A movement recognition system includes a feature extraction circuit and a classification circuit that is orientation independent. The feature extraction circuit is configured to receive a plurality of acceleration or angular velocity measurements from a sensor or multiple sensors that include a three dimensional (3D) accelerometer and 3D gyroscope. Each of the measurements is taken at different times. The feature extraction circuit is also configured to determine a difference between a first of the measurements and each other of the measurements. The classification circuit is configured to classify a movement of an object attached to the sensor irrespective of an orientation of the sensor on the object utilizing a signal recognition technique based on the difference between the first of the measurements and each other of the measurements.