Hand gesture detection and recognition is a cutting-edge technology that is getting progressively applicable in several applications, including the recent trends namely Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality. It is a key part of Human-Computer Interaction which gives an approach to two-way interaction between the computer and the user. Currently, this technology is limited to expensive and highly specialized equipment and gadgets such as Kinect and the Oculus Rift. In this paper, various technologies and methodologies of implementing a gesture detection and recognition system are discussed. The paper also includes the implementation of a face recognition module using the Viola-Jones Algorithm for authentication of the system followed by hand gesture recognition using CNN to perform basic operations on the laptop. Any type of user can use gesture control as an alternative and interesting way to control their laptop. Furthermore, this can be used as a prototype for future implementations in the field of virtual reality as well as augmented reality. © 2020 Venkat Mukthineni et al., published by Sciendo 2020.