It seems like the ever elusive controlling of things using only one's hand is now a reality. That is what a team of researchers in Taiwan has proven recently. The PVD+ team is composed of five researchers, including Civil Engineering PhD student at the National Chung Hsing University Mark Ven and one of the University's Professors, Yang Ming-der. It was founded in 2013 and is currently led by Ven.

The PVD+ team has managed to write an algorithm that they call their Dong software for the Apple Watch that turns it into a remote control, enabling it to pilot a Parrot AR Drone 3.0 using hand movements. It can also turn on Philips Hue HomeKit lamps with just a clap and activate a certain color by tracing the outline of a character, for example, drawing R for red lights.

The researchers say that after 18 months of their research and application, they can install the algorithm on any device and give it the ability to control directions. Ven showed how the drone works with the Apple Watch outside the Park Lane Department Store in Taiyung City.

Ven said that previously on their earlier applications, they needed to use complicated controls to fly the drones, but now they have made it controllable with a wearable device. Controlling drones through human behavior plus gestures is now possible using just the hand to control and fly the drones.

He went on to add that they can also control a ball like the BB-8 droid seen in the science fiction movie Star Wars, not surprisingly so as he refers to their Sphere 2.0 drone that looks similar to the droid from the latest installment of the movie.

The technology although already considered a success is still at its early stage and still needs a lot of improvements. Right now the controls are easily affected by environmental factors like wind. The batteries are also observed to be exhausted in as fast as 20 minutes.

Currently, it is known that the PVD+ team is in the process of applying patent for its Dong software at Taiwan's Li & Cai Intellectual Property Office.