Hand-Controlled Media Player

A hands-free solution for controlling media playback from a distance. Control media playback with hand gestures using your webcam. Simply show your hand to the camera and use finger gestures to control media playback, volume, and navigation.

Controls

• 1 finger: Right arrow
• 2 fingers: Left arrow
• 3 fingers: Up arrow
• 4 fingers: Down arrow
• 5 fingers (full hand): Space (play/pause)

Hand Detection Logic

The application uses MediaPipe's hand landmark detection. Here's how finger counting works:

• Each finger is considered "up" if the distance between its tip and the base (PIP joint) exceeds a dynamic threshold
• The threshold is calculated based on hand size in the frame (using wrist to middle finger MCP distance)
• For thumb detection, we look at the horizontal distance due to its different bending axis

The diagram shows the 21 hand landmarks used for gesture detection. Key points:

• Tips: 4 (thumb), 8, 12, 16, 20
• PIPs (second knuckle): 3, 7, 11, 15, 19
• MCPs (base knuckles): 2, 5, 9, 13, 17

Requirements

• Python 3.11 (required for mediapipe compatibility)
• Webcam
• Windows (for media key control)

Setup

1. Ensure Python 3.11 is installed
2. Install dependencies:

py -3.11 -m pip install -r requirements.txt

Running

py -3.11 main.py

Press ESC to quit the application.

Using with YouTube

1. Open your favorite web browser and navigate to YouTube
2. Start the hand control application:

   py -3.11 main.py

3. Arrange your windows:
   • Position YouTube on one side of your screen
   • Place the webcam window on the other side (or minimize it)
   • Make sure YouTube video is in focus when using controls

Tips for best use:

• YouTube keyboard shortcuts that work with this app:
  • Space: Play/Pause (5 fingers)
  • Left/Right arrows: Rewind/Forward 5 seconds (2/1 fingers)
  • Up/Down arrows: Volume control (3/4 fingers)