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Vol: 57(71) No: 2 / June 2012 Using Hand Gestures to Control a Collaborative Web-Based Environment Cristian Gadea NCCT Laboratory, University of Ottawa, School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, 161 Louis Pasteur, Room B-306, K1N 6N5, Ottawa, Canada, phone: (613) 562-5800 6236, e-mail: cgadea@ncct.uottawa.ca, web: http://www.ncct.uottawa.ca Bogdan Ionescu Mgestyk Technologies, Inc., 80 Aberdeen Street, Suite 220, K1S 5R5, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, phone: (613) 591-1210 2036, e-mail: bogdan@mgestyk.com,, web: http://www.mgestyk.com Dan Ionescu NCCT Laboratory, University of Ottawa, School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, 161 Louis Pasteur, Room B-306, K1N 6N5, Ottawa, Canada, e-mail: dan@ncct.uottawa.ca Shahidul Islam Mgestyk Technologies, Inc., 80 Aberdeen Street, Suite 220, K1S 5R5, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, e-mail: shahid@mgestyk.com Bogdan Solomon NCCT Laboratory, University of Ottawa, School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, 161 Louis Pasteur, Room B-306, K1N 6N5, Ottawa, Canada, e-mail: bsolomon@ncct.uottawa.ca Keywords: gesture-based control, natural user interface, web collaboration, human computer interaction, 3D depth camera Abstract Gesture control is an important part of the next generation of human computer interfaces. Hand gestures can make computers and devices easier to use, such as by allowing people to share photos with just a flick of their wrist. Much research has been undertaken to develop systems whereby users can effectively control computer software through gestures. Existing solutions, however, have relied on inadequate hardware, requiring elaborate setups limited to the lab. Relying heavily on image processing, gesture recognition algorithms used so far are not practical or responsive enough for real-world use. Most importantly, existing solutions have lacked a software environment that allows users to perform common collaborative tasks. In this paper, a new paradigm for next-generation computer interfaces is introduced. The method presented is based on a custom 3D camera that is easy to set up and has a flexible detection range. The camera makes it possible to accurately detect hand gestures from depth data, allowing them to be used to control any application or device. 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