A review of sign language recognition research

Sign language is the primary way of communication between hard-of-hearing and hearing people. Sign language recognition helps promote the better integration of deaf and hard-of-hearing people into society. We reviewed 95 types of research on sign language recognition technology from 1993 to 2021, analyzing and comparing algorithms from three aspects of gesture, isolated word, and continuous sentence recognition, elaborating the evolution of sign language acquisition equipment and we summarized the datasets of sign language recognition research and evaluation criteria. Finally, the main technology trends are discussed, and future challenges are analyzed.