Real-Time Hand Gesture Recognition for Elderly Care with Raspberry Pi

For decades, technology has been a vital aspect of human life, especially in human-computer interaction (HCI), encompassing assistive technology and medical systems. Hand gestures have emerged as an intuitive means for humans to interact with computers, particularly benefiting elderly individuals facing mobility or verbal communication challenges. This research introduces a real-time hand gesture recognition system using Raspberry Pi. It leverages vision-based techniques involving contour detection, convex extraction, and rule-based classification. The system adeptly recognizes eight different gestures, accommodating variations in orientation, angles, distances, and potential obstructions. Empirical results demonstrate an impressive 99.48% accuracy in interpreting gestures and a perfect 100% success rate in transmitting messages to caregivers’ smartphones.