Patent ID: 8817087

Claim:
A method of receiving input from a user, said method comprising the steps of: capturing images of a gesture made by a hand of the user with a surface of the vehicle in a background of the images, the surface being located on a steering wheel or on an armrest of a motor vehicle, the surface having a color; identifying at least two separate and unconnected shapes in each of the captured images, the shapes having a first color, a background behind the hand in the visual images having a second color, the identifying including distinguishing the first color from the second color; modifying the captured images by merging the separate and unconnected shapes into a single continuous shape corresponding to the user's hand in each of the captured images; detecting a center of mass of the continuous shape of the hand in the captured images; detecting a finger tip of the continuous shape of the hand in the captured images; determining a first trajectory for the center of mass of the hand detected in the captured images; determining a second trajectory for the finger tip of the hand detected in the captured images; and determining an alphanumeric character represented by the gesture made by the hand, the determining being dependent upon both the first trajectory and the second trajectory.