Hand gesture tracking and recognition system using Lucas-Kanade algorithms for control of consumer electronics

Dynamic hand gesture tracking and recognition system can simplify the way humans interact with computers and many other non-critical consumer electronic equipments. This system is based on the well-known ‘‘Wave Controller’’ technology developed at the University of Wollongong [1–3] and certainly a step forward in video gaming and consumer electronics control interfaces. Currently, computer interfacing mainly involves keyboard, mouse, joystick or gaming wheels and occasionally voice recognition for user input. These modes of interaction have constrained the artistic ability of many users, as they are required to respond to the computer through pressing buttons or moving other apparatus. Voice recognition is seen as unreliable and impractical in areas where more than one user is present. All these drawbacks can be tackled by using a reliable hand gesture tracking and recognition system based on both Lucas–Kanade and Moment Invariants approaches. This will facilitate interaction between users and computers and other consumer electronic equipments in real time. This will further enhance the user experience as users are no longer have any physical connection to the equipment being controlled. In this research, we have compared our proposed moment invariant based algorithm with template based and Fourier descriptor based methods to highlight the advantages and limitations of the proposed system. & 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.