1. A method for configuring a universal controlling device to enable the universal controlling device to communicate commands to one or more target appliances, comprising: receiving data captured via an imaging device indicative of surface topography of an object of interest at a recognition system having an associated database in which is stored surface topography data for a plurality of reference objects each of which is cross-referenced to configuration information; using at the recognition system the received data indicative of surface topography of the object of interest and the surface topography data for the plurality of reference objects stored within the database to discern one or more reference objects as being a match for the object of interest; and using at least a subset of the configuration information that has been cross-referenced to the one or more reference objects discerned by the recognition system as being a match for the object of interest to configure the universal controlling device to enable the universal controlling device to communicate commands to the one or more target appliances; wherein the data indicative of the surface topography of the object of interest comprises a representation of a surface of the object of interest through use of plural levels of resolve each of which is indicative of a relative distance of a topographical feature of the surface of the object of interest to the imaging device.