A No-Touching 3D Computer Interface 123
Justin Schunick points out a video demonstration of a 3D input system which senses the user's hand position, but without requiring the user to touch a controller or wear a trackable position indicator. From the provided description: "Utilizing the theory of electrostatics, we have designed a low-cost human-computer interface device that has the ability to track the position of a user's hand in three dimensions. Physical contact is not required and the user does not need to hold a controller or attach markers to their body. To control the device, the user simply waves their hand above it in the air."
a 2d drawing application for a 3d interface? (Score:2, Insightful)
Why? a little counter-intuitive, my tablet can do that much better.
I think it's an awesome idea, but poorly executed examples.
Re:Look... (Score:3, Insightful)
If my experience with a Theremin means anything... (Score:5, Insightful)
5ft x 5ft x 5ft mouse pad? (Score:4, Insightful)
Interesting from a tech, nerd perspective I suppose. However, a web cam and a computer vision gesture control app can produce the same effect much more efficiently.
Touch interface fitness required (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:a 2d drawing application for a 3d interface? (Score:3, Insightful)
I think it's an awesome idea, but poorly executed examples.
So what does it do when my hands get tired? Crash my spaceship into the nearest moon?
So the reinvented the Theremin? (Score:3, Insightful)
Except with electrostatics instead of heterodyning?
Carpal tunnel or muscle strain (Score:3, Insightful)
I don't know about everyone else, but holding my hands anywhere in free space takes quite a bit of energy unless they are hanging at my sides. The reason the keyboard and mouse or other touch surfaces work well is because they allow a person to rest their limbs in an unnatural position.
So I am not sure about anything that doesn't allow a person to rest... it'd be like using a whiteboard all day long, and that is quite tiring!
yumm (Score:3, Insightful)
If I were using this on a desktop, I wouldn't mind wearing a small button on my hand to allow me to click easier (squeezing your thumb and index finger is less effort than moving your whole arm forward) and maybe have a small brace to rest my wrist on, one that gimbals around, to save my arm from being tired.
If it could be made simpler and integrated with mobile devices I could see it begin a winner though. Tiny mice and track pads are horrible, Touch screens have always been my prefered mobile input device and one that lets me use the computer with my fingers without smudging the screen would make me happy :D
Do I sense a Theramin app for the iPhone 5G?
Re:5ft x 5ft x 5ft mouse pad? (Score:2, Insightful)
But hey... it's cheap and you could use it for cybersex ;) Never underestimate the power of porn!
Re:a 2d drawing application for a 3d interface? (Score:3, Insightful)
Can't RTFA at work, but the obvious answer is "you make a gesture that signals you're detaching from the controller".
A full-blown sign language then? How is that better than a keyboard again?
Re:Look... (Score:3, Insightful)
Mod Up!
Make it a hybrid interface.
Big touchpad where the mouse is now, plus the ability to recognize gestures above it.
Monitors are for looking at.
Re:a 3d I/O application for 1d data entry (Score:3, Insightful)
(1) people learn international sign language, and it assists in international communication.
I'm a Hungarian, living in the UK, posting on an American website. Don't tell me about international communication.
(2) The speed of data entry would be increased greatly.
Compared to a touchscreen, maybe. Assuming of course the software can translate SL into your native language. Compared to a keyboard, this is a joke. Try coding C in sign language, and report back when they let you out from the mental institute.
(3) It seems to me probable that there would be decreased cost and possibly (if it was done by a designed/dedicated chip) decreased battery usage by using sign lanugage instead of other means
You mean a high quality (especially considering #4) camera and a custom-designed and -manufactured chip or recognition software with the associated CPU load vs. a $10 keyboard?
(4) Logon would be simplified, with simply flashing a thumbprint.
Fingerprint is not a secret. Repeat that until it sinks in. (They use it to catch criminals because we leave them all over the place, you know.)