# Vision Transformers and Transfer Learning Approaches for Arabic Sign Language Recognition
## 1 Introduction  
Hearing loss refers to the inability to hear at the same level as individuals with normal hearing, who have thresholds of 20 decibels or above in both ears. It can range from mild to profound and can occur in one or both ears. Profound hearing loss is typically observed in deaf individuals, who have minimal or no hearing ability. Various factors can contribute to hearing loss, including congenital or early-onset hearing loss during childhood, chronic infections of the middle ear, exposure to loud noises, age-related changes in hearing, and the use of certain drugs that can cause damage to the inner ear [1]. The World Health Organization estimates that more than 1.5 billion people (nearly 20% of the global population) suffer from hearing loss, and this number could rise to over 2.5 billion by 2050 ([[https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/deafness-and-hearing-loss](https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/deafness-and-hearing-loss)]([https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/deafness-and-hearing-loss](https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/deafness-and-hearing-loss)), accessed on 17 September 2023). According to the General Authority for Statistics in Saudi Arabia, there are approximately 289,355 deaf people in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia,according to the latest update for 2017 ([[https://www.stats.gov.sa/ar/904](https://www.stats.gov.sa/ar/904)]([https://www.stats.gov.sa/ar/904](https://www.stats.gov.sa/ar/904)), accessed on 17 September 2023). Sign language (SL) is a visual form of communication used by deaf and hearing-impaired individuals. It involves the use of hand movements and facial expressions to convey meaning, following specific grammar rules. Each SL has a wide variety of signs, with slight variations in hand shape, motion, and position. Additionally, SL incorporates non-manual features and facial expressions, including eyebrow movements, to enhance communication. Like spoken language, SL develops naturally because of groups of people interacting with one another. Regions and cultures additionally play an essential role in their development [2]. Understanding SL outside the deaf community is uncommon, which makes communication between deaf individuals and ordinary individuals difficult. Some deaf children are born to ordinary parents, and consequently, communication gaps exist within the family. Moreover, there is no standardized form among SLs, which makes learning a SL challenging [3]. There are two main types of SLs, namely, alphabet and ideographic [4]. First is the SL alphabet (SLA), wherein each word is spelled letter by letter, used by deaf individuals to participate in the traditional educational and pedagogical process. Second is ideographic SL (ISL), which expresses each meaningful word by a specific hand gesture; for instance, the word \"father\" is represented by a sign. ISL shares four main components: hand movements, facial expressions, lip movements, and body movements [4; 5]. One difficulty to mention here is that people from different areas might use various gestures to represent the same word just like different dialects in natural languages. There are two main types of SL recognition systems. Device-based systems involve wearable tools, such as gloves to track and interpret gestures [6]. Vision-based systems, on the other hand, utilize techniques for processing and analyzing images and videos of SL's speakers using artificial intelligence (AI). Images and videos are captured by cameras, and there is no need to be equipped with devices or sensors. Vision-based SL recognition systems are in their developmental stages and have varying degrees of success [6]. Arabic SL (ArSL) is a natural language that is used by the deaf and hearing-impaired people in the Arab world and has a large community. ArSL differs from an Arab country to another based on the local dialects and cultures. ArSL recognition is a challenging task because Arabic contains hundreds of words which could be very similar in their hand poses.