of Sign Languages: Lexicographic matters and didactic scenarios, Satellite Workshop to LREC-2006 Conference, pages 49-54. Genoa, Italy. [...] 
• Caridakis, G., Karpouzis, K., Sapountzaki, G., Fotinea, S. & Efthimiou, E. (2005). A dynamic environment for Greek Sign Language Synthesis using virtual characters. In Proc. of the Web3D 2005 Symposium, Workshop on Education and Training. Bangor, UK. [...] 
• Alexandris, C., Fotinea, S. & Efthimiou, E. (2005). Emphasis as an Extra-Linguistic Marker for Resolving Spatial and Temporal Ambiguities in Machine Translation for a Speech-to-Speech System involving Greek. In Proc. of the 3rd International Conference on Universal Access in Human-Computer Interaction (UAHCI 2005), pages 22-27 July. Las Vegas, Nevada, USA. [...] 
• Fotinea, S., Efthimiou, E. & Kouremenos, D. (2005). Generating linguistic content for Greek to GSL conversion. In Proc. of the HERCMA-2005 Conference (The 7th Hellenic European Conference on Computer Mathematics & its Applications). Athens, Greece. [...] 
• Efthimiou, E., Fotinea, S. & Sapountzaki, G. (2005). GSL educational content for E-learning. In Proc. of the ICL 2005 Conference on Interactive Computer Aided Learning. Villach, Austria. [...] 
• Fotinea, S., Efthimiou, E., Karpouzis, K. & Caridakis, G. (2005). Dynamic GSL synthesis to support access to e-content. In Proc. of the 3rd International Conference on Universal Access in Human-Computer Interaction (UAHCI 2005). Las Vegas, Nevada, USA. [...] 
• Efthimiou, E. & Fotinea, S. (2004). An adaptation-based technique on current educational tools to support universal access: the case of a GSL e-Learning platform. In Courtiat, JP , Davarakis, C. , Villemur & T. (editors), Proc. of the TeL'04 Workshop on “Technology Enhanced Learning”, pages 177-186. Toulouse, France. [...] 
• Efthimiou, E., Vacalopoulou, A., Fotinea, S. & Stainhaouer, G. (2004). Multipurpose Design and Creation of GSL Dictionaries. In Proceedings of the Workshop on the Representation and Processing of Sign Languages “From SignWriting to Image Processing. Information, pages 51-58. Lisbon, Portugal. [...] 
• Efthimiou, E. & Fotinea, S. (2004). Multipurpose Design of Greek Sign Language Resources: A factor towards Universal Access. In Proc. of the 1st International Conference "From Scientific Computing to Computational Engineering" (IC-SCCE), Invited Session on Human Computer Interaction, pages 820-827. Athens, Greece. [...] 
• Katsoyannou, M. & Efthimiou, E. (2004). Ελληνική Ορολογία: Έρευνα και εφαρμογές. Εκδόσεις Καστανιώτη. [...] 
• Efthimiou, E., Sapountzaki, G., Karpouzis, K. & Fotinea, S (2004). Developing an e-Learning Platform for the Greek Sign Language. In Miesenberger, Klaus, Klaus, Joachim, Zagler, Wolfgang et al (editors), Computers Helping People with Special Needs. Springer Berlin / Heidelberg. [...] 
• Katsoyannou, M. & Efthimiou, E (2004). Terminology theory, methods and practices [in Greek]. In Μαριάννα Κατσογιάννου & Ελένη Ευθυμίου (editors), Greek Terminology: Research and Applications. Αθήνα : Kastaniotis. [...] 
• Efthimiou, E., Katsoyannou, M., Κουρμπέτης, Β. & Stainhaouer, G. (2002). ΝΟΗΜΑ: Η εκπαιδευτική διάσταση ενός πολυμεσικού λεξικού νοηματικής γλώσσας. In Πρακτικά 3ου διεθνούς συνεδρίου «Oι τεχνολογίες της Πληροφορίας και Επικοινωνίας στην Εκπαίδευση», pages 429-432. Ρόδος. [...] 
• Κοτζιά. Ε. & Efthimiou, E. (2001). Γενετική γραμματική και συγκριτική ανάλυση. Εκδόσεις Καστανιώτη. [...] 
• Efthimiou, E. & Vassiliou, M. (2001). Αυτόµατη αναγνώριση φραστικών όρων σε περιβάλλον ελεγχόµενης υπογλώσσας: Η διαχείριση της ορολογίας στο έργο "Σχηµατοποίηση". In Πρακτικά της 22ης Ετήσιας Συνάντησης Εργασίας Τοµέα Γλωσσολογίας, Αριστοτέλειο Πανεπιστήμιο Θεσσαλονίκης, pages 32-41. Θεσσαλονίκη. [...]