Kyoto, Japan -- OMRON Corporation (TOKYO: 6645, ADR: OMRNY) today launched "Hand Gesture V2," new image sensing software that allows users to interact with machines in a natural manner. With a wider range of recognizable angles -- ±30 degrees left-right and ±20 degrees up-down -- OMRON's new software enables users to manipulate machines using more natural types of hand gestures. "Hand Gesture V2" also includes a new fingertip position detection function, enabling it to also recognize a user's hand gestures for mouse pointer movements.

OMRON's "Hand Gesture V2" will be unveiled at CEATEC JAPAN 2013 to be held October 1-5 at the Makuhari Messe fair site. In addition to the display of this new product at the OMRON Booth, OMRON will also hold a new technology and new products seminar entitled "Gesture Recognition Technology and Its Applications" at Exhibition Hall 3 of the CEATEC venue beginning at 3:30 pm on October 2.

OMRON has been involved with technology developments for its "OKAO Vision" since 1995. This facial image sensing technology is capable of detecting various kinds of information from facial images, and is one of OMRON's core technologies. The developments to date have enabled such functions as face detection, face recognition, smile degree estimation, estimation of gaze direction, detection of the degree of mouth or eye opening, and estimation of age and gender. These developments led to the employment of "OKAO Vision" for the auto-focus function of digital cameras and smartphones, as well as the skin beautification function of printers, image management for personal computers, and many other applications.

By drawing on the technologies it has accumulated through its "OKAO Vision," OMRON's hand gesture recognition enables high-speed recognition while requiring only a small amount of memory. In recent years, gesture recognition has been attracting a great deal of attention as a natural human-machine interface. The technology allows users to control or manipulate devices in a more natural manner, such as operating a TV set by hand movements or releasing the shutter of a camera via a V-sign.

OMRON will further advance its image sensing technology for detecting faces and recognizing human movements, aiming to create technology to correctly interpret the intentions of users, such as judging what they are trying to do through the analysis of gestures.

OMRON Releases Hand Gesture Recognition Software with Improved Hand Shape Recognition Accuracy