ASL Recognition by the Layered Learning Model Using Clustered Groups

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American Sign Language (ASL) images can be used as a communication tool by determining numbers and letters using the shape of the fingers. Particularly, ASL can have an key role in communication for hearing-impaired persons and conveying information to other persons, because sign language is their only channel of expression. Representative ASL recognition methods primarily adopt images, sensors, and pose-based recognition techniques, and employ various gestures together with hand-shapes. This study briefly reviews these attempts at ASL recognition and provides an improved ASL classification model that attempts to develop a deep learning method with meta-layers. In the proposed model, the collected ASL images were clustered based on similarities in shape, and clustered group classification was first performed, followed by reclassification within the group. The experiments were conducted with various groups using different learning layers to improve the accuracy of individual image recognition. After selecting the optimized group, we proposed a meta-layered learning model with the highest recognition rate using a deep learning method of image processing. The proposed model exhibited an improved performance compared with the general classification model.