Wave goodbye to the TV remote control

Hand signals could soon replace remote controls for TVs, DVDs and other consumer electronics goods, according to research published in the Institution of Engineering and Technology's IET Computer Vision Research Journal.

Dr Prashan Premaratne from the University of Wollongong and Quang Nguyen from the Australian National University, Canberra, say their method of controlling consumer electronic goods via hand signals is ready for use.

The researchers devised seven gestures to control a TV and VCR and carried out a number of experiments under different lighting conditions and at different distances from the equipment. Their work also involved designing hardware and software to recognise the hand gestures and turn them into actions in real time.

"We all rely on remote controls to manage an increasing number of items including TVs, set-top boxes, DVDs and hi-fis and the range of goods will continue to increase. Apart from the frustration of sometimes mislaying the remote control just when you need it, they do tend to have different sets of commands which have to be mastered," Premaratne said.

"People have tried to replace remote controls with voice recognition or glove-based devices but with mixed results. We set out to tackle the problem with a limited set of hand gestures that were distinctive and offered higher accuracy. The solution we came up with not only achieves this but also uses only low processing power, proved very robust in different lighting conditions and operated in real time," said Dr. Premaratne.

The system comprises a web camera, gesture processing unit, hardware interface for the control unit and a universal remote control which is built into the device. The webcam captures the hand gestures and the software converts this into a signal which operates the remote controller. The series of commands devised by the researchers included switching the equipment on, turning the volume up and down, changing channel, play and stop.

Premaratne said the system can control up to eight items at a time, including DVDs and set-top boxes, and is able to distinguish between real commands and unintentional gestures such as children playing.