Gesture recognition systems for detecting gesture commands in light conditions and in dark conditions including a computing system having a processor and a thermographic camera configured to detect infrared radiation from a gesture made by a user and communicate gesture image information to the processor for carrying out a computer-readable gesture command are shown and described. In some examples, the computing system and the thermographic camera are supported on an eyewear article frame. In some other examples, the computing system and the thermographic camera are components of a mobile device. In even other examples, the computing system and the thermographic camera are components of a desk top computer or a laptop computer.