Boffins to unveil gesture-controlled 3D TV
Never worry about losing the remote again
A 3D TV with incorporated gesture-based controls is set to be unveiled in Germany next month.
The iPoint: boasts a 3D display with gesture controls
The futuristic iPoint 3D TV allows people to interact with the display through simple non-contact gestures. They don't have to wear those silly specs either, according to maker the Fraunhofer Institute for Telecommunications.
A recognition device containing two Firewire-connected cameras for detecting hand and finger movements in real time comes with the set. The cameras sit in a unit not much larger than a keyboard, which is then either suspended from the ceiling above the screen or integrated into a coffee table in front of it.
The Institute claimed that, aside from its obvious entertainment appeal, the 3D TV might also be useful in offices and hospital operating rooms – where physically touching a screen presents problems.
The Institute also said that the screen could be used as a way of controlling other devices. For example, a housewife kneading pastry could turn down a pan of boiling potatoes or turn the lights up without leaving floury handprints all over the kitchen.
Researchers will showcase the iPoint 3D TV at the CeBit tech fair in Hanover, Germany next week. ®
Video
Hitachi highlights gesture-controlled HD TV - You are your own remote
COMMENTS
Already got it
Well, the gesture part anyway. And it only works for her - she wags her fingers at me, and the channel changes from sports to some drama or other.
activation gestures
"For example, a housewife kneading pastry could turn down a pan of boiling potatoes or turn the lights up without leaving floury handprints all over the kitchen."
Except you have to waggle your hands rapidly in front of it to get it's attention, spraying said pastry all round the room anyway...
The interface technology for vocal and gestural control is all quite mature, what is missing is the machine intelligence to make the interface as intuitive as communicating with another human.
Mines the one with the oven gloves on a string through the sleeves.
Rigth
So we are going to be standing in front of TVs flailing about like windmills?
Voice recognition and control would be more usable and useful but facing the same kind of problems doesn't work like this system won't work.
Having a fundamentally stupid idea is one thing, why companies spend money developing and demonstrating fundamentally stupid ideas is beyond me.
Party Political Broadcast?
Yup, Brown or one of his cronies come on, and I reply with the apropriate hand-gestures "waar-a-load-a-wan...." - oh, shit, now I've got Sky...
Already got it at home
Except in my lovely cheap homebrew system you need a light-glove for any real range and a pair of polarising specs for the 3D. But the point is the functionality is there. And it's really impressive for, say, spinning Google Earth around or showing off if people come round. Maybe rotating static graphs, basic data manipulation.
Unfortunately, it's utterly useless for the 3D visualisation as shown- rotating is a PITA as there's nothing to get a hold of- and because of that there's no real way to make sure you're correctly anchored to the object. Then it doesn't spin at the right rate (though that's probably a limitation of my rig...) and anything more advanced (say, applying a force to a wheel in Pro/E Mechanism) needs either a plugin or some seriously complex gesture controlled command-macro system.
I can see this making it into some films, maybe an episode of Cribs or two. Maybe even that Star Trek Flat guy's next home. But as someone who's used something very similar, I've gotta say it's just a gadget without a load of practical applications. At least until plugins are created to support it.
When they can add in Force Feedback it'll be a far more useable system.
