Isreal's eyeSight Mobile Technologies has teamed up with Korean mobile phone handset manufacturer Pantech to develop phones that are controlled by hand gestures. 

Pantech's Vega LTE phones, which run Android, will be equipped with eyeSight's technology, and should hit the Korean market later this month. 

The software allows the user to answer incoming calls, activate the music player, play games, and perform other tasks using simple hand gestures, says the company. 

"Pantech users will enjoy a completely new user experience, controlling their device with natural and intuitive hand gestures," says Gideon Shmuel, eyeSight's CEO. "The agreement with Pantech allows us to extend our reach in the fast growing South-East Asian market further emphasising eyeSight's leading position in the global field of gesture-recognition technologies."

eyeSight says that the technology is built to complement Pantech's touchscreen Android interface, enabling the use of gestures in situations where touchscreens are inconvenient, such as when cooking or wearing gloves. The technology uses the device's built-in camera, as well as real-time image processing and "machine vision algorithms", says eyeSight.