Sign language detection using convolutional neural network

Abstract

Sign language recognition is an important social issue to be addressed which can benefit the deaf and hard of hearing community by providing easier and faster communication. Some previous studies on sign language recognition have used complex input modalities and feature extraction methods, limiting their practical applicability. This research aims to compare two custom-made convolutional neural network (CNN) models for recognizing American Sign Language (ASL) letters from A to Z, and determine which model performs better. The proposed models utilize a combination of CNN and Softmax activation function, which are powerful and widely used classification methods in the field of computer vision. The purpose of the proposed study is to compare the performance of two specially created CNN models for identifying 26 distinct hand signals that represent the 26 English alphabets. The study found that Model_2 had better overall performance than Model_1, with an accuracy of 98.44% and F1 score 98.41%. However, the performance of each model varied depending on the specific label, suggesting that the choice of model may depend on the specific use case and the labels of interest. This research contributes to the growing field of sign language recognition using deep learning techniques and highlights the importance of designing custom models.