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Portables Hardware

"Body Talk" Could Control Gadgets 111

Posted by Hemos from the talking-with-the-machines dept.
Fragglebabe writes "The BBC reports that we could soon be controlling our gadgets using small movements of the body, such as a nod of the head. In order to make this possible, 'Audio cloud' technology has been developed by researchers at the University of Glasgow. They say that 'audio clouds could make using mobile devices on the move safer and easier'. According to the article, 'the researchers have developed ways to control gadgets, such as personal digital assistants (PDAs) and music players, using 3D sound for output and gestures for input.'"
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"Body Talk" Could Control Gadgets More

"Body Talk" Could Control Gadgets

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  • the easiest place to test this new technology (Score:4, Funny)

    by R.D.Olivaw ( 826349 ) on Monday April 04, 2005 @07:56AM (#12132403)
    inflatable dolls!

  • Okay (Score:4, Funny)

    by anon*127.0.0.1 ( 637224 ) <slashdot@baudkaM ... om minus painter> on Monday April 04, 2005 @07:56AM (#12132406) Journal
    So what happens if I start headbanging during my morning drive to work?

    • Re:Okay (Score:2, Funny)

      by Kierthos ( 225954 )
      You swerve across three lanes of traffic, piling into an oncoming tractor-trailer. Better stick with the easy listening on the morning commute.

      Kierthos

    • Re:Okay (Score:2, Funny)

      by Anonymous Coward
      Your cell phone calls your girlfriend 186 times before the Whitesnake song is finally over.

  • What problem does this solve again ? (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 04, 2005 @07:56AM (#12132409)

    sure we can see the advantages for disabled people but for the able bodied this seems like a solution looking for a problem

    there must be some bored execs about

    • Re:What problem does this solve again ? (Score:2, Insightful)

      by Anonymous Coward
      sure we can see the advantages for disabled people but for the able bodied this seems like a solution looking for a problem

      How about times when your hands are full and the environment is noisy? Say an auto mechanic working on a motor, he could be adjusting components and still have simple control over a diagnostic computer. I'm sure there are plenty of other potential uses. I think the problem is that whenever something like this comes up, everyone always assumes that it is something that is designed
    • From the demos [gla.ac.uk] is more academics looking for paper topics than bored execs. The use of 3D spatial audio clues or "audio cloud" is interesting. The brain is very good at using stuff like that to listen in on a conversation three tables over in a noisy pub, for example. The demos are pretty dry and don't show or explain much to an outsider.

      Perhaps they should dump everything else and work on that Harry Potter-like wizards game they mentioned? (And hope that the forces of J.K. Rowlings don't attack!)

    • Actually, if you consider the next steps beyond these first hints, you may have a machine that understands sign language in your future. The neat thing is that sign language is pretty much an international standard, and if we all learn it to talk to our machines, then we will be able to talk to each other more easily, also.

  • I'm telling you, boss, ... (Score:5, Funny)

    by RyoSaeba ( 627522 ) on Monday April 04, 2005 @07:58AM (#12132415) Journal
    ... that nasty, inflammatory mail towards i appear to have sent is the result of my coughing! The mail reader thought i was composing a mail!

  • Clearly in the future (Score:5, Funny)

    by dan dan the dna man ( 461768 ) on Monday April 04, 2005 @08:00AM (#12132420) Homepage Journal
    medics will have a hard time diagnosing Parkinsons..

  • Fantastic Direction (Score:2, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward
    HCI has not really had any new ideas since the mouse. It is great to see people working on practical ways to interface with mobile devices. I'd love to try this one. I bet using it would give me lots of ideas for new twists on the principle, and for useful applications.
  • and music players, using 3D sound for output and gestures for input

    In here [slashdot.org] too.
    Yes my friend [slashdot.org]. You're probably right.

  • This is dumb (Score:2, Insightful)

    by connah0047 ( 850585 )
    I think we've already proved this concept is silly with the Sharp's V603SH. [pcworld.com]

  • I know the submitter did this on purpose (Score:5, Funny)

    by eclectro ( 227083 ) on Monday April 04, 2005 @08:03AM (#12132435)
    Now I can't get this stupid song out of my head. It's the eighties all over again;

    Let's get physical, physical,
    I wanna get physical, let's get into physical
    Let me hear your body talk,
    Your body talk, let me hear your body talk

  • Could be useful if done right (Score:5, Insightful)

    by janek78 ( 861508 ) on Monday April 04, 2005 @08:05AM (#12132444) Homepage
    Sure this could be useful, I can see some great uses for disabled people (e.g. it could make using certain devices easier for people who lost their finger(s)).

    "The whole thing is about trying to make it more natural and using the right way to control something at the right time."

    I think this paragraph sums it up nicely. I always fear these smart phones (PDAs, gadgets or even PCs), because once they start guessing what you want them to do it's fine 95% of the time when they get it right. But those 5% can become a real nightmare (if they take away some low level control from you).

    Could be also a bit hard to use for old people with hand tremor (or Parkinson's disease). But I guess you can filter this low amnplitude tremor out (wasn't there an article about a smooth mouse on /. recently?).

    So I say yes, but please give me a full backup option to control my /insert a favorite gadget here/.

  • I can see it now: (Score:4, Funny)

    by Daedalus_ ( 38808 ) on Monday April 04, 2005 @08:07AM (#12132449)
    Walking down the street twitching like an epileptic trying to get your PDA to tell your phone to dial your mom.
  • ... and I contributed it to the Da Vinci institute's Museum of Future Inventions. [davinciinstitute.com]

    Slashdot regulars will remember the Da Vinci institute from this story. [slashdot.org]

  • "Relaxation " to control stuff. (Score:4, Interesting)

    by zijus ( 754409 ) on Monday April 04, 2005 @08:09AM (#12132464)

    From (dead) medialab Europe MindGames [medialabeurope.org] section, the Relax to Win game.

    Philip McDarby, Daragh McDonnell, Rob Burke A racing game in which each person controls a dragon that moves quicker as they relax. The race is competitive and stressful however the person most relaxed wins. Possible applications of this research are in the treatment of stress, anxiety disorder and attention deficit disorder.

    AFAIR, their aim was to actually provides games for teaching humans how to control some physiological signals, in order to enable better (simpler, more natural, ... ?) Human/machine interfaces in the future.

    Z.

  • Based on the movement in you pants (Score:5, Funny)

    by Timesprout ( 579035 ) on Monday April 04, 2005 @08:09AM (#12132465)
    It looks like you want to shag that pretty blonde over there.Would you like be to help with that by

    (a) Suggesting some useful chatup lines
    (b) Preparing your love pad while you are doing your stufmuffin routine
    (c) Adopt a more realistic attitude and explain why that girl would not have sex with you if you were the lasst man on earth

  • Are they insane? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Illserve ( 56215 ) on Monday April 04, 2005 @08:10AM (#12132468)
    Admittedly, I didn't read the article, but I don't think I have to to know this is a bad idea because I've heard it all before.

    How the hell is linking tiny gestural movements to PDA/mobile control going to improve control for people "on the go"? Whether, walking or driving, if I'm actively moving from one place to another, my body needs to be involved in the process. If I have to control head motion while driving or walking to control a PDA, my awareness of my surroundings will be worse.

    This whole idea of controlling devices with formerly incidental motions is like a recurring bad dream. Wake up. This idea is bad. It will not work. While we can consciously control these motions with severe training, the default state is that the brain does these things automatically. Any communication medium that forces the user to laboriously reprogram their own brain so that formerly automated behaviours have to reside under exclusive conscious control are impractical.

    The most successful user input devices (ie. cars, telephones, pencils, keyboards) have always focussed on elements of interaction that are under direct control in the context of the use of that device (ie I don't control my feet while walking, but I do while sitting in a car, because the walking program isn't engaged)

    • Also... you'd like a freak, waving your hand around, nodding your head this way and that as you walk down the street. People would step out of their way to avoid you.

      Noone is going to want to walk around doing that.

      This sounds like people looking too hard for a "new idea" that can win them bucks. Except that it sucks, and it's not even new (the Media lab's been doing this for many years)
      • What a totally weird image -- a streetful of people hurrying about their business, all bobbing their heads and waving their hands like a flock of demented pigeons on speed :)

        I suppose if "everyone is doing it" most folk wouldn't feel self-conscious about it. Even so... I'm reminded of some old SF movie where an alien tries to imitate a person who has a nervous tick.

    • i've got a revolutionary idea: we'll put a button on the device that disconnects the electricity, rendering the device inert while you are walking around and doing other things, so as to not accidentally activate it.

      we can label it "Power".
      • Quick, patent it before Amazon do
      • If you're only going to use it when you're not doing anything else, why not just whip out a keyboard instead?

        No, the real point of all these alternative input devices is that you can use them while you're doing something else. I have doubts that this would work better than a Twiddler in that respect, though (let alone the issue of cognitive load inherent in the whole thing).
        • No, the real point of all these alternative input devices is that you can use them while you're doing something else.

          that does not preclude the option of turning the device on and then use it while you are doing something else. for example, using a cell phone with a headset while driving, walking, or feeding the dog.

          hell, even on star trek TNG they push the little automagical communicator badge before using it. well, usually, but that's a different rant for a different web site.

          • hell, even on star trek TNG they push the little automagical communicator badge before using it. well, usually, but that's a different rant for a different web site.

            Star Trek has also solved AI, so they can have all the fancy computer control they want (e.g. the auto-opening doors know when somebody wants to lean against them, and stay shut).

            But anyway, in your original post it sounded like you were proposing a power switch because movement would cause unintentional input. If that's the case, then there

    • Re:Are they insane? (Score:1, Insightful)

      by Anonymous Coward
      I think product engineers spend a lot of time/money on things like fancy new user interfaces because it is an excuse for not having to do more useful (but much harder) problem solving work.

      Frankly, a mobile phone or PDA that I can control via voice/touch/brainwaves is nice, but I would trade it all for a simpler device with a far longer battery life. Or how about a screen that was actually sharp enough to read text for extended periods of time?

      When was the last time anyone used voice-dialing on their mobi

    • Re:Are they insane? (Score:1, Interesting)

      by Anonymous Coward
      I'm don't think we're insane -- but hey who knows. The idea is to make interaction more natural, not less as you suggest; rather than pressing tiny little buttons, subtle but robust gesture recognition can be used instead. This does NOT mean holding your head really still and twitching carefully or making wild arm movements to control the device.

      The point is to make small intentional movements which are discriminated from the background noise of walking, driving and so on. Detecting the intentionality of g
      • Thanks for replying. Sorry about the "insane" crack, I'm on 3 hours of sleep.

        If you've effectively solved the problem of determing the user's intent when they make gesture X, as opposed to gesture Y, while allowing people to make natural gestures (as opposed to tortuous twitches).... you should be doing better things with your genius than making new Ipod controllers.

        You have apparently cracked problems of cognitive psychology that have been stumping legions of scientists for decades.

        If these getures are

  • Wow. (Score:5, Funny)

    by Yeldarb-7 ( 873124 ) on Monday April 04, 2005 @08:12AM (#12132477) Homepage
    controlling our gadgets using small movements of the body

    Can you imagine, what if you could control a device by simply touching it with our finger? We could call it a "button."
    • Might not be so straight forward if you were missing those important limbs that link your fingers to your torso, or were paralized, or suffered from hand tremors, or were blind, etc...

  • Douglas Adams foresaw it (Score:5, Funny)

    by thbb ( 200684 ) on Monday April 04, 2005 @08:12AM (#12132479) Homepage
    The machine was rather difficult to operate. 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 ... 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 you had to stay infuriatingly still if you wanted to keep listening to the same programme.

    D. Adams, 1979 The hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy. chapter 12, first paragraph.

    See also: Charade: remote control of objects using free hand gestures [baudel.name] (1993)

  • Why? (Score:4, Funny)

    by JanneM ( 7445 ) on Monday April 04, 2005 @08:12AM (#12132480) Homepage
    "Laypeople will see a new idea and wonder 'Why?'.
    A scientist will see a new idea and wonder 'Can I get funding for doung this?'"

  • Anyone remember this in Hitch-Hikers Guide To The Galaxy? Where you had to "sit infuriatingly still if you wanted to keep listening to the same channel"....?
  • "Surprising everyone in the game industry, Flight Sims received a massive popularity boost this year, beating out Halflife2 in terms of overall sales as gamers flock to try out the new and appropriately named "joystick" control functionality."

    $10 to the first scriptwriter that lets me mount a drive with my wang ;)
  • I hope this will not end as radio controll in the hitchhikers guide to the galaxy :-)

  • Showing my age, but... (Score:5, Interesting)

    by DiamondGeezer ( 872237 ) on Monday April 04, 2005 @08:38AM (#12132603) Homepage
    Folks,

    we've been hearing about control of gadgets, faucets and light bulbs using heat, remote control, computer control, nodding, winking, clapping, voice control and other electronic marvels for as long as I can remember (ie the mid 1970s).

    Yet, we're still using light switches whose fundamental design hasn't changed since Edison. We still have doors that open or close (instead of slide to one side a la "Star Trek") manually using something we old-timers call a "door handle". We still open a faucet which is entirely mechanical in design.

    Face it, these hyped-up-but-never-deployed electronic marvels are poor quality alternatives to straightforward mechanical design, and always liable to go wrong (especially during a power-outage).

    We'll still be using the same stuff in fifty years - just get over it. There are more compelling uses for technology than these solutions-for-problems-that-don't-require-solution s.
    • Yet, we're still using light switches whose fundamental design hasn't changed since Edison. We still have doors that open or close (instead of slide to one side a la "Star Trek") manually using something we old-timers call a "door handle". We still open a faucet which is entirely mechanical in design.

      In the home, yes. However, in commercial buildings it is not at all uncommon to see automatic doors (although they don't sweep to the side), automatic faucets, and lights on motion sensors.
      • Actually, most automatic doors do slide to the side, even if you don't count elevator doors, at least in my neck o' the woods. However, the numbers dramatically reverse if you count the manual doors that have handicap power openers.
    • So you've never been to a supermarket I see. It's all about timing, purpose, and price. When something is needed quickly, it has a purpose, and the price is not as important. When something is cheap enough, the purpose need not be serious. You better believe we'll have automated thumb-print-openable doors when they cost the same as the normal kind.
    • Sliding doors (and their cousin the pocket door) are a matter of practicality for the location; they've been around in various forms for centuries. Many older homes and nearly all older house trailers use pocket doors. They may even predate the hinged door, given that a pocket door (aka sliding door) is really just a gate that can be picked up and moved sideways, to which has been added a handy sliding track. Hinged doors require a lot more supporting architecture (frame, latch, etc.)

      A better example would
      • A better example would be the Star Trek notion of how a table and chairs would look -- you're not sure what it is, how to use it, or where the heck you'd sit.
        Maybe I'm not as much of a trekkie as I thought I was, but I can't recall any unidentifiable furniture (at least in areas designed for humans). Could you cite an example?
        • I think I was just using Star Trek as a shared example of a place one might find "pointless futurism" (since the parent post mentioned ST too).

          [big silly grin] At one time I could have ID'd any ST-TOS still by episode and scene, and supplied the matching dialog to boot. But I don't think I've seen any of TOS since the late 1970s, and by now all the specifics have fallen out of my head, or got overwritten during an upgrade to Star Wars :) I do vaguely recall some odd-shaped furniture here and there in TOS,

  • This is nice... (Score:4, Funny)

    by Neo's Nemesis ( 679728 ) on Monday April 04, 2005 @08:40AM (#12132612) Journal
    so by the time i finish my morning walk, i have had downloaded premium ringtones, deleted some apps, ordered truckloads of food, and conspired to bomb the white house. all unknowingly, seemingly.

  • Here's the killer app. (Score:3, Funny)

    by Coelacanth ( 323321 ) on Monday April 04, 2005 @08:47AM (#12132655)
    ...if the accelerometers in your phone sense that you are weaving between lanes, then it provides a mild electric shock and hangs up. If you go around a traffic circle more than 360 degrees, it cuts the ignition and calls the local constabulary.

    Oh, and if you download a polyphonic ringtone based on an Abba song, it shocks you to death on the spot.
  • can i get a hard shutdown if i flip it the bird...
  • here's one BBC article [bbc.co.uk] noting that "Hands-free kits are allowed, but many road safety experts say they do not reduce the risks of having an accident."

    I can't find a good reference right now, but I'm sure NPR reported on a research study that showed that it was the distraction caused by ''talking'' on a cell phone, not the use of one hand to hold it, that was the issue.

    Giving the brain additional physical channels to use for multitasking isn't going to affect the fact the brain's ability or inability to mu

  • Heh.. The problems of the future (Score:4, Funny)

    by dep01 ( 730107 ) on Monday April 04, 2005 @09:07AM (#12132796) Homepage
    "Hey Steve! Did you finish that report I assigned you?"

    *Steve Nods*

    *Device in pocket starts playing music loudly, he reaches for it with his left arm*

    *arm movement triggers cell-phone ringtone demo system*

    "BAH!" yells Steve.

    *Vocal command automatically dials 911, police are dispatched*

    "Calm down, Steve! You're only making it worse! Stop!"

    *Voice command "Stop" recognized on Steve's computer, closing all programs*

    "Noooo!!"

    "Help!"

    *Police department dialed a second time, ambulances dispatched*

    "We can't stop it!! It's too laaaate!"

  • Can you imagine walking down the street while nodding and gesturing to control your MP3 player? As if geeks aren't considered weird enough already; with this we'd all look like we have Tourette's syndrome as well...
    • Tourette's... Unless your movements cause you to swear uncontrollaby then no. But I guess all that hardware based annoyance might just make you do that.
  • come find me when I can plug the thing right into my brain and move the mouse with just a thought

    in fact screw the mouse, I just want to see my porn...
    *thinks "open porn"*
    be happy

  • allready there. (Score:2, Informative)

    by C0d1ngM0nk3y ( 851310 )

    Fighter pilots have head tracking on HMD (helmet mounted displays) that make it easier for them to target enemy aricraft.

    They're available commercially too (for flight sims, etc), bit pricey though...

    http://www.vrealities.com/logitech.html [vrealities.com]

  • At last real entertainment for tech support! (Score:4, Funny)

    by Redwin ( 805980 ) on Monday April 04, 2005 @10:31AM (#12133574)
    Just think of the abuse you could do to users!

    "To start the application you have to wave your arms like a chicken and jump up and down"

    "No no! VIGOROUSLY shake the handheld.. your not doing it fast enough"

    "No! Don't do that! If you move all the files will be deleted! And don't even think about sneezing! You don't want do delete everything on the network do you!?! Stay absolutly still in that position till I find a solution"

    Oooo the power! Bwhahahahaha!
  • will now be filled with twitchy people.
  • Let's see: Cellphone Headsets: talking when nobody is around. This tech: gestulating wildly for no apparent reason. I've seen some early adopters around here (pushing shopping carts for some reason); now I know what they were doing!
  • This is useful research, but it's incremental and verges on engineering. Gestural interaction for both mobile devices and stationary computers is well studied, as is 3D audio.

    Most likely, in the real world, you'll end up with Bluetooth headsets and acceleration sensors in your devices for simple gestural interactions: cheap, reliable technologies.
  • "Body Talk" makes this thing go "Round and Round" huh?
  • I only hope this means I can deactivate my emotions chip in a quick manner while moving in to fight the Borg.

  • Aha! This will finally allow us to "read" the previously indecipherable actions of women. Now all we need is one to talk to us in the first place.

    Baby steps... baby steps...

  • Sounds like Starship Troopers
  • High-functioning autistics and those with Asperger's Syndrome have routine problems comprehending and using body language, so will there be a special version of this product for them?
  • We were at Vodafone's presser in Tokyo Jan. 31 that inro'd their V603SH handset saying it "is the first phone to feature a Motion Control Sensor that recognises and responds to movements." Actually has pretty cool potential for things like gaming and even maps, let alone as short cut function to your e-mail with a quick flick of the wrist.. ;-) http://www.wirelesswatch.jp/modules.php?name=News& file=article&sid=1145/ [wirelesswatch.jp]

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