Loss of the ability to speak or hear exerts psychological and social impacts on the affected persons due to the lack of proper communication. Multiple and systematic scholarly interventions that vary according to context have been implemented to overcome disability-related difficulties. Sign language recognition (SLR) systems based on sensory gloves are significant innovations that aim to procure data on the shape or movement of the human hand. Innovative technology for this matter is mainly restricted and dispersed. The available trends and gaps should be explored in this research approach to provide valuable insights into technological environments. Thus, a review is conducted to create a coherent taxonomy to describe the latest research divided into four main categories: development, framework, other hand gesture recognition, and reviews and surveys. Then, we conduct analyses of the glove systems for SLR device characteristics, develop a roadmap for technology evolution, discuss its limitations, and provide valuable insights into technological environments. This will help researchers to understand the current options and gaps in this area, thus contributing to this line of research.

In response to the burgeoning interest in the Metaverse—a virtual reality-driven immersive digital world—this study delves into the pivotal role of AI in shaping its functionalities and elevating user engagement. Focused on recent advancements, prevailing challenges, and potential future developments, our research draws from a comprehensive analysis grounded in meticulous methodology. The study, informed by credible sources including SD, Scopus, IEEE, and WoS, encompasses 846 retrieved studies. Through a rigorous selection process, 54 research papers were identified as relevant, forming the basis for a specific taxonomy of AI in the Metaverse. Our examination spans diverse dimensions of the Metaverse, encompassing augmented reality, virtual reality, mixed reality, Blockchain, Agent Systems, Intelligent NPCs, Societal and Educational Impact, HCI and Systems Design, and Technical Aspects. Emphasizing the necessity of adopting trustworthy AI in the Metaverse, our findings underscore its potential to enhance user experience, safeguard privacy, and promote responsible technology use. This paper not only sheds light on the scholarly interest in the Metaverse but also explores its impact on human behavior, education, societal norms, and community dynamics. Serving as a foundation for future development and responsible implementation of the Metaverse concept, our research identifies and addresses seven open issues, providing indispensable insights for subsequent studies on the integration of AI in the Metaverse.

This article emphasises the urgent need for appropriate communication tools for communities of people who are deaf or hard-of-hearing, with a specific emphasis on Arabic Sign Language (ArSL). In this study, we use long short-term memory (LSTM) models in conjunction with MediaPipe to reduce the barriers to effective communication and social integration for deaf communities. The model design incorporates LSTM units and an attention mechanism to handle the input sequences of extracted keypoints from recorded gestures. The attention layer selectively directs its focus toward relevant segments of the input sequence, whereas the LSTM layer handles temporal relationships and encodes the sequential data. A comprehensive dataset comprised of fifty frequently used words and numbers in ArSL was collected for developing the recognition model. This dataset comprises many instances of gestures recorded by five volunteers. The results of the experiment support the effectiveness of the proposed approach, as the model achieved accuracies of more than 85% (individual volunteers) and 83% (combined data). The high level of precision emphasises the potential of artificial intelligence-powered translation software to improve effective communication for people with hearing impairments and to enable them to interact with the larger community more easily.