Viewpoint-independent hand gesture recognition system

In this paper, we creatively present a viewpoint-free hand gesture recognition system based on Kinect sensor. Through depth image, we build Point Clouds of user. Then, we estimate the current optimal viewpoint, i.e., the front, and project Point Clouds to that direction. Through that process we in great extent overcome the viewpoint-dependency issue. To match hand types, we propose an improved shape context to describe each hand gesture and use the Hungarian algorithm to calculate match degree. Our method is quite straightforward, however the experimental results prove that by this means gestures can be recognized independent of viewpoints with great accuracy. Besides, it is fast and robust, thus can be applied under various realistic scenarios in realtime.