A method and apparatus for operating a device by controlling the device based on input received from group members, uses a sensor for monitoring each group member for detecting an instruction provided by a group member. The instruction includes a visual or audible instruction. Upon detecting, a controller associates a control command with the instruction. The controller provides the control command to the device. For establishing the group, an authentication is performed for adding a user as a group member. For identifying the control command, the detected instruction is associated with the instructing group member, where the member profile is accessed from a memory including a set of reference instructions, and the instruction is matched with a reference instruction selected from the set of reference instructions in the profile.