vlc-gesture-control 0.1.0

Control VLC media player using hand gestures detected through a webcam

VLC Gesture Control

Control VLC media player using hand gestures detected through your webcam.

Features

• Control VLC media player without touching your keyboard/mouse
• Support for both CPU and GPU processing
• Palm-facing detection to prevent accidental triggers
• Fast-forward and rewind functionality with repeated gestures
• Real-time performance monitoring with FPS display

Supported Gestures

Gesture	Action
All five fingers up	Play/Pause
Index finger only	Volume Up
Thumb + Index finger	Volume Down
Index + Middle fingers	Forward 10 seconds (Fast-forward when repeated)
Thumb + Index + Middle fingers	Backward 10 seconds (Fast-rewind when repeated)
Index + Middle + Ring fingers	Toggle Subtitles
All fingers except thumb	Change Audio Track
Left hand thumb only (pointing right)	Next Video
Right hand thumb only (pointing left)	Previous Video

Installation

Basic Installation

pip install vlc-gesture-control

With GPU Support

pip install vlc-gesture-control[gpu]

For Development

pip install vlc-gesture-control[dev]

Usage

1. Open VLC media player and start playing a video
2. Run the application with either CPU or GPU mode:

# For CPU mode (default)
vlc-gesture-control-cpu

# For GPU mode (if supported by your hardware)
vlc-gesture-control-gpu

3. Position your hand in front of the webcam and use the gestures to control VLC
4. Press 'q' to quit the application

How It Works

The application uses MediaPipe's hand tracking to detect hand landmarks in real-time. It analyzes the configuration of fingers to recognize specific gestures, then sends the corresponding keyboard commands to VLC. The system includes a consistency check that requires a gesture to be detected multiple times before triggering an action, which prevents accidental commands.

The application also checks if your palm is facing the camera, ignoring gestures when the back of your hand is visible. This allows you to adjust your hair or move around without accidentally triggering commands.

For directional gestures like next/previous video navigation, the application uses thumb-only gestures that are specific to which hand is being used (left hand thumb for next, right hand thumb for previous), making the controls more intuitive.

Requirements

• Python 3.9+
• VLC Media Player
• Webcam
• Windows OS

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

Acknowledgments

• MediaPipe for hand tracking technology
• VideoLAN for VLC media player