Hand Gesture Recognition in Indian Sign Language Using Deep Learning

Abstract

Sign languages are important for the deaf and hard-of-hearing communities, as they provide a means of communication and expression. However, many people outside of the deaf community are not familiar with sign languages, which can lead to communication barriers and exclusion. Each country and culture have its own sign language, and some countries have multiple sign languages. Indian Sign Language (ISL) is a visual language used by the deaf and hard-of-hearing community in India. It is a complete language, with its own grammar and syntax, and is used to convey information through hand gestures, facial expressions, and body language. Over time, ISL has evolved into its own distinct language, with regional variations and dialects. Recognizing hand gestures in sign languages is a challenging task due to the high variability in hand shapes, movements, and orientations. ISL uses a combination of one-handed and two-handed gestures, which makes it fundamentally different from other common sign languages like American Sign Language (ASL). This paper aims to address the communication gap between specially abled (deaf) people who can only express themselves through the Indian sign language and those who do not understand it, thereby improving accessibility and communication for sign language users. This is achieved by using and implementing Convolutional Neural Networks on our self-made dataset. This is a necessary step, as none of the existing datasets fulfills the need for real-world images. We have achieved 0.0178 loss and 99% accuracy on our dataset.

Keywords

• CNN
• AI
• ISL
• static hand gestures
• deep learning