Disability in speech is a condition in which the ability to produce sounds necessary for verbal communication are impaired. In such a case, manual or non-verbal communication, consisting of hand gestures, facial expressions and body movements is used as an alternative. A lack of healthy communication becomes a barrier in communicating with the speech impaired.
In 2016, the Census of India stated that of our 132 crore population, 1.5 crore are of deaf and mute. This is the largest deaf and mute population in the world. In order to communicate, such people utilize sign language, but conversations are limited only to others fluent in sign language - not the average Indian. According to the 2014 IMB Conference, the number of sign language users in India is only around 60 lakh.
Secondly, sign languages, just like verbal languages, are regional and not international. Indian Sign Language (ISL) is not as widely recognized or developed or understood as compared to the other ones. Also, every geographical region in India has developed its own sign language the usage of which is restricted to that particular area. Thus making the Indian Sign Language much more diverse and complex when compared to other sign languages.
Further, a majority of the deaf and mute reside in rural areas and come from poor economic backgrounds. Alternative and Augmentative Communication Devices (AAC), which could greatly better the lives of the deaf and mute, are expensive and so are not popular in India.
Signs may be categorized as being static and dynamic. Static signs involve a fixed hand pose, while dynamic signs involve movement of hands to imply a suggestive motion. Most sign language users use emotion and timing to express themselves better. This makes the language more malleable and hence more comprehensible.
The Sign Language to Speech Converter recognizes the static gestures used in the Indian Sign Language and converts them to speech for a simpler communication process. The data set consists of numbers ranging from one to ten and alphabets ranging from A to Z excluding J and Z as they are a part of the dynamic gestures in the Indian Sign Language.
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