Systems and methods for human hand gesture recognition through a training mode and a recognition mode are disclosed. In the training mode, a user can move a handheld device with a hand gesture intended to represent a command. Sensors within the handheld device can record raw data, which can be processed to obtain a set of values corresponding to a set of discrete features, which is stored in a database and associated with the intended command. The process is repeated for various hand gestures representing different commands. In the recognition mode, the user can move the handheld device with a hand gesture. A computer system can compare a set of values corresponding to a set of discrete features derived from the hand gesture with the sets of values stored in the database, select a command with the closest match and displays and/or executes the command.