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Comment by jjcm | Hacker News Reader

Seems cool, but I have questions: What's the error rate like? Also how close do you have to be to your webcam to use this? If I have to be right at my computer like the demo video shows, it seems kind of pointless as I can just hit space or the pause/play button on my mac. Can I get more accurate readings if I hook up a kinect to my computer? Is it always watching or is it voice-to-activate driven?

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Great questions. It works the best from 1-6 feet, so no you don't have to be right in-front of your comp.

The latest version has improved false positive rate where we got one every few hours.

Kinect is overkill for accuracy at this point, so that will not matter.

Lastly, yes camera is on, but app runs locally so no video data ever leaves your computer. Only server component is usual analytics logging.

It's always watching. It's kind of sensitive right now, with not enough of a "lockout" between stopping and starting (sometimes as i lower my hand from pausing/playing it'll play/pause, a bit annoying)

Also, maybe my face looks like a palm, but sometimes it'll just pause.

You're right about that first version was a bit sensitive. Some backend goodies are part of this version so false positive rates should've gone down. Try the new version and see if you feel any improvements.

Also, yes, camera is on all the time but you can turn of camera by clicking on Flutter icon and picking that option.

Lastly, this app runs entirely on local machine. It does not record or stream video data - it detects gestures locally in real time, so no video data ever leaves your machine.

Hope it helps!! :)

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