Data Glove That Turns Gestures Into Commands

ravidew writes: "Three students at Berkeley Sensor and Actuator Center, University of California, have built a motion-sensing glove that can transmit hand gestures to a PC. Within 3 years they hope to build sensors that are no bigger than 1mm and can be glued to each fingernail. Now you can really tell Windows what you think ..." While you're at the Sensor and Actuator Center, check out Kris Pister's smart dust.

Comments

Oh dear god...

[nurightshu]

Am I the only one who remembers where this will go? Check Douglas Adams' Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and remember -- in the future, you'll have to sit reeeeeaaaaally still to keep your PC from reformatting itself.

Dismissing pop-ups

[wowbagger]

Of course, the gesture command for dismissing annoying pop-up ads should be obvious, depending upon whether you are using LOCALE=en_US or LOCALE=en_UK.

Haiku

[575]

The blue screen of death,
My middle finger extends:
Control-Alt-Delete

Great keyboard replacement for handhelds

[jwkane]

Think about it. You have these sensors in each of your fingertips and any flat surface becomes an instant full-size keyboard.

It also one-ups the mouse-keyboard combination, no more mouse/touchpad. Just lift your forefinger off the virtual keyboard and move the mouse pointer by pointing at the screen. Your fingers never have to leave the home-row.

For those that can't touch-type, unroll a cheat-sheet and type on it.

This will be a GREAT technology once it matures.

Been there, done that, love it!

[Anonymous Coward]

I did the same thing at UIUC back in '97...

I used dual 3-axis accelerometers for the hand motion, and discrete switches to determine
finger joint position. The wires were sewn into the glove directly.

The result was very accurate hand movement, with the trade off of less complex finger movements.

Needless to say, I like the idea. It is a _very_ natural interface for a lot of applications. The glove is a little unwieldy, but for some reason beyond comprehension, everyone who does this seems to build theirs around the heaviest winter glove they can find... What someone needs to do is to build this using discreet sealed components, on the outside of thin, air-holed neoprene (similar to a bicyclist's glove.)

Also, the software is the key to whether this really works out. You need a virtual keyboard app (similar to what pen laptops use), plus a gesture pad (a la grafitti or CAD gestures), plus a standard mouse driver. (I never got around to polshing my software beyond anywhere other than manipulating a Rubik's-style 3D Cube. No, you couldn't acutally solve it.)

Unlimited commercial potential

[Greyfox]

A commercial company could come up with a plug in which takes your gesture data and analyzes it for certain well defined movements. Think about it:

If:

The crotch-scratching motion is detected on a regular basis, you might get more pop-up ads for Gold Bond Medicated Powder.

Likewise, another common motion among those who sit all day might put some Preparation H commercials in your future.

Your typical 13-year-old might get more porn adverts, 'tis true...

The common nose-picking gestures might queue some Kleenex adverts up for your viewing.

Yes indeed, we should all sign up for this technology as there is no doubt that it will improve our lives beyond measure.