Systems and methods for hand gesture control of an electronic device

A method for generating commands based upon hand gestures made by a user that emulate device commands generated by a remote control device, the method comprising:

• generating image information from a series of captured images;
• identifying a hand gesture made by the user from the received image information;
• determining a hand gesture command based upon the identified hand gesture;
• comparing the determined hand gesture command with a plurality of predefined hand gesture commands to identify a corresponding matching hand gesture command from the plurality of predefined hand gesture commands;
• generating an emulated remote control device command based upon the identified matching hand gesture command;
• and
• controlling a media device based upon the generated emulated remote control device command,
• wherein the hand gesture command is a first hand gesture command and the matching hand gesture command is a first matching hand gesture command, and further comprising:
• determining a second hand gesture command from a subsequent series of images of the user, and
• comparing the determined second hand gesture command with the plurality of predefined hand gesture commands to identify a corresponding second matching hand gesture command from the plurality of predefined hand gesture commands,
• wherein the emulated remote control device command is based upon the identified first matching hand gesture command and the second matching hand gesture command.

A method for generating commands based upon hand gestures made by a user that emulate device commands generated by a remote control device, the method comprising:

• generating image information from a series of captured images;
• identifying a hand gesture made by the user from the received image information;
• determining a hand gesture command based upon the identified hand gesture;
• comparing the determined hand gesture command with a plurality of predefined hand gesture commands to identify a corresponding matching hand gesture command from the plurality of predefined hand gesture commands;
• generating an emulated remote control device command based upon the identified matching hand gesture command;
• and
• controlling a media device based upon the generated emulated remote control device command,
• wherein identifying the hand gesture made by the user from the image information comprises identifying a serial plurality of hand gestures made by the user, and further comprising:
• determining a first hand gesture command from a first series of captured images of the user;
• comparing the determined first hand gesture command with the plurality of predefined hand gesture commands to identify a first matching hand gesture command from the plurality of predefined hand gesture commands, wherein the first matching hand gesture corresponds to a remote control device command that causes presentation of an electronic program guide (EPG);
• generating a first emulated remote control device command based upon the identified first matching hand gesture command;
• and
• controlling a display based upon the first emulated remote control device command such that the EPG is displayed on the display.

A method for generating commands based upon hand gestures made by a user that emulate device commands generated by a remote control device, the method comprising:

• generating image information from a series of captured images;
• identifying a hand gesture made by the user from the received image information;
• determining a hand gesture command based upon the identified hand gesture;
• comparing the determined hand gesture command with a plurality of predefined hand gesture commands to identify a corresponding matching hand gesture command from the plurality of predefined hand gesture commands;
• generating an emulated remote control device command based upon the identified matching hand gesture command;
• controlling a media device based upon the generated emulated remote control device command:
• defining one of the plurality of predefined hand gesture commands as a user defined hand gesture command, wherein the user defined hand gesture command corresponds to a plurality of selected remote control device commands, and wherein defining the user defined hand gesture command comprises:
• receiving the plurality of selected remote control device commands;
• capturing a series of images after receiving the plurality of selected remote control device commands;
• identifying a user defined hand gesture from the captured images;
• determining the user defined hand gesture command;
• associating the user defined hand gesture command with the received plurality of selected remote control device commands;
• and
• storing the user defined hand gesture command.

A media device that generates device commands to control a television based upon hand gestures made by a user that emulate device commands generated by a remote control device, comprising:

• a tuner residing in the media device and configured to receive programming from a remote source;
• an image capture device configured to capture a series of images of the user, and configured to generate image information corresponding to the series of captured images;
• a memory storing a plurality of predefined hand gesture commands, each of the predefined hand gesture commands uniquely corresponding to one of a plurality of remote control device commands;
• and
• a processor system communicatively coupled to the image capture device, the tuner, and the memory, wherein the processor system is configured to:
• communicate the programming to a display device coupled to a set top box;
• receive the image information from the image capture device,
• identify a hand gesture made by the user from the received image information,
• determine a hand gesture command based upon the identified hand gesture,
• compare the determined hand gesture command with the plurality of predefined hand gesture commands to identify a corresponding matching hand gesture command from the plurality of predefined hand gesture commands, and
• generate an emulated remote control device command based upon the identified matching hand gesture command, wherein the emulated remote control device command controls presentation of the programming by the display device,
• wherein the hand gesture command is a first hand gesture command and the matching hand gesture command is a first matching hand gesture command, wherein a second hand gesture command is determined from the image information, wherein the second hand gesture command is compared with the plurality of predefined hand gesture commands to identify a corresponding second matching hand gesture command from the plurality of predefined hand gesture commands, and wherein the generated emulated remote control device command is based upon the identified first matching hand gesture command and the second matching hand gesture command.