Hand Gesture Recognition through Reflected Infrared Light Wave Signals

Gesture recognition is an important application of human-computer interaction (HCI) which can enable computerized systems to perform various tasks based on hand gestures performed remotely. In this study, we present a non-contact gesture recognition method using only incoherent light wave signals reflected from a human subject. In comparison to existing radar, light shadow, sound and camera-based sensing systems, this technology uses a low-cost ubiquitous light source (e.g., infrared LED) to send light towards the subject's hand performing gestures and the reflected light is collected by a light sensor (e.g., photo detector). This light wave sensing system recognizes different gestures from the variations of the received light intensity within a 20–35 cm range. The hand gesture recognition results demonstrate up to 96 % accuracy on average. The developed system can be utilized in numerous HCI applications as a safe, low-cost and non-contact gesture recognition technology.