Comparative Study of Hybrid Deep Learning Models for Kannada Sign Language Recognition

Abstract Sign language recognition (SLR) systems continue to face significant challenges in accurately interpreting dynamic gestures, particularly for underrepresented languages like Kannada sign language (KSL). This study presents a novel hybrid deep learning architecture that synergistically combi...

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Main Authors: Gurusiddappa Hugar, Ramesh M. Kagalkar, Abhijit Das
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Springer 2025-07-01
Series:International Journal of Computational Intelligence Systems
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1007/s44196-025-00922-4
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author Gurusiddappa Hugar
Ramesh M. Kagalkar
Abhijit Das
author_facet Gurusiddappa Hugar
Ramesh M. Kagalkar
Abhijit Das
author_sort Gurusiddappa Hugar
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Sign language recognition (SLR) systems continue to face significant challenges in accurately interpreting dynamic gestures, particularly for underrepresented languages like Kannada sign language (KSL). This study presents a novel hybrid deep learning architecture that synergistically combines convolutional neural networks (CNNs), hand keypoints (HKPs), long short-term memory (LSTM) networks, and transformers to achieve robust spatial-temporal-contextual learning for KSL recognition. Developed on a newly curated dataset of 1080 medical-domain KSL gestures, our model addresses critical gaps in dataset diversity and model generalizability. The proposed framework demonstrates superior performance with 97.6% training accuracy, 96.75% validation accuracy, and 81% testing accuracy on unseen data—outperforming conventional CNN-LSTM (46%) and HKP-LSTM (71%) baselines. By hierarchically integrating CNN-extracted spatial features, HKP-derived structural priors, LSTM-processed temporal dynamics, and Transformer-modeled long-range dependencies, this work establishes a new benchmark for KSL recognition while providing a scalable solution for real-world healthcare and assistive technology applications.
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spelling doaj-art-cc7414da711f4b16bbdab043f5df83052025-08-20T03:46:24ZengSpringerInternational Journal of Computational Intelligence Systems1875-68832025-07-0118112310.1007/s44196-025-00922-4Comparative Study of Hybrid Deep Learning Models for Kannada Sign Language RecognitionGurusiddappa Hugar0Ramesh M. Kagalkar1Abhijit Das2Computer Science and Engineering, AGMR College of Engineering and Technology Varur, (Visvesvaraya Technological University Belagavi)Information Science and Engineering, Nagarjuna College of Engineering and Technology Bengaluru, (Visvesvaraya Technological University Belagavi)Department of Information Technology, Manipal Institute of Technology Bengaluru, Manipal Academy of Higher EducationAbstract Sign language recognition (SLR) systems continue to face significant challenges in accurately interpreting dynamic gestures, particularly for underrepresented languages like Kannada sign language (KSL). This study presents a novel hybrid deep learning architecture that synergistically combines convolutional neural networks (CNNs), hand keypoints (HKPs), long short-term memory (LSTM) networks, and transformers to achieve robust spatial-temporal-contextual learning for KSL recognition. Developed on a newly curated dataset of 1080 medical-domain KSL gestures, our model addresses critical gaps in dataset diversity and model generalizability. The proposed framework demonstrates superior performance with 97.6% training accuracy, 96.75% validation accuracy, and 81% testing accuracy on unseen data—outperforming conventional CNN-LSTM (46%) and HKP-LSTM (71%) baselines. By hierarchically integrating CNN-extracted spatial features, HKP-derived structural priors, LSTM-processed temporal dynamics, and Transformer-modeled long-range dependencies, this work establishes a new benchmark for KSL recognition while providing a scalable solution for real-world healthcare and assistive technology applications.https://doi.org/10.1007/s44196-025-00922-4Sign language recognition (SLR)Kannada sign language (KSL)Hybrid deep learningConvolutional neural networks (CNN)Hand keypoints (HKP)Long short term memory (LSTM)
spellingShingle Gurusiddappa Hugar
Ramesh M. Kagalkar
Abhijit Das
Comparative Study of Hybrid Deep Learning Models for Kannada Sign Language Recognition
International Journal of Computational Intelligence Systems
Sign language recognition (SLR)
Kannada sign language (KSL)
Hybrid deep learning
Convolutional neural networks (CNN)
Hand keypoints (HKP)
Long short term memory (LSTM)
title Comparative Study of Hybrid Deep Learning Models for Kannada Sign Language Recognition
title_full Comparative Study of Hybrid Deep Learning Models for Kannada Sign Language Recognition
title_fullStr Comparative Study of Hybrid Deep Learning Models for Kannada Sign Language Recognition
title_full_unstemmed Comparative Study of Hybrid Deep Learning Models for Kannada Sign Language Recognition
title_short Comparative Study of Hybrid Deep Learning Models for Kannada Sign Language Recognition
title_sort comparative study of hybrid deep learning models for kannada sign language recognition
topic Sign language recognition (SLR)
Kannada sign language (KSL)
Hybrid deep learning
Convolutional neural networks (CNN)
Hand keypoints (HKP)
Long short term memory (LSTM)
url https://doi.org/10.1007/s44196-025-00922-4
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AT rameshmkagalkar comparativestudyofhybriddeeplearningmodelsforkannadasignlanguagerecognition
AT abhijitdas comparativestudyofhybriddeeplearningmodelsforkannadasignlanguagerecognition