Systems and methods for implementing and using gesture based user interface widgets with camera input

A non-transitory computer-readable medium embodying a set of computer-executable instructions, which, when executed in a computerized system comprising a central processing unit, a camera and a memory, cause the computerized system to perform a method for detecting a gesture performed by a user in connection with a widget comprising a hotspot, the method comprising:

• a. acquiring a plurality of images of the hotspot using the camera;
• b. using the central processing unit to identify occlusion of at least a portion of the hotspot by the user in the acquired plurality of images of the hotspot, wherein the occlusion of the portion of the hotspot is identified by detecting changes in color values of each of a plurality of non-contiguous image sensor pixels within the acquired plurality of images of the hotspot based on a recorded history of values of the plurality of non contiguous image sensor pixels;
• and
• c. using the central processing unit to detect the gesture performed by the user based on the identified occlusion of the at least the portion of the hotspot in at least two of the acquired plurality of images of the hotspot.

A computerized system comprising one or more processing units and a memory, the computerized system further comprising:

• a. a user interface generation module executed by the one or more processing units for causing a user interface to be displayed to a user, the user interface comprising a widget;
• b. a camera for acquiring an image of the user interface;
• c. an occlusion identification module executed by the one or more processing units for identifying occlusion of at least a portion of the widget in the acquired image of the user interface, wherein the occlusion of the portion of the widget is identified by the occlusion identification module by detecting changes in color values of each of a plurality of non-contiguous image sensor pixels within the acquired image of the user interface based on a recorded history of values of the plurality of non-contiguous image sensor pixels;
• and
• d. a gesture detection module executed by the one or more processing units for detecting a gesture performed by the user based on the identified occlusion of the at least the portion of the widget.