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How to Use APDS9960 Gesture Sensor With Arduino
2026-09-08 | By Ron Cutts
License: GNU Lesser General Public License Bluetooth / BLE Displays Arduino ESP32
In this tutorial, we will learn how to use the APDS9960 gesture sensor with Arduino to display hand directions on the OLED display using Visuino software.
Watch the video!
Learn more about Visuino: What is Visuino
What You Will Need
Arduino UNO (or any other Arduino)
Visuino program: Download Visuino
The Circuit
Connect Sensor Pin [GND] to Arduino board pin [GND]
Connect Sensor Pin [Vin] to Arduino board pin [3.3V]
Connect Sensor Pin [SDA] to Arduino board pin [SDA]
Connect Sensor Pin [SCL] to Arduino board pin [SCL]
Connect OLED Display Pin [GND] to Arduino board pin [GND]
Connect OLED Display Pin [VCC] to Arduino board pin [+5V]
Connect OLED Display Pin [SCL] to Arduino board pin [SCL]
Connect OLED Display Pin [SDA] to Arduino board pin [SDA]
Start Visuino, and Select the Arduino UNO Board Type
To start programming the Arduino, you will need to have the Arduino IDE installed from here: https://www.arduino.cc/.
Please be aware that there are some critical bugs in Arduino IDE 1.6.6. Make sure that you install 1.6.7 or higher; otherwise, this will not work! If you have not done so, follow the steps to set up the Arduino IDE to program Arduino UNO! The Visuino: https://www.visuino.eu also needs to be installed. Start Visuino as shown in the first picture. Click on the "Tools" button on the Arduino component (Picture 1) in Visuino. When the dialog appears, select "Arduino UNO" as shown in Picture 2
In Visuino ADD and Set Components
Add "Gesture Color Proximity APDS9960 I2C" component
Add "Text Value" component
Double click on the "TextValue1" component and in the Elements window drag 4x "Set Value" to the left side
Select "SetValue1" on the left side and in the properties window set value to UP
Select "SetValue2" on the left side and in the properties window set value to DOWN
Select "SetValue3" on the left side and in the properties window set value to LEFT
Select "SetValue4" on the left side and in the properties window set value to RIGHT
Close the elements window
Add "SSD1306/SH1106 OLED Display (I2C)" component
Double click on the "DisplayOLED1" component and in the Elements window drag "Text Field" to the left side
On the Left side select TextField1 and in the properties window set size to 3
Close the elements window
In Visuino Connect Components
Connect "GestureColorProximity1" pin "Up" to "TextValue1">"SetValue1" pin [In]
Connect "GestureColorProximity1" pin "Down" to "TextValue1">"SetValue2" pin [In]
Connect "GestureColorProximity1" pin "Left" to "TextValue1">"SetValue3" pin [In]
Connect "GestureColorProximity1" pin "Right" to "TextValue1">"SetValue4" pin [In]
Connect "GestureColorProximity1" I2C pin "Out" to Arduino Board pin I2C [In]
Connect "GestureColorProximity1" I2C pin "Out" to "DisplayOLED1" > "TextField1" pin [In]
Connect "DisplayOLED1" I2C pin "Out" to Arduino Board pin I2C [In]
Generate, Compile, and Upload the Arduino Code
In Visuino, at the bottom click on the "Build" Tab, make sure the correct port is selected, then click on the "Compile/Build and Upload" button.
Play
If you power the Arduino UNO module, and the move the hand over the gesture sensor the OLED Display should show the direction of the hand gesture.
Congratulations! You have completed your project with Visuino. Also attached is the Visuino project that I created for this. You can download it and open it in Visuino: https://www.visuino.eu
