A method of receiving input from an operator of a motor vehicle for an in-car hand gesture recognition system of the motor vehicle, said method comprising the steps of: capturing images of a gesture made by a hand of the operator of the motor vehicle with an interior surface of the motor vehicle as a background surface in each of the images, the surface being located on a steering wheel or on an armrest of the motor vehicle; subtracting a background image from each of the captured images to identify a hand region in each of the captured images, the hand region corresponding to the hand of the operator, the background image being subtracted by distinguishing skin-colored shapes from the background surface taking into consideration a color of the background surface; identifying background-subtracted images in which the hand region appears as at least two separate and unconnected skin-colored shapes; modifying the background-subtracted images in which the hand region appears as at least two separate and unconnected skin-colored shapes by merging the separate and unconnected skin-colored shapes into a single shape representing the hand region; detecting a center of mass of the hand region and a finger tip of the hand region in the background-subtracted images; determining a first trajectory for the center of mass of the hand region detected in the background-subtracted images; determining a second trajectory for the finger tip of the hand region detected in the background-subtracted images; and determining an alphanumeric character represented by the gesture made by the hand of the operator, the determining being dependent upon both the first trajectory and the second trajectory. capturing images of a gesture made by a hand of the operator of the motor vehicle with an interior surface of the motor vehicle as a background surface in each of the images, the surface being located on a steering wheel or on an armrest of the motor vehicle; subtracting a background image from each of the captured images to identify a hand region in each of the captured images, the hand region corresponding to the hand of the operator, the background image being subtracted by distinguishing skin-colored shapes from the background surface taking into consideration a color of the background surface; identifying background-subtracted images in which the hand region appears as at least two separate and unconnected skin-colored shapes; modifying the background-subtracted images in which the hand region appears as at least two separate and unconnected skin-colored shapes by merging the separate and unconnected skin-colored shapes into a single shape representing the hand region; detecting a center of mass of the hand region and a finger tip of the hand region in the background-subtracted images; determining a first trajectory for the center of mass of the hand region detected in the background-subtracted images; determining a second trajectory for the finger tip of the hand region detected in the background-subtracted images; and determining an alphanumeric character represented by the gesture made by the hand of the operator, the determining being dependent upon both the first trajectory and the second trajectory.