Hand Gesture Recognition as Means for Mobile Human Computer Interaction in Adverse Working Environments

Interacting with mobile devices can be challenging in adverse working environments. Using hand gestures for interaction can overcome severe usability issues that users face when working with mobile devices in industrial settings. This chapter is dedicated to the design, implementation, and evaluation of mobile information systems with hand gesture recognition as means for human computer interaction. The chapter provides a concise theoretical background on human gestural interaction and gesture recognition, guidelines for the design of gesture vocabularies, recommendations for proper implementation, and parameterization of robust and reliable recognition algorithms on energy-efficient 8-bit architectures. It additionally presents an elaborated process for participatory design and evaluation of gesture vocabularies to ensure high usability in the actual context of use. The chapter concludes with a case study that proves the suitability of the proposed framework for the design of efficient and reliable hand gesture-based user interfaces.