Hand Letters

A geometric gesture alphabet for 29 letters (A-Z, Æ, Ø, Å)

Guide & About ▲

About This System

This is an invented geometric gesture alphabet, not based on any existing sign language. It was designed to avoid cultural bias by using universal geometric properties of hand shapes rather than borrowing from established sign languages such as ASL, BSL, or others.

The gesture mappings are based on measurable hand properties: finger count, finger spread, hand position in frame, palm orientation, and specific geometric shapes. Each letter is assigned to a distinct combination of these properties.

Hand tracking is performed using MediaPipe Hands, a machine learning model developed by Google that detects 21 hand landmarks in real-time. The gesture recognition logic analyses the relative positions of these landmarks to determine finger states and hand orientation. Text-to-speech uses the Web Speech API.

Gesture Reference

A 1 finger, left side
B 1 finger, centre
C 1 finger, right side
D 2 fingers, together
E 2 fingers, spread
F 3 fingers, together
G 3 fingers, spread
H 4 fingers, together
I 4 fingers, spread
J 5 fingers, together
K 5 fingers, spread
L Thumb + index (L shape)
M Fist, thumb hidden
N Fist, thumb out
O Circle (thumb + index)
P Point down
Q Pinky only
R Thumb + pinky (shaka)
S Thumb up
T Thumb down
U Flat hand, palm down
V Flat hand, palm up
W Hand tilted left
X Hand tilted right
Y Hand high in frame
Z Hand low in frame
Æ Two hands visible
Ø Circle + thumb up
Å Fist above head level