A system and method for conditioning execution of a control function on a determination of whether or not a person's attention is directed toward a predetermined device. The method involves acquiring data concerning the activity of a person who is in the proximity of the device, the data being in the form of one or more temporal samples. One or more of the temporal samples is then analyzed to determine if the person's activity during the time of the analyzed samples indicates that the person's attention is not directed toward the device. The results of the determination are used to ascertain whether or not the control function should be performed.