Hand gesture recognition is a technology that is becoming increasingly relevant, given the recent growth and popularity of Virtual and Augmented Reality technologies. It is one key aspect of HCI, allowing for two-way interaction in virtual spaces. However, many instances of such interaction are currently limited to specialized uses or more expensive devices such as the Kinect and the Oculus Rift. In this paper, we explore the methods for hand gesture recognition using a more common device – the laptop web camera. Specifically, we explore and test methods of segmenting the hand. We will also cover one method for hand gesture recognition.