A non-contact technique using electrostatics to sense three-dimensional hand motion for human computer interaction

• We have proposed a new methodology to obtain the 3D hand motion parameters through electrostatic field.
• We have designed a model of six electrodes in space which can determine the hand direction and speed in 3D.
• We have designed a non-contact system which can effective for accurate recognition of hand motion to HCI.

This paper proposes a technique for three dimensional non-contact sensing of hand motion through electrostatic field. In order to determine hand direction and speed in three-dimensions, the technique exploits the geometrical relationship among six spherical electrodes organized in two planes, and the induced current on the electrode due to hand movement. This system consists of an electrode array, current-sensing circuits, a digital signal processing module with virtual instrument technology, and LabVIEW for visualization. The experimental results demonstrate that by analyzing the currents induced in the electrodes, the angle and speed of hand motion can be inferred with high precision, and the system's effectiveness enable for accurate recognition of hand motion and human–computer interaction.