Patent ID: 8890803

Claim:
A method for controlling a device by gestures that are detectable even in poor lighting conditions, comprising: a) providing a mobile phone comprising a camera; b) positioning said mobile phone such that said camera is able to acquire images of an operator's hand; c) by said operator, making a hand gesture for initiating a corresponding control signal while at least two sequential frames of images acquired by said camera are analyzed; d) processing said at least two sequential frames by a processor of said mobile phone to perform the following operations: i) subtracting unchanging background from each of said at least two sequential frames; ii) for unsubtracted portions of each of said at least two sequential frames, generating a signal pattern, derived from said hand gesture, of light intensity over time in a uniform direction within each of said at least two sequential frames; iii) calculating a location of a frame specific signal peak approximating a center of mass by averaging said signal pattern by integration, wherein said calculated signal peak has a light intensity greater than an adaptive threshold light intensity; iv) calculating a center of mass shift between frames; and v) when said calculated center of mass shift is indicative of a recognized gesture deriving a control command from said recognized gesture; and e) transmitting said control command to a controlled device.