Start here
Try these checks in order.
Do these checks in order. Stop when the status reaches RAISE A HAND, the center shows your count, and a stable one-to-five shape reaches TRIGGERED.
- Read the statusNote whether the instrument is waiting for audio, camera, vision, or a hand.
- Check outputRaise device volume and confirm the speaker icon inside Gesture Synth is not muted.
- Free the cameraClose meeting, recording, and camera apps, then allow camera access for this site.
- Reload onceReload the page, select Start again, and keep one full hand with visible thumb and index fingertips in front light.
Camera permission, sound output, and hand visibility are separate. Identify the interrupted stage before changing browser data.
No sound
If the skeleton appears but no sound plays.
Check both mute controls
Raise the device or operating-system output volume. Then inspect the speaker button in the lower instrument toolbar. If its accessible label or tooltip says Unmute, select it once.
Show a count and wait for confirmation
Face the palm toward the camera, extend one to five fingers, and hold the shape until the progress bar nearly completes. If it stays on CONFIRMING, improve light and make every fingertip visible.
Start from a fresh user action
Browsers can suspend audio when a page sits in the background. Return to the tab and select Start Gesture Synth again. Do not rely on a tab restored from an old browser session.
Confirm the output device
Disconnect an unused Bluetooth headset or monitor, or choose the intended system output. Bluetooth can also create a delay between movement and the sound you hear.
Camera problems
If the camera is blocked, busy, or missing.
Camera access is off
Use the camera or site-settings control beside the browser address bar and allow camera access for `gesture-synth.net`. Reload the page after changing the setting. The instrument requests video only.
The camera is busy
Quit video meetings, recording software, virtual-camera tools, and other browser tabs that may own the camera. On mobile, fully close the camera app before returning to the browser.
No camera found
Reconnect an external camera, open a laptop privacy shutter, and check the operating system's camera privacy settings. If the browser cannot see any video device, the site cannot create one.
A secure connection is required
Use the `https://` production URL. Camera APIs are restricted to secure contexts. Never bypass a browser certificate warning to use the instrument.
Hand tracking
If the camera works but the hand does not.
Why is my hand not detected?
Keep the full wrist, palm, and fingertips visible, face the palm broadly toward the camera, move about an arm’s length away, and improve front lighting. Avoid placing a bright window directly behind you.
Why do notes jump or flicker?
Keep every fingertip and the wrist visible, move farther from the lens, separate raised fingers slightly, and avoid crossing hands. A count now commits faster, so partially hidden fingers can still keep it in CONFIRMING if the shape is not clear enough.
Why does my OK sign read as four or five instead of three?
Make a compact loop by touching the thumb tip to the index tip, then extend the middle, ring, and pinky with visible gaps. Keep the loop and all three raised fingertips inside the frame until confirmation completes. If the tips separate or the index looks straight, the controller correctly returns to literal finger counting.
Two hands merge or swap voices
Separate the palms horizontally and avoid overlapping fingers. In Free Play Duet, the right hand plays melody and the left hand plays harmony by default. Ranked Song Quest waits for one stable tracked hand before the countdown and keeps other visible hands silent.
The note will not release
Lower the hand to the bottom of the camera frame for immediate rest, or hold a clear fist for about a quarter second. The longer fist threshold prevents transition shapes from stopping a phrase accidentally.
Full wrist + full fingertips + front light + visible space around the hand.
Slow or uneven response
Reduce the work competing with hand tracking.
Close other graphics-heavy tabs, video calls, games, and camera utilities. On a phone or tablet, connect power and allow the device to cool if the frame rate changed during a long session.
The VISUAL readout can move from full to reduced or fallback. This means the instrument has simplified camera effects to keep hand tracking responsive. The finger-to-note mapping does not change.
If movement feels immediate but sound arrives late, test the built-in speaker or a wired output. Wireless audio latency is controlled by the connected device and operating system, not the gesture tracker.
Status messages
Match the status to the next step.
- Waking the synth
- Audio is starting
- Wait briefly. If it does not advance, reload and start from a direct click or tap.
- Waiting for camera
- Permission or camera startup
- Respond to the browser prompt and close any app already using the camera.
- Calibrating vision
- Model is loading
- Keep the tab active. Reload once if the state does not advance on a stable connection.
- Raise a hand
- Instrument is ready
- Show one complete palm with one to five extended fingers and hold until TRIGGERED.
- Signal interrupted
- Recoverable error
- Read the dialog, correct the cause, then choose Try again. Use Back to start, the close control, or Escape to leave the error state without retrying.
Why is there no sound?
Check device volume and the in-page mute button, then show a clear count from one to five until the readout changes from CONFIRMING to TRIGGERED. Start from the main button because browsers require a fresh interaction before audio can begin.
Why is the camera not starting?
Confirm camera permission is allowed, close other apps using the camera, and reload the page. The site must be opened over HTTPS or localhost, and the device must expose a working video camera to the browser.
Why does tracking feel slow?
Close camera-heavy and graphics-heavy tabs, connect mobile devices to power, improve lighting, and let the visual quality reduce automatically. Bluetooth audio can also add output delay even when tracking is responsive.
Still stuck after the ordered checks? Confirm the device appears in the browser and device support matrix, then test once in a second supported system browser. That distinguishes a site permission from a device-level camera problem.