Balali Moghaddam, Aras2012-08-172012-08-1720122012-08-17http://hdl.handle.net/1828/4135In this work, I present empirically validated techniques to realize gesture and touch interaction using a novel near touch tracking system. This study focuses on identifying the intended center of action for grab and release gestures close to an interactive surface. Results of this experiment inform a linear model that can approximate the intended location of grab and release actions with an accuracy of R^2 = 0.95 for horizontal position and R^2 = 0.84 for vertical position. I also present an approach for distinguishing which hand was used to perform the interaction. These empirical model data and near touch tracking system contributions provide new opportunities for natural and intuitive hand interactions with computing surfaces.enHuman Factorsnear touchmulti touchhand interactioninteractive surfacesuser studyhand trackinghardware prototypebimanualopencvaction centergesture centerhand centerThesisAvailable to the World Wide WebAras Balali Moghaddam, Jeremy Svendsen, Melanie Tory, and Alexandra Branzan Albu. 2011. Integrating touch and near touch interactions for information visualizations. In Proceedings of the 2011 annual conference extended abstracts on Human factors in computing systems (CHI EA '11). ACM, New York, NY, USA, 2347-2352. DOI=10.1145/1979742.1979934 http://doi.acm.org/10.1145/1979742.1979934