Abstract With the development of virtual reality (VR) and human-computer interaction technology, how to use natural and efficient interaction methods in the virtual environment has become a hot topic of research. Gesture is one of the most important communication methods of human beings, which can effectively express users’ demands. In the past few decades, gesture-based interaction has made significant progress. This article focuses on the gesture interaction technology and discusses the definition and classification of gestures, input devices for gesture interaction, and gesture interaction recognition technology. The application of gesture interaction technology in virtual reality is studied, the existing problems in the current gesture interaction are summarized, and the future development is prospected.