Hand-gesture recognition using computer-vision techniques

Abstract

We use our hands constantly to interact with things: pick them up, move them, transform their shape, or activate them in some way. In the same unconscious way, we gesticulate in communicating fundamental ideas: ‘stop’, ‘come closer’, ‘over there’, ‘no’, ‘agreed’, and so on. Gestures are thus a natural and intuitive form of both interaction and communication. Gestures and gesture recognition are terms increasingly encountered in discussions of human-computer interaction. We present a tool created for human-computer interaction based on hand gestures. The underlying algorithm utilizes only computer-vision techniques. The tool is able to recognize in real time six different hand gestures, captured using a webcam. Experiments conducted to evaluate the system performance are reported.