A computer-implemented method is provided to interactively capture and utilize a three-dimensional object as a controlling device for a computer system. One operation of the method is capturing depth data of the three-dimensional object. In another operation, the depth data of the three-dimensional object undergoes processing to create geometric defining parameters for the three-dimensional object. The method can also include defining correlations between particular actions performed with the three-dimensional object and particular actions to be performed by the computer system. The method also includes an operation to save the geometric defining parameters of the three-dimensional object to a recognized object database. In another operation, the correlations between particular actions performed with the three-dimensional object and particular actions to be performed by the computer system in response to recognizing the particular actions are also saved to the recognized object database.