Tracking hand movement in an infrared image

The skin temperature and thermal comfort are closely related and change in skin temperature can predict thermal discomfort even before it is consciously perceived. The effect of changing thermal environment is most significant on the body extremities, particularly hands in cool and head in warm conditions. The skin temperature of the extremities can thus become a feasible control signal for personalized conditioning. In order to use a skin temperature of the extremities in practice as a control signal, it is necessary to measure it in a way that does not hinder a user. The infrared thermography represents a method that has a potential to fulfill this criterion. However, remote sensing of temperature arises new challenges how to track a movement of the human body in order to get a correct temperature of the chosen body part. This paper discusses a method based on pattern matching for real time tracking of hand movement in an infrared image.