1. A method for performing gesture recognition, comprising the steps of: receiving one or more raw frames from one or more cameras, each of the one or more raw frames representing a time sequence of images; segmenting the one or more received raw frames in near-real time by a computer processor by: first determining by the computer processor one or more regions of the one or more received raw frames that comprise highly textured regions; second segmenting by the computer processor the one or more determined highly textured regions in accordance with textured features thereof to determine one or more segments thereof; third determining by the computer processor the remaining of one or more regions of the one or more received raw frames that comprise other than highly textured regions; and fourth segmenting by the computer processor the remaining one or more of the determined other than highly textured regions in accordance with color thereof to determine one or more segments thereof; after segmenting the one or more received frames, determining by the computer processor a depth map in accordance with the segmented one or more raw frames; and tracking one or more of the segments through the one or more raw frames in accordance with the determined depth map representing the time sequence of images.