"Body Talk" Could Control Gadgets 111
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.'"
the easiest place to test this new technology (Score:4, Funny)
Okay (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Okay (Score:2, Funny)
Kierthos
Re:Okay (Score:2, Funny)
What problem does this solve again ? (Score:3, Insightful)
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)
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
Re:What problem does this solve again ? (Score:1)
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!)
Re:What problem does this solve again ? (Score:2)
Re:What problem does this solve again ? (Score:2)
I'm telling you, boss, ... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:I'm telling you, boss, ... (Score:2)
Re:I'm telling you, boss, ... (Score:3, Funny)
Achoo!
Your subscription to Allergy Weekly has been paid. Thank you.
Clearly in the future (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Clearly in the future (Score:1)
KFG
Re:Clearly in the future (Score:1)
hehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehe
hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
!
Fantastic Direction (Score:2, Insightful)
3D audio... (Score:1)
In here [slashdot.org] too.
Yes my friend [slashdot.org]. You're probably right.
This is dumb (Score:2, Insightful)
I know the submitter did this on purpose (Score:5, Funny)
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
Re:I know the submitter did this on purpose (Score:4, Funny)
Re:I know the submitter did this on purpose (Score:2)
"Grandad, Grandad, you're lovely... that's what we all think of you"
See how you like that then eh ? eh ?
Re:I know the submitter did this on purpose (Score:1)
My baby takes the morning train, he works from nine till five and then
He takes another home again to find me waitin' for him
All day I think of him, dreamin' of him constantly
I'm crazy mad for him, and he's crazy mad for me
When he steps off that train, I'm makin' a fool, a fight
Work all day to earn his pay, so we can play all night
My baby takes the morning train, he works from nine till five and then
He takes another home again to find me wait
Re:I know the submitter did this on purpose (Score:1)
Could be useful if done right (Score:5, Insightful)
"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
So I say yes, but please give me a full backup option to control my
Re:Could be useful if done right (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Could be useful if done right (Score:2)
He's going to treat his wife like the piece of Schmidt she is. "That's PEWTERSCHMIDT!"
Tension conveys intention (Score:5, Informative)
This last one is key: tense gestures (just as tension in the voice) carry the fact you really want something done, and thus disambiguates your gestures.
More at: Charade: remote control of objects using free hand gestures [baudel.name]
Re:Tension conveys intention (Score:1, Informative)
See the paper at
http://www.dcs.gla.ac.uk/~rod/publications/StrMur0 4.pdf [gla.ac.uk] and the video at http://www.dcs.gla.ac.uk/~rod/Videos/TremorVideo.m ov [gla.ac.uk]
--John (researcher on the audioclouds project)
Re:Tension conveys intention (Score:5, Insightful)
However, what about deaf folks' signed communication, which is purposeful (tensioned) by its nature?
Re:Tension conveys intention (Score:3, Interesting)
I can see it now: (Score:4, Funny)
Re:I can see it now: (Score:1)
I already planned this 2 years ago.... (Score:2, Interesting)
Slashdot regulars will remember the Da Vinci institute from this story. [slashdot.org]
"Relaxation " to control stuff. (Score:4, Interesting)
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.
Re:"Relaxation " to control stuff. (Score:1)
Based on the movement in you pants (Score:5, Funny)
(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
Re:Based on the movement in you pants (Score:1)
Are they insane? (Score:5, Insightful)
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)
Re:Are they insane? (Score:2)
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)
Re:Are they insane? (Score:2)
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.
Re:Are they insane? (Score:2)
we can label it "Power".
Re:Are they insane? (Score:1)
Re:Are they insane? (Score:2)
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).
Re:Are they insane? (Score:2)
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.
Re:Are they insane? (Score:2)
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)
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)
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
Re:Are they insane? (Score:2)
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
Re:Are they insane? (Score:2)
But I do have to question your definition of intentionality.
Just because a user emits gesture X, and intended it, doesn't mean it was intended for use in controlling the ipod (or whatever). So in two cases, the same gesture is emitted, but understanding context is required in order to determine if it's suitable.
Or maybe you've found a nice set of gestures which are never i
Re:Are they insane? (Score:2)
Not rocket science, is it?
Wow. (Score:5, Funny)
Can you imagine, what if you could control a device by simply touching it with our finger? We could call it a "button."
Re:Wow. (Score:1)
Douglas Adams foresaw it (Score:5, Funny)
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)
Re:Douglas Adams foresaw it (Score:1)
Quantum Leap (Score:2)
Well, that's the first thing that came to my mind.
Why? (Score:4, Funny)
A scientist will see a new idea and wonder 'Can I get funding for doung this?'"
Re:Why? (Score:2)
Re:Why? (Score:1)
Re:Why? (Score:2)
H2GT2G (Score:1)
sweet! (Score:2)
$10 to the first scriptwriter that lets me mount a drive with my wang
Do not Panic !! (Score:1)
Showing my age, but... (Score:5, Interesting)
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-solutio
Re:Showing my age, but... (Score:2)
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.
Re:Showing my age, but... (Score:2)
Re:Showing my age, but... (Score:1)
Re:Showing my age, but... (Score:2)
A better example would
Re:Showing my age, but... (Score:2)
Re:Showing my age, but... (Score:2)
[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
This is nice... (Score:4, Funny)
Here's the killer app. (Score:3, Funny)
Oh, and if you download a polyphonic ringtone based on an Abba song, it shocks you to death on the spot.
anger (Score:1)
Safety? It's the DISTRACTION, not the hand... (Score:2)
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)
*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!"
Re:Anyone heard of John Otway?? (Score:1)
Re:Anyone heard of John Otway?? (Score:1)
Oh great... (Score:2)
Re:Oh great... (Score:1)
i'm still waiting (Score:1)
in fact screw the mouse, I just want to see my porn...
*thinks "open porn"*
be happy
allready there. (Score:2, Informative)
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)
"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!
Re:At last real entertainment for tech support! (Score:1)
So trains and busses... (Score:2)
I think this technology is already out there (Score:2, Funny)
incremental (Score:2)
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.
Powered by RATT ??? (Score:1)
Jerk of the head (Score:1)
Finally! (Score:2)
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...
RAH (Score:2)
Will there be a version for autistics? (Score:1)
Motion for Mobile Already Launched in Japan (Score:1)