Touchless Gesture User Interfaces

An anonymous reader writes "Elliptic Labs is set to debut their Touchless Gesture User Interface technology which uses ultrasound to let the user navigate through a device's commands simply with the motion of their hands. From the article: 'Elliptic plans to showcase their “Mimesign” technology at IFA in Berlin from the 3rd to 8th of September 2010. Mimesign will bring intuitive ways for people to interact with devices. The possibilities range from tablets, remote controls or in-car media controls. The interface is based on ultrasound technology and allows the user to remain in an unchanged state.'"

Comments

Wonderful

[ColdWetDog]

So, instead of people simply talking into bluetooth mics, gesturing wildly in space and acting like a schizophrenic off their meds, you're simultaneously going to have people waving their arms around like they are conducting a symphony.

Yep, cubicleville is going to get even weirder than it already is.

how retro-futurist

[Trepidity]

In glorious future, we operate our computers as if they were theremins!

Re:how retro-futurist

[Anonymous Coward]

I still prefer the future in which we operate our computers as if they were extension of or brain's synapse.

Re:how retro-futurist

[arth1]

Theremins are cool, but...
Thankfully, no, future interfaces will also let our arms rest, and we won't have to wave our arms around like Tom Cruise. Because of what's known as the gorilla arm syndrome, any user interface that requires users to lift their arms for any length of time is doomed to fail in the long run.

Sure, this might be viable for operations you seldom do, like dimming the lights or turning on a monitor, but it won't be viable for any prolonged use.

Re:how retro-futurist

[Anonymous Coward]

Because of what's known as the gorilla arm syndrome, any user interface that requires users to lift their arms for any length of time is doomed to fail in the long run.

You must have a girlfriend.

Re:how retro-futurist

[Dr Max]

In glorious future, we operate our computers as if they were girls!

Don’t get me wrong I have had some great times with girls. But if I tell a computer to rewind the movie to the beginning of the scene I want it to rewind, not start an hour long story about what her day was like only to continue to, that I’m not doing enough house work, to giving me dirty looks for a while before starting a completely different movie (and thats not even in her special time of the month). Not to mention all the extra money you'll spend on flowers and chocolate, or how geeky you'll look when you take your computer out on the town after it refuses to play gta4 all week because you never take her any where special.

HHTG

[MichaelSmith]

To keep watching the same program you must remain absolutely still in front of the TV.

But seriously, the gesture to shut something down would require exactly one finger...

Re:HHTG

[Dewin]

Two fingers.

Re:HHTG

[richlv]

i'm less concerned about sitting still, but more about "The interface is based on ultrasound technology and allows the user to remain in an unchanged state." part.

are there solutions that require changing state to/from solid/liquid/gas ?

Re:"allows the user to remain in an unchanged stat

[arth1]

Perhaps this kind of sensitivity to motions will progress as slowly as true AI with respect to lag but I can see some serious changes coming down the road....

My fear is that we'll see a bunch of hand-waving drivers coming down the road...

HHGTG

[sharkey]

Sounds like the radio on the Heart of Gold to me.

Re:Star Trek

[R3d M3rcury]

In Star Wars, Darth Vader uses gesture-based technology to strangle people and make stuff fly around the room. That's much cooler than anything Star Trek could come up with.

I misread...

[Sarten-X]

I misread the headline as "Useless gesture interface". I'm not so certain that's wrong.

Seriously, people already have a hard enough time using computers. Humans in general simply aren't perceptive enough to realize "clockwise swirly motion" means refresh the browser page. Then there's the complications of positioning, and people who talk with their hands... ...I think I'll stick to a mouse. Thanks.

Nintendo Power Glove

[technomancerX]

This is the same basic tech that was used to track position on the old Nintendo Power Glove, and having used it and written drivers to interface it to a PC, it isn't accurate enough to work for anything finer grained than what's shown in the video. So if you want to control something using large, sweeping, ungainly hand gestures this is the tech you want.

from The Guide

[tyme]

from the first paragraph of chapter 12 of HHGTTG:

"For years radios had been operated by means of pressing buttons and turning dials; then as the technology became more sophisticated the controls were made touch-sensitive -- you merely had to brush the panels with your fingers; now all you had to do was wave your hand in the general direction of the components and hope. It saved a lot of muscular expenditure of course, but meant that you had to sit infuriatingly still if you wanted to keep listening to the same programme."

Pity the dog in the same room with it

[RevWaldo]

Watching their human helplessly and impotently flail his/her arms about in the direction of this thing making this godawful ultrasonic racket their pitiful master seems unable to stop. I fear many a pricey device are going to fall victim to a sudden outbreak of misplaced canine heroics.

.

reminds me of kinect, if kinect wasn't for games

[aeiah]

when i first heard about the xbox kinect (nee natal) i thought it'd be great if it ever gets hacked to work with linux, or even windows, so we could use it in media centres and htpcs. this kind of gesture recognition is only useful for sporadic instructions though. scrolling up and down, turning the volume up etc, and only if you can do it by moving your hand, not your arms