2.8 Previous work in sign language recognition

In this section, we will discuss some of the more prominent research efforts made in the area of understanding sign language. This will include all forms of sign language and also finger-spelling, since most people in this field precede research into full-blown sign language recognition with more limited and easy to handle finger-spelling, and use similar methods for both approaches.

We will consider the two approaches -- the image-based and the device-based approaches separately.

• 2.8.1 Image-based approaches to sign language
  • Charayaphan and Marble's research in to Image Processing for ASL
  • Davis and Shah's work on Gesture Recognition using cameras
  • Starner's work with American Sign Language and Hidden Markov Models
  • Dorner and Hagen's work with a complete system
• 2.8.2 Device-based approaches to sign language
  • Glove-Talk and Glove-TalkII -- Fels and Hinton's contribution
  • Pausch and Davidson's CANDY system
  • Wexelblat's work on the AHIGS system
  • Takahashi and Kishino's investigation
  • Recognition using recurrent neural nets
  • Kramer's Talking Glove Project
  • A Linguistic Approach to Recognising Gestures
  • Peter Vamplew's work with SLARTI
• 2.8.3 Summary of previous research