ZeroTouch Sensor: Ready For Large Televisions and Gaming 27
An anonymous reader writes "Researchers Jon Moeller, Andruid Kerne, and a team from the Interface Ecology Lab at Texas A&M University showcased the latest ZeroTouch multi-finger sensing technology at ACM CHI, in Austin. ZeroTouch is a new spin on infrared sensing technology, which optimizes the sensor readout cycle for a linear array of modulated infrared light receivers. ZeroTouch also constitutes a precise free-air sensing technology (Kinect can be used as a complementary technology to sense depth). Researcher Bill Hamilton uses ZeroTouch integrated with Wacom Cintiq to showcase new embodied eSports interaction (video) for the open source Zero-K real time strategy game."
Re:Kinect complimentary? (Score:2, Informative)
Much like the Kinect, it uses patterned IR to detect motion. Unlike the Kinect, it doesn't detect depth, but is good for detecting motion in a 2d plane closer to the screen than the Kinect's minimum sensing distance.
This isn't a film overlay, so cost scales linearly with the length and width of the screen instead of by the area of the screen.
You would know this if you were literate.
Re:Kinect complimentary? (Score:2, Informative)
What would be a use case for wanting to sit 2' away from your TV, poking it with your hand, as opposed to sitting on the couch and just waving it?
it can be used like a surface, not necessarily a TV. If you look at the video link in the article, there's a use case for RTS games, and the kind of applications (like painting, card games, playing piano, photo manipulation, etc) that already exist for microsoft surface.
actually how is it even related to Kinect?
To quote from the article, "...In another demonstration the system used a Microsoft Kinect camera to differentiate the hands and fingers of various users."
More importantly, this 'contraption' you speak of is a lot cheaper than competing alternatives, e.g. Microsoft Surface, and Perceptive Pixel's big touch screen. When you lower the cost to something your average buyer can afford, you can well be sure that it'll open up a lot of tinkering opportunities for hobbyists.