1. A human-computer interface system capable of interaction with an executing software application of a plurality of software applications, the plurality of software applications presenting a plurality of different virtual objects with which a user may interact, the human-computer interface system comprising: a capture device for capturing a depth image within a field of view of the capture device; a computing environment coupled to the capture device for running the plurality of software applications and for processing information received from the capture device; and an inanimate accessory formable into a plurality of different shapes of a plurality of different virtual objects within at least one of the plurality of software applications, but not being the object represented by the virtual object, and the accessory not emitting an active signal, the capture device and computing environment cooperating to relay a shape of the inanimate accessory to the application running on the computing environment, and, based on a shape of the accessory, the application recognizing which of the plurality of different virtual objects is represented by the shape into which the inanimate accessory is deformed and, in response, displaying the virtual object represented by the inanimate accessory on a display associated with the computing environment, where the virtual object is not part of a body of a virtual person displayed on the display.