Gesture recognition is the mathematical interpretation of a human gesture by a computing device. Gesture recognition, along with facial recognition, voice recognition, eye tracking and lip movement recognition are components of what developers refer to as a perceptual user interface (PUI). The goal of PUI is to enhance the efficiency and ease of use for the underlying logical design of a stored program, a design discipline known as usability. In personal computing, gestures are most often used for input commands.
Recognizing gestures as input allows computers to be more accessible for the physically-impaired and makes interaction more natural in a 3-D virtual world environment. Hand and body gestures can be amplified by a controller that contains accelerometers and gyroscopes to sense tilting, rotation and acceleration of movement -- or the computing device can be outfitted with a camera so that software in the device can recognize and interpret specific gestures. A wave of the hand, for instance, might terminate the program.
In addition to the technical challenges of implementing gesture recognition, there are also social challenges. Gestures must be simple, intuitive and universally acceptable. The study of gestures and other nonverbal types of communication is known as kinesics.
This Diginfonews clip demonstrates JVC Sound and Gesture Recognition TV.
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