Games / 2026 / Live in the browser
Gesture Pong Arena
Pong with your index finger as the paddle, MediaPipe tracking your hand, keyboard always available.
01
The problem
Hand-tracked controls shake when still and lag when fast, and a fast ball can skip a thin paddle entirely: at top speed it moves 28 px in a 30 fps frame, more than the 14 px paddle.
02
How I approached it
The fingertip runs through a 1€ filter (Casiez et al., CHI 2012), which smooths hard while the hand is still and opens up as it speeds, and the middle 70% of the camera frame covers the whole court so you never reach out of view. Paddle hits are swept: the engine checks whether the ball's path crossed the paddle face during the step and where, instead of only where it ended. After each point the ball waits a moment before the serve.
03
The outcome
A camera-controlled game that stays winnable at full speed. 10 tests cover the engine, including a top-speed ball that used to pass through the paddle.
Related work
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