Let us broaden our horizon.
Let me turn your gesture perspective to new topics (well, revisited actually, see here).
Let us ponder emotion.
Pieter Desmet created the PrEmo method and interface (source)
Several colleagues here are studying ‘design and emotion’. One of the methods developed to evaluate people’s emotional response to product is PrEmo. It shows a little guy in different pictures that represent different emotions. The trick is, however, that they are not pictures but animations with sounds. So, the little guy makes facial expressions, gestures, and some exclamations. Of course, the question immediately comes up how reliably these gestures represent the intended emotions. Does everyone see it the same way? Apparently, Gael showed me some results, people do see it the same way for most of the pictures. Yet, some of them, such as surprise, are not see reliably perceived.
Sadly, the animations, which are in flash, are not available publicly. I understood there is licensing involved, and you have to see them to be able to really evaluate the gestures.
If you want to read more about emotion and how it can be measured: The Design & Emotion Society is quite a useful resource. You can register as a member for free and then they provide a good knowledge base. Another site is the HUMAINE Portal. With them you have to pay a small amount.