A memory-friendly class-incremental learning method for hand gesture recognition using HD-sEMG

Hand gesture recognition (HGR) plays a vital role in human-computer interaction. The integration of high-density surface electromyography (HD-sEMG) and deep neural networks (DNNs) has significantly improved the robustness and accuracy of HGR systems. These methods are typically effective for a fixed set of trained gestures. However, the need for new gesture classes over time poses a challenge. Introducing new classes to DNNs can lead to a substantial decrease in accuracy for previously learned tasks, a phenomenon known as “catastrophic forgetting,” especially when the training data for earlier tasks is not retained and retrained. This issue is exacerbated in embedded devices with limited storage, which struggle to store the large-scale data of HD-sEMG. Class-incremental learning (CIL) is an effective method to reduce catastrophic forgetting. However, existing CIL methods for HGR rarely focus on reducing memory load. To address this, we propose a memory-friendly CIL method for HGR using HD-sEMG. Our approach includes a lightweight convolutional neural network, named SeparaNet, for feature representation learning, coupled with a nearest-mean-of-exemplars classifier for classification. We introduce a priority exemplar selection algorithm inspired by the herding effect to maintain a manageable set of exemplars during training. Furthermore, a task-equal-weight exemplar sampling strategy is proposed to effectively reduce memory load while preserving high recognition performance. Experimental results on two datasets demonstrate that our method significantly reduces the number of retained exemplars to only a quarter of that required by other CIL methods, accounting for less than 5 ​% of the total samples, while still achieving comparable average accuracy.