Hand gesture recognition for cursor control

A method, comprising:

• extracting a hand mask using depth data;
• estimating a plurality of motion vectors based via an optical flow applied to the hand mask;
• estimating an average motion vector from the optical flow;
• generating a descriptor based on a histogram of optical flow applied to the hand mask and the average motion vector;
• and
• classifying the descriptor as a gesture.

An apparatus for hand gesture recognition, comprising:

• an image capture mechanism to obtain a sequence of frames;
• an estimator to estimate a plurality of motion vectors and an average motion vector for each frame of the sequence of frames;
• a generator to generate a descriptor based on a histogram of the plurality of motion vectors and the average motion vector for the sequence of frames;
• and
• a classifier to classify the descriptor as a gesture.

A tangible, non-transitory, computer-readable medium comprising instructions that, when executed by a processor, direct the processor to:

• extract a hand mask using depth data;
• estimate a plurality of motion vectors based via an optical flow applied to the hand mask;
• estimate an average motion vector from the optical flow;
• generate a descriptor based on a histogram of optical flow applied to the hand mask and the average motion vector;
• and
• classify the descriptor as a gesture.