Got a tip today from Matthias Wölfel who was kind enough to share his great gesture based recording and recognition tool used with the Kinect. The system is free to check out by downloading it from http://kineticspace.googlecode.com.

The software allows users to train the software to recognize specific gestures that can be implemented into other applications such as Max/MSP, Pure Data, VVVV, Resolume via OSC protocol.

Key Features include:

• can be easily trained: the user can simply train the system by recording the movement/gesture to be detected without having to write a single line of code
• are person independent: the system can be trained by one person and used by others
• are orientation independent: the system can recognize gestures even if the trained and tested gesture does not have the same orientations
• are speed independent: the system is able to recognize the gesture also if it is performed faster or slower compared to the training and is able to provide this information
• can be adjusted: the gesture configuration can be fully controlled by a graphical interface (version 2.0)
• can be analyzed: the current input data can be compared with a particular gesture; feedback of the similarity between the gestures is given for every body part

UPDATE: I found this interview with Matthias on OpenNI.com if you're interested in knowing more about the dude behind the code. Enjoy!