gesture recognition – Techdirt (original) (raw)
Stories filed under: "gesture recognition"
DailyDirt: It Turns Out People Want Keyboards… Until They Don't
from the urls-we-dig-up dept
We’ve seen plenty of different input devices, but it’s pretty hard to displace the traditional keyboard and mouse combination. Touchscreens have their usefulness (but perhaps not on a 20″ 4K display), and maybe someday gesture recognition will be more common outside of gaming. Ultimately, we’re likely to see more and more options for how to best interact with various kinds of software, and that’s a good thing. Here are just a few more examples of cool digital interfaces.
- Chinese company Dexta has developed an “exoglove” (aka Dexmo) that’s an exoskeleton glove for detecting hand movements and providing some haptic feedback. This input device had a Kickstarter project, but it’s been cancelled without much explanation. Pre-ordering appears to be available still (for $175 per hand), but buyer beware if you think this exoglove will be a plug-and-play accessory. [url]
- Flow is a (yet another) mouse alternative that includes gesture recognition and some haptics and a kind of dialing mechanism. It’s a neat programmable tool that aims to be a controller for almost any computing device (phone, tablet or desktop/laptop), but it might be a bit too customizable for people who don’t use Photoshop or CAD software on a regular basis. [url]
- In 2003, Steve Jobs commented on the Newton, saying “It turns out people want keyboards” — but that obviously wasn’t the end of input innovation. Virtual reality interfaces may be getting better and better, but it could still take a while for the “killer UI” that doesn’t make you want to vomit in 3D. [url]
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Filed Under: controller, crowdfunding, exoglove, exoskeleton, flow, gesture recognition, haptics, hmi, input devices, keyboard, mouse, newton, steve jobs, ui
Companies: dexta, indiegogo, kickstarter
DailyDirt: Beyond Simple Mice And Touchscreens
from the urls-we-dig-up dept
The keyboard and mouse combination has been a standard for several decades now, but there’s always room for some improvement. Touchscreens are a nice way to interact with phones and tablets (and phablets), and maybe someday we won’t be able to keep our greasy fingers off our 5K desktop and laptop screens either. We’re always looking out for interesting input devices, and here are just a few other input methods that might get popular.
- If you’re using a small touchscreen, it doesn’t always make sense to cover up parts of it with your finger. Apple will offer its “digital crown” as an alternative to the touchscreen, but there’s also a gesture recognition app for devices that have a camera and some decent processing power. [url]
- Everything gets smaller and smaller, so what’s smaller than a smart watch? A smart ring. An integrated accelerometer and some touch sensors could make a wearable ring a more convenient gesture input device. Battery life might be a bit of a challenge for such a small device, but then again the first “smart rings” don’t actually look that small. [url]
- More advanced touchscreens may be able to tell the difference between a finger, a knuckle, a fingernail or a stylus. But will these futuristic devices be able to understand the frustration behind a closed fist banging on them? [url]
If you’d like to read more awesome and interesting stuff, check out this unrelated (but not entirely random!) Techdirt post via StumbleUpon.
Filed Under: digital crown, gesture recognition, input devices, sensors, smart ring, smart watch, stylus, touchscreens, ui, wearables
DailyDirt: Who Needs A Mouse And Keyboard Anymore?
from the urls-we-dig-up dept
Tech news headlines often imply that a new gadget will completely kill off older devices by making them obsolete. Tablets were supposed to “kill” the PC, but that hasn’t happened. On the other side of the spectrum, some folks have suggested that no tool ever completely dies. However, that’s an extreme position, too. Innovation involves a succession of minor improvements, and occasionally, there are advances that are so significant that people can’t help but try to explain the shifts in exaggerated black-and-white terms. The actual story is usually much more complex. We’re getting more and more cool input methods beyond simple keyboards, and here are just a few nifty gadgets that probably won’t replace keyboards (or mice) but might make human-to-computer communication a bit easier for people.
- The Sprout by HP is a PC with a novel interface that uses a camera, a projector and a touchmat (but it can also use a keyboard and mouse). Similar user interfaces have been proposed before (eg. 10/GUI), and sci-fi movies are always promoting floating gesture UI systems that replace keyboards and mice. [url]
- HaptoMime is a mid-air touch interaction system that uses floating images from a holographic display and provides haptic feedback to mimic a touchscreen interface. The focused ultrasound aimed at your fingertips looks cool — but also a little bit strange and probably something you’d have to use for a bit to get accustomed to. On the other hand, no more greasy fingerprint-covered touchscreens, yay! [url]
- The SideSwipe system provides a gesture recognition system for mobile phones. It’s far from perfected, however. It has an accuracy rate of about 87% for 14 different gestures, but it doesn’t require a camera — it relies on wireless signal reflections off a user’s hand. [url]
If you’d like to read more awesome and interesting stuff, check out this unrelated (but not entirely random!) Techdirt post via StumbleUpon.
Filed Under: 10/gui, gesture recognition, haptic feedback, haptomime, hmi, holographic display, input devices, sideswipe, sprout, touchscreen, ui, user interface
Companies: hp