Custom designed gesture recognition applications

With gesture recognition, an input or command is performed without directly touching or making contact with the device. A sensor responds to a movement or a specific gesture, and then executes the appropriate command. The technology has been around for a few years now. Automotive manufacturers are already using it in some cars to allow drivers to control music volume and to answer telephone calls without the distraction of having to physically touch a button or screen.

So what other benefits does gesture recognition technology offer? For starters, because there’s no physical contact, there’s no wear and tear of the device or its components. This makes it a great application for dirty or hazardous environments, where it’s preferable or safer, not to touch a screen or device. Other applications where it is being introduced include motion and gesture-based advertising, virtual gaming and for control of IOT devices.

The scope for using Terabee’s time-of-flight multi-pixel sensor, the TeraRanger 64px, in gesture recognition applications is tremendous. We’re extremely excited about the scope of its potential and our in-house engineers have been testing it to understand and start to demonstrate its capabilities. As you will see from the video, as part of those tests, we have developed a custom firmware and software that enables a presenter to interact and control his presentation through simple hand gestures.

Evo 64px is a multi-pixel depth sensor with a 15 degree Field of View, accurately recognizing hand movements within a 40cm to 1m range. Rather than laser, it uses eye-safe infrared Light Emitting Diodes to generate depth data and to detect movement and gestures. Giving integrators the flexibility to implement the sensor in a wide range of scenarios.

Controlling a presentation through hand gestures is a relatively simple application, but our technology has the potential to turn any screen into an interactive screen. With higher depth resolution sensors such as, Terabee 3Dcam 80x60, our engineers can custom build intuitive Human Machine Interfaces (HMIs) and contactless controls that use a full range of gestures, from up and down and left and right for movement, to forwards and backwards for depth control. Pinching and zooming movements can also be applied.