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German Researchers Show Off a Gesture-Based Interface

Posted by timothy on from the amazon-patent-trolls-crouch-and-drool dept.

smitty777 writes "The folks at the Potsdam University have developed a user interface based completely on hand gestures. A small(ish) device worn around the neck is used to track the hand position, allowing the user to draw, type, or gesture in the air. You think it looks ridiculous when you can't tell that folks are talking on a cell phone? Imagine a bus full of people gesturing in thin air. Also, don't forget to turn this thing off, or it will look like your cat was walking on your keyboard." Update: 06/11 00:54 GMT by T : This informative comment (kudos!) adds links to a video demonstration and the researcher's own site.

5 of 69 comments (clear)

  1. German Researchers? by mindbrane · · Score: 4, Funny

    German Researchers Show Off a Gesture-Based Interface

    Shurley you jest sir, this could only have been invented by the Italians. OTOH this would be the equivalent of a mute button for the Brits.

    --
    ideopath @ play
  2. Not good!!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Remember the last time Germans started waving their hands around?

  3. That's a crappy article. by kurokame · · Score: 5, Informative

    Here's a much better one. There's even a video of the project in action.

    http://www.hpi.uni-potsdam.de/baudisch/projects/imaginary_interfaces.html

    To be honest, it doesn't look like much if you're already familiar with work in the field, but it's probably still worth a quick watch.

  4. Original sources by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    Original paper with video

    Research author page,
    project papers, and published papers.

    Institute home page

    Enjoy!

  5. Google Translate by by+(1706743) · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Will finally be able to translate from ASL!

    Yeah, yeah, you're probably thinking, "you insensitive clod, I'm from _____." Or making up some clever joke about age/sex/location...