Macs have come a long way when it comes to media playback. There are countless options, like using an app on your smartphone, the Today widget, a mini-player, etc (Cnet). When sitting at your Mac, you'll most likely be using the old fashioned keyboard option, considering it's right there. For this reason, it only makes sense that gesture controlled option was next in line. ControlAir is a free downloadable app for OS X, available from the Mac App Store. Using your Mac's very own front-facing camera, simple hand and finger gestures are the latest way to control a variety of functions in your favorite media apps.

This is all thanks to gesture recognition technology company eyeSight, who designed the app. ControlAir immediately gets to work by learning what you look like by mapping where your head and face are positioned, then teaches you the basic motion-controlled gestures. When performed, these gestures control the menu to adjust volume, skip tracks, and display songs. Currently, ControlAir supports iTunes, Spotify, VLC, Quicktime, VOX, and Rdio (Engadget).

Since the app uses your laptop's camera to see your gestures, pausing a song can even be done from across the room from your Mac (up to 3 meters). The app's most useful gesture has to be the ability to “shush”. Literally, you can quickly mute your playing media by pressing your index finger to your mouth in a “shushing” gesture. Other gestures are just as simple. Raise a finger, move it left or right to select media player controls, and make a selection by “air clicking”.

Available now, ControlAir will work on MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, and iMac, running OS X 10.9 or later (BGR). One thing to remember, though. Because ControlAir works by accessing the computer's camera constantly, you have to decide whether or not that's something you’re comfortable with.