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Wiimote Turns TV into Touchless MS Surface

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the now-thats-what-i'm-talking-about dept.

RemyBR writes "User interface project allows you to control objects on a display using gestures, working like Microsoft's Surface but without touching the screen at all. Inspired by Johnny Chung Lee's work, the system requires you to wear Minority Report-style gloves equipped with infrared emitters on your fingertips. A Wiimote on top of the display keeps track of these IR LEDs, while the software can read the motion down to two-finger pinching gestures for image zooming."

13 of 104 comments (clear)

  1. What style gloves? by techpawn · · Score: 5, Funny

    the system requires you to wear Minority Report-style gloves
    come on! Don't toy with my emotions!!! Power glove man! System requires you to wear modified power gloves!
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    Ask not what you can do for your country. Ask what your country did to you
    1. Re:What style gloves? by AKAImBatman · · Score: 3, Funny

      I love the Power Glove. It's so baaad.

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      Javascript + Nintendo DSi = DSiCade
    2. Re:What style gloves? by morgan_greywolf · · Score: 3, Informative

      I love the Power Glove. It's so baaad. Oh, c'mon. This one's on YouTube for cryin' outloud. At least provide some linkage.
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      My blog
    3. Re:What style gloves? by AKAImBatman · · Score: 5, Funny

      If you actually need a YouTube video to know what I'm talking about, you need to hand in your geek card. NOW.

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      Javascript + Nintendo DSi = DSiCade
    4. Re:What style gloves? by AKAImBatman · · Score: 4, Funny

      No, you lose (sorry, loose) points for that. Tom Cruise stars in that movie, remember? Which means you get scored -1 Scientology Wacko Supporter. :-P

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      Javascript + Nintendo DSi = DSiCade
  2. Table by pavon · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Would it be possible to shine IR light through the edge of a plexiglass surface, and then when the user touches the surface it would cause the IR to scatter at that point creating a point source for the Wiimote to track?

  3. from tfa: it kinda works by 192939495969798999 · · Score: 3, Informative

    If the video crashes at some point, a quick recap: it kinda works. You can see at certain points, the images get dropped and it looks like it doesn't totally track perfectly with where the fingers vs. screen are. However, it is an awesome technology and idea... maybe with a couple of remotes you could triangulate more precisely and get that true 'minority report' feel... just what i need for my tri-monitor setup :)

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  4. Re:If only we could control Slashdot with a Wiimot by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    If you saw it three weeks ago, then why didn't you post it? Oh, you were too lazy? Then STFU.

  5. Touch and Feel User Interface by Doc+Ruby · · Score: 3, Interesting

    We're used to moving an actual thing around to do stuff. The physical reaction into our fingers is very important. The mouse gives a minimum, but the trackpad gives more. Touchless manual gestures don't keep the hands locked in a feedback loop with the virtual object, so they'll be clumsy.

    What I'm waiting for is a thin memory plastic layer over a touchscreen, that can raise bumps and edges defining onscreen GUIs. Vibrating gloves could be good for simulating textures, but there's no tech for simulating tensile or inertial force in virtual objects. Maybe some kind of eccentric gyroscope, but I've never seen one.

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  6. Updated video posted by cynergylabs · · Score: 3, Informative

    An updated version of this video has been posted to the Cynergy Labs Site. http://labs.cynergysystems.com/

  7. Where is the software by brent_linux · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Ok I get it. You can make multitouch interfaces. I have made multitouch interfaces myself using a couple different methods.

    They aren't worth a damn though unless you have something to use them with. Where is the multitouch picture organizing software that I can display on my coffee table and let me family sort through the pictures. Where is the multitouch D&D program that will let me and my friends move our characters through a dungeon with miniatures? Where is the multitouch coloring book that I can put a bunch of kids on? Multitouch math races? Multitouch Chemical Compound manipulation?

    We need software. We have ways to interact now. We need things to interact with.

  8. Two words by Reality+Master+101 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Two words: tired arms.

    Unfortunately, these sort of interfaces suffer from the same problems that doomed touch screen and light pens 20 years ago ("They can just touch the screen! How easy is that??") Users liked them at first, but holding your arm up is tiring. Try reaching out to your monitor and trace your Slashdot window for five minutes and see how long you last. It's *hard*.

    There's a reason people in the Old Days wrote on flat tables, and didn't write on easels. That's also why artists who do use easels typically do "stroke and rest" (and why cartoonists use a flatter table)

    A touch table is far superior for this sort of thing for that reason.

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    Sometimes it's best to just let stupid people be stupid.
  9. Not. by no_opinion · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I got to play with the Microsoft touch at CES. This is nothing like it. The MS table uses a camera underneath the screen, so it can do things like recognize physical objects. Imagine thumbing through artwork on the table, then putting your wireless MP3 player down on the table and dragging the artwork to it and having it wirelessly sync. Pretty cool, if you ask me. They demoed this at CES. Basically anything with a barcode can be recognized as a unique device. Without this type of physical object recognition, the Wii version is a poor substitute, besides the fact you can't actually use all 10 fingers (or 20, if there are two of you) at once.