Recent Advances on Deep Learning for Sign Language Recognition

Sign language,a visual-gestural language used by the deaf and hard-of-hearing community,plays a crucial role in facilitating communication and promoting inclusivity.Sign language recognition(SLR),the process of automatically recognizing and interpreting sign language gestures,has gained significant attention in recent years due to its potential to bridge the communication gap between the hearing impaired and the hearing world.The emergence and continuous development of deep learning techniques have provided inspiration and momentum for advancing SLR.This paper presents a comprehensive and up-to-date analysis of the advancements,challenges,and opportunities in deep learning-based sign language recognition,focusing on the past five years of research.We explore various aspects of SLR,including sign data acquisition technologies,sign language datasets,evaluation methods,and different types of neural networks.Convolutional Neural Networks(CNN)and Recurrent Neural Networks(RNN)have shown promising results in fingerspelling and isolated sign recognition.However,the continuous nature of sign language poses challenges,leading to the exploration of advanced neural network models such as the Transformer model for continuous sign language recognition(CSLR).Despite significant advancements,several challenges remain in the field of SLR.These challenges include expanding sign language datasets,achieving user independence in recognition systems,exploring different input modalities,effectively fusing features,modeling co-articulation,and improving semantic and syntactic understanding.Additionally,developing lightweight network architectures for mobile applications is crucial for practical implementation.By addressing these challenges,we can further advance the field of deep learning for sign language recognition and improve communication for the hearing-impaired community.

Continuous Sign Language Recognition Based on Spatial-Temporal Graph Attention Network

Continuous sign language recognition(CSLR)is challenging due to the complexity of video background,hand gesture variability,and temporal modeling difficulties.This work proposes a CSLR method based on a spatialtemporal graph attention network to focus on essential features of video series.The method considers local details of sign language movements by taking the information on joints and bones as inputs and constructing a spatialtemporal graph to reflect inter-frame relevance and physical connections between nodes.The graph-based multihead attention mechanism is utilized with adjacent matrix calculation for better local-feature exploration,and short-term motion correlation modeling is completed via a temporal convolutional network.We adopted BLSTM to learn the long-termdependence and connectionist temporal classification to align the word-level sequences.The proposed method achieves competitive results regarding word error rates(1.59%)on the Chinese Sign Language dataset and the mean Jaccard Index(65.78%)on the ChaLearn LAP Continuous Gesture Dataset.

Deep Learning-Based Sign Language Recognition for Hearing and Speaking Impaired People

Sign language is mainly utilized in communication with people who have hearing disabilities.Sign language is used to communicate with people hav-ing developmental impairments who have some or no interaction skills.The inter-action via Sign language becomes a fruitful means of communication for hearing and speech impaired persons.A Hand gesture recognition systemfinds helpful for deaf and dumb people by making use of human computer interface(HCI)and convolutional neural networks(CNN)for identifying the static indications of Indian Sign Language(ISL).This study introduces a shark smell optimization with deep learning based automated sign language recognition(SSODL-ASLR)model for hearing and speaking impaired people.The presented SSODL-ASLR technique majorly concentrates on the recognition and classification of sign lan-guage provided by deaf and dumb people.The presented SSODL-ASLR model encompasses a two stage process namely sign language detection and sign lan-guage classification.In thefirst stage,the Mask Region based Convolution Neural Network(Mask RCNN)model is exploited for sign language recognition.Sec-ondly,SSO algorithm with soft margin support vector machine(SM-SVM)model can be utilized for sign language classification.To assure the enhanced classifica-tion performance of the SSODL-ASLR model,a brief set of simulations was car-ried out.The extensive results portrayed the supremacy of the SSODL-ASLR model over other techniques.

An Efficient Framework for Indian Sign Language Recognition Using Wavelet Transform

Hand gesture recognition system is considered as a way for more intuitive and proficient human computer interaction tool. The range of applications includes virtual prototyping, sign language analysis and medical training. In this paper, an efficient Indian Sign Language Recognition System (ISLR) is proposed for deaf and dump people using hand gesture images. The proposed ISLR system is considered as a pattern recognition technique that has two important modules: feature extraction and classification. The joint use of Discrete Wavelet Transform (DWT) based feature extraction and nearest neighbour classifier is used to recognize the sign language. The experimental results show that the proposed hand gesture recognition system achieves maximum 99.23% classification accuracy while using cosine distance classifier.

Automatic Mexican Sign Language Recognition Using Normalized Moments and Artificial Neural Networks

This document presents a computer vision system for the automatic recognition of Mexican Sign Language (MSL), based on normalized moments as invariant (to translation and scale transforms) descriptors, using artificial neural networks as pattern recognition model. An experimental feature selection was performed to reduce computational costs due to this work focusing on automatic recognition. The computer vision system includes four LED-reflectors of 700 lumens each in order to improve image acquisition quality;this illumination system allows reducing shadows in each sign of the MSL. MSL contains 27 signs in total but 6 of them are expressed with movement;this paper presents a framework for the automatic recognition of 21 static signs of MSL. The proposed system achieved 93% of recognition rate.

A Survey on Chinese Sign Language Recognition:From Traditional Methods to Artificial Intelligence

Research on Chinese Sign Language(CSL)provides convenience and support for individuals with hearing impairments to communicate and integrate into society.This article reviews the relevant literature on Chinese Sign Language Recognition(CSLR)in the past 20 years.Hidden Markov Models(HMM),Support Vector Machines(SVM),and Dynamic Time Warping(DTW)were found to be the most commonly employed technologies among traditional identificationmethods.Benefiting from the rapid development of computer vision and artificial intelligence technology,Convolutional Neural Networks(CNN),3D-CNN,YOLO,Capsule Network(CapsNet)and various deep neural networks have sprung up.Deep Neural Networks(DNNs)and their derived models are integral tomodern artificial intelligence recognitionmethods.In addition,technologies thatwerewidely used in the early days have also been integrated and applied to specific hybrid models and customized identification methods.Sign language data collection includes acquiring data from data gloves,data sensors(such as Kinect,LeapMotion,etc.),and high-definition photography.Meanwhile,facial expression recognition,complex background processing,and 3D sign language recognition have also attracted research interests among scholars.Due to the uniqueness and complexity of Chinese sign language,accuracy,robustness,real-time performance,and user independence are significant challenges for future sign language recognition research.Additionally,suitable datasets and evaluation criteria are also worth pursuing.

Arabic Sign Language Gesture Classification Using Deer Hunting Optimization with Machine Learning Model

Sign language includes the motion of the arms and hands to communicate with people with hearing disabilities.Several models have been available in the literature for sign language detection and classification for enhanced outcomes.But the latest advancements in computer vision enable us to perform signs/gesture recognition using deep neural networks.This paper introduces an Arabic Sign Language Gesture Classification using Deer Hunting Optimization with Machine Learning(ASLGC-DHOML)model.The presented ASLGC-DHOML technique mainly concentrates on recognising and classifying sign language gestures.The presented ASLGC-DHOML model primarily pre-processes the input gesture images and generates feature vectors using the densely connected network(DenseNet169)model.For gesture recognition and classification,a multilayer perceptron(MLP)classifier is exploited to recognize and classify the existence of sign language gestures.Lastly,the DHO algorithm is utilized for parameter optimization of the MLP model.The experimental results of the ASLGC-DHOML model are tested and the outcomes are inspected under distinct aspects.The comparison analysis highlighted that the ASLGC-DHOML method has resulted in enhanced gesture classification results than other techniques with maximum accuracy of 92.88%.

Deep Learning Approach for Hand Gesture Recognition:Applications in Deaf Communication and Healthcare

Hand gestures have been used as a significant mode of communication since the advent of human civilization.By facilitating human-computer interaction(HCI),hand gesture recognition(HGRoc)technology is crucial for seamless and error-free HCI.HGRoc technology is pivotal in healthcare and communication for the deaf community.Despite significant advancements in computer vision-based gesture recognition for language understanding,two considerable challenges persist in this field:(a)limited and common gestures are considered,(b)processing multiple channels of information across a network takes huge computational time during discriminative feature extraction.Therefore,a novel hand vision-based convolutional neural network(CNN)model named(HVCNNM)offers several benefits,notably enhanced accuracy,robustness to variations,real-time performance,reduced channels,and scalability.Additionally,these models can be optimized for real-time performance,learn from large amounts of data,and are scalable to handle complex recognition tasks for efficient human-computer interaction.The proposed model was evaluated on two challenging datasets,namely the Massey University Dataset(MUD)and the American Sign Language(ASL)Alphabet Dataset(ASLAD).On the MUD and ASLAD datasets,HVCNNM achieved a score of 99.23% and 99.00%,respectively.These results demonstrate the effectiveness of CNN as a promising HGRoc approach.The findings suggest that the proposed model have potential roles in applications such as sign language recognition,human-computer interaction,and robotics.

Attitudes Towards the Official Recognition of Hong Kong Sign Language by Hong Kong Citizens

This paper is a pilot study that investigates the attitudes towards the official recognition of Hong Kong Sign Language(HKSL)by Hong Kong citizens.We used video-chat software(mainly WhatsApp,and Facebook Messenger,but also FaceTime)to conduct long-distance semi-structured interviews with 30 participants grouped as deaf,hearing-related(hearing people that are closely involved in the Deaf community),and hearing-unrelated(hearing people that have little contact with deaf people and the Deaf community).Results show that the majority of participants(N=22)holds a supportive attitude towards the recognition of HKSL;Five participants hold a neutral position,and three participants hold a negative attitude towards it.We discussed each type of attitude in detail.Results show that participants’attitudes are positively related to their awareness of deaf people’s need,the understanding of‘language recognition’,and personal world views.In other words,the more participants are aware,the more they foster official recognition,at least as a general trend.Results also indicate that hearing people who are not involved in the Deaf community know very little about deaf people and the Deaf community,in general.At the end of the paper,we also reflect on two issues:we argue that the standardization of HKSL plays an important role in deaf education and empowering citizenship awareness and participation.

An approach based on deep learning for Indian sign language translation

Purpose–According to the Indian Sign Language Research and Training Centre(ISLRTC),India has approximately 300 certified human interpreters to help people with hearing loss.This paper aims to address the issue of Indian Sign Language(ISL)sentence recognition and translation into semantically equivalent English text in a signer-independent mode.Design/methodology/approach–This study presents an approach that translates ISL sentences into English text using the MobileNetV2 model and Neural Machine Translation(NMT).The authors have created an ISL corpus from the Brown corpus using ISL grammar rules to perform machine translation.The authors’approach converts ISL videos of the newly created dataset into ISL gloss sequences using the MobileNetV2 model and the recognized ISL gloss sequence is then fed to a machine translation module that generates an English sentence for each ISL sentence.Findings–As per the experimental results,pretrained MobileNetV2 model was proven the best-suited model for the recognition of ISL sentences and NMT provided better results than Statistical Machine Translation(SMT)to convert ISL text into English text.The automatic and human evaluation of the proposed approach yielded accuracies of 83.3 and 86.1%,respectively.Research limitations/implications–It can be seen that the neural machine translation systems produced translations with repetitions of other translated words,strange translations when the total number of words per sentence is increased and one or more unexpected terms that had no relation to the source text on occasion.The most common type of error is the mistranslation of places,numbers and dates.Although this has little effect on the overall structure of the translated sentence,it indicates that the embedding learned for these few words could be improved.Originality/value–Sign language recognition and translation is a crucial step toward improving communication between the deaf and the rest of society.Because of the shortage of human interpreters,an alternative approach is desired to help people achieve smooth communication with the Deaf.To motivate research in this field,the authors generated an ISL corpus of 13,720 sentences and a video dataset of 47,880 ISL videos.As there is no public dataset available for ISl videos incorporating signs released by ISLRTC,the authors created a new video dataset and ISL corpus.