Wave to the computer!
2008-01-11 11:20
Las Vegas - Nintendo's Wii video game console is a breakout hit in large part because users control the play by waving around a motion-sensing wireless controller.
Many new gadgets are taking the idea of such an intuitive interface several steps further. Now you can control computers, television sets, even cellphones with hand gestures alone.
In one demonstration by 3DV Systems at the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this week, users stood in front of a large screen and controlled a computer running Microsoft Corp's Windows operating system with hand gestures: thumb left to go left, index finger right to go right, victory sign for Enter.
JVC, also known as Victor Company of Japan Ltd, demonstrated a prototype TV with controls based on the same idea: gestures and sounds like snaps and claps turn the set on or off, control volume or change the channel.
The attention on motion controllers is accompanied by a new infusion of investment into the companies that make the technology. Earlier this week, New Enterprise Associates, Columbia Capital and Grotech Capital Funding invested $25m into Hillcrest Labs, a company whose technology is inside the Wii wand. Meanwhile, Thomson has purchased a company called Gyration, which has also licensed motion sensing technology used in the Wii.
The prospect of never again having to search the sofa for a remote is sure to be welcome in many homes, but the traditional fight over the remote could become worse: imagine two kids engaged in a sign-language duel to control the set, with the picture and sound changing frantically to keep up.
In another demo, when a 3DV employee performed boxing motions, an avatar on the screen in front of him mimicked the movement of his entire upper body - quite a step up from the boxing game of the Wii, which senses only the movement of the controllers.
Not just for fun
A particularly popular Wii game is bowling, where the user swings the remote as if it were a ball. Two phones that hit the Japanese market in May include bowling games that work the same way, but without the Wii: Swing the whole cellphone and you launch the ball down the lane shown on the screen.
The motion-sensing technology in those phones comes from GestureTek, a Sunnyvale, California, company. While the Wii's remote uses a combination of tiny mechanical springs and a camera to sense motion, GestureTek uses only cameras - quite conveniently, since most cellphones and quite a few laptops already come with cameras.
GestureTek's technology is already found on some Verizon Wireless cellphones, which contain a game were the user can roll a ball through a maze by tilting the phone. Another application is the EyeToy for Sony Corp's PlayStation 2, which lets you play simple games by moving in front of the camera.
The technology isn't just for fun; it can be healthy too. Francis MacDougall, GestureTek's chief technology officer, said the company has run studies of stroke patients playing a snowboarding game by moving in front of a camera and found it improved their balance. Wiis also have been used for physical therapy.
To take these relatively simple applications further, GestureTek and 3DV are looking at adding a third dimension: depth. A regular camera produces a two-dimensional picture. Two cameras together can sense how far away an object is, just like two eyes enable humans to perceive depth.
"We think the interactivity of all this stuff improves with depth," said MacDougall. "You can use that in very novel ways compared to 2-D."
MacDougall demonstrated a prototype of the Airpoint, a foot-long bar with an upward-facing camera at either end. When MacDougall held his finger above it, it sensed the finger's angle and position, letting him control a cursor on the computer screen by pointing.
"We see it initially as a gimmicky business-presentation type device, but you could see it built into the corners of a laptop," MacDougall said. That approach would compete with touch screen, but the Airpoint has something extra going for it: no fingerprints on the screen.