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."
Re:Touch interface fitness required (Score:5, Interesting)
Your arms are going to get tired very quickly using this interface...
Of course not, now you don't have to hold that heavy 5 gram light pen. No more gorilla arm syndrome !
This guy is a genius !
Um, wait.
Do the people who keep on re-inventing those interfaces actually ever ponder why each previous instance failed ?
A lot of these technologyies. (Score:3, Interesting)
A lot of these technologies are really waiting more for computing power to increase to a level where it can support it comfortable, more then new ideas on how to get it to work.
We know how to take 2 camera and generate a 3d model of what the cameras see. The problem is processing speed.
Re:If my experience with a Theremin means anything (Score:4, Interesting)
Just needed to turn down the sensitivity a little... like people who put their mouse on super slow tracking vs. those who prefer a quick twitch approach. Personally I'd like a trackpad replacement with this interface, I don't want to have to move my whole arm around. Make it plenty sensitive or rather make the sensor's grid scaled appropriately for the size of the input.
Re:!Theremin (Score:3, Interesting)
Theramins suk.
Make this a finger gesture interface. Your wrist is resting, and your fingers can do stuff fairly repeatable.
(Reboot from BSOD = That Gesture.)
Re:a 3d I/O application for 1d data entry (Score:3, Interesting)
Actually, I think a full-blown sign-language would be great, especially for use with cell phone cameras. There are a few obvious benefits, and some not-so-obvious ones:
(1) people learn international sign language, and it assists in international communication.
(2) The speed of data entry would be increased greatly.
(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
(4) Logon would be simplified, with simply flashing a thumbprint.
How to do it? I suspect that the way to do it might be as follows:
(1) take an image, and subtract one image's RGB map from the previous image.
(2) Run an FFT on the result, to get a motion map.
(3) Track the motion of the various blocks of pixels.
(4) From the motion of the various blocks, and moreover from what remains invariant and what adds on on one side (or disappears from the other), obtain a 3-D map of various objects. From the 3-D map, and how it morphs, obtain approximate rotation vectors.
(5) Recognize hands by the digit lengths and connection combinations.
(6) Plot the hand digit rotational and bending angles into a real-time motion map.
(7) Translate #6 into specific signs, which in turn can be programmed to be equivalent to international sign language.
The above method would also allow very high levels of compression of video.
Re:a 2d drawing application for a 3d interface? (Score:2, Interesting)