Microsoft Research has developed a new system that can track in real time, all the sophisticated hand motions that people make in their everyday lives. Microsoft has always shown interest in developing motion-sensing systems. While the advancements in the technology have been made in the recent years, tracking human hands still remains a challenge. Microsoft Research’s Handpose is set to change that.

Microsoft Handpose System

The Handpose system is different from previous hand-tracking technology in a way that it has been designed to accommodate a much more flexible setups. It uses a camera to track a person’s hand movements. The camera follows everything from zig-zag motions to thumbs-up signs, in real time.

What separates Handpose from the basic Kinect system present on the Xbox game console at home is that unlike the current home model, which tracks whole body movements, Handpose system recognizes the smaller and more subtle movements of the hand and fingers.

It also opens up vast possibilities for the world of virtual reality video gaming, said Lucas Bordeaux, a senior research software development engineer with Microsoft Research, which developed Handpose.

In a video on Microsoft Blogs, the researcher Jonathan Taylor explains how Handpose system could be used in dangerous situations where it would be unsafe for rescuers to go.