Real-Time, Continuous Hand Gestures on a Tabletop

In this project, we are developing a 3D hand gesture recognition system in the context of large tabletop interaction. Using colored glove and Kinect-based techniques, we are researching spontaneous, continuous and natural gestures that can be used in a Google Earth application.

In pursuit of more natural modes of human-computer interaction, we are developing a new interface that enables real-time natural gestural interaction with a tabletop display, in a relatively uncontrolled environment. By natural gestures, we mean continuous 3D hand gestures encountered in spontaneous interaction, rather than a set of artificial gestures chosen to simplify recognition. We also connected our gesture recognition system to Google Earth, enabling real time gestural control of a 3D map. Because our current approach requires the user to wear a colored glove we are experimenting with the Kinect for hand tracking.