A Deep Learning-Based Approach to Classification of Baby Sign Language Images

Introduction

Communication helps individuals to convey their thoughts and sentiments simultaneously, encouraging us to get feelings and thoughts of others. There are two methods we use for communication namely verbal and non-verbal communication. In verbal communication we speak with others while Non-verbal communication includes Facial expressions, gesture, posture, hand movements. Sign Language is majorly used by deaf and dumb community to express their emotions, thoughts, ideas with others. Different countries are using different Sign language similar to vernacular language therefore there is no universal Sign Language in existence. American Sign Language is the most widely used sign language in the world. Not only Deaf and Dumb community but also children with disorders like Autism, Apraxia of Speech Down Syndrome also gets benefited. Gesture, posture, eye gaze, facial expression plays a role in conversation using Sign Language. Static gestures or dynamic gestures are used for communication. Static gestures use hand postures made by the signer which are helpful to the signer to express his ideas and communicate with a normal person (Figure 1).

Figure 1.

A small set of images depicting American Sign Language for words (courtesy:https://www.istockphoto.com/)

Sign language used by hearing parents of hearing children (aging between 6 months to 6-8 years) to enhance communication is known as Baby Sign Language. As we know infants start interacting through facial expressions with their caregivers at an early age, gazes and vocalizations such as cooing, crying is the primary mode of communication for infants. Crying is effective at evoking a variety of care giving responses, but a limitation of this form of communication is that caregivers must often rely on contextual cues to determine the appropriate response ()(). The signs for babies are different than type of Sign Language used by deaf or hearing hitch community. Baby sign language is a gesture-based communication preliminary to verbal communication, which really establishes connection amongst parents and infants. This early communication sets the establishment for accelerated learning, reduced frustration, and a closer connection between parent and child. Mellisa J. Cesafsky defines Baby Sign Language as a technique in which you and your infant (or toddler) use specific hand shapes, gestures and motions to convey phrases and meanings with each other quickly and easily. Typical hearing parents and infants employ baby Sign Language. In comparison with sign language used by deaf, Baby sign includes keywords and does not contain linguistic complexities as they are to be used with Infants (). The research was recently conducted by Stirling University's psychologist Dr. Gwyneth Doherty-Sneddon, UK on baby signing and confirms that signing enhances the child's vocabulary and mental growth, decreases tantrums and improves relationships with parents, as communication is fundamental for child’s development ().

Babies who are taught to communicate using gestures are believed to enhance psychological benefits, such as increased certainty and confidence, for example: feelings of frustration may not occur as often because of an inability to communicate. When a child is too anxious to speak clearly, being able to use signs might be a support system. Teaching sign language along with speech has demonstrated development of spoken communication abilities. Infants use gesture plus speech combinations to form a sign. Sign language does not slow a baby's verbal development rather it boosts his/her enthusiasm to learn multiple communication techniques, including talking (Figure 2).