Design and Development of a Smart Sign Language Recognition Glove Using ESP32

Abstract

Communication between speech-impaired individuals and non-sign language users remains a significant challenge. This paper presents the design and development of a wearable smart glove system that translates predefined hand gestures into readable text and audible speech. The system integrates flex sensors for detecting finger bending and an MPU6050 accelerometer-gyroscope module for capturing hand orientation and motion. An ESP32 microcontroller processes the sensor data and identifies specific gesture patterns using a threshold-based classification method. Recognized gestures are displayed on a 16x2 LCD and converted into voice output using a DFPlayer Mini audio module connected to a speaker. Experimental validation shows improved recognition accuracy when combining flex and motion sensing compared to flex-only systems. The proposed solution is portable, cost-effective, and suitable for real-time assistive communication applications.