This paper introduces a novel type of human-machine in-terface for laparoscopic telesurgery that employs an optical sensor. A Raven-II laparascopic robot (Applied Dexterity Inc) was teleoperated us-ing two different human-machine interfaces, namely the Sigma 7 electro-mechanical device (Force Dimension Sarl) and the Leap Motion (Leap Motion Inc) infrared stereoscopic camera. Based on this hardware plat-form, a comparative study of both systems was performed through ob-jective and subjective metrics, which were obtained from a population of 10 subjects. The participants were asked to perform a peg transferring task and to answer a questionnaire. Obtained results allow to confirm that fine tracking of the hand could be performed with the Leap Mo-tion sensor. Such tracking comprises accurate finger motion acquisition to control the robot's laparoscopic instrument jaws. Furthermore, the observed performance of the optical interface proved to be comparable to that of traditional electro-mechanical devices, such as the Sigma 7, during adequate execution of highly-dexterous laparascopic gestures.