Gesture based controls are starting to change the way users interact with computer applications - as seen, for example, with the Wiimote a remote control used with the Wii games console.

Wouldn’t it be great if the system could detect what was happening by interpreting movement and gestures directly without  the need for any input device?

In order to do this, technology is required that can build up a 3-Dimensional picture of the scene or environment where the user is placed. Movement and gestures within this 3D enviroment can then be used by the system to determine what the user is trying to do.

The ZCam^TM is a video camera that can capture depth information (which is used to build the 3D model) along with video and is produced by 3DV Systems.

http://www.3dvsystems.com/

The technology is based on the Time of Flight principle. In this technique, 3D depth data is generated by sending pulses of infra-red light  into the scene and detecting the light reflected from the surfaces of objects in the scene. Using the time taken for a light pulse to travel to the target and back, the distance can be calculated and used to build up 3D depth information for all objects in the scene. 

The technology performs superior depth imaging (depth resolution of millimeters) in real-time (60 fps or more), using little or no CPU.

The latest ZCam^TM is based on the DeepC^TM technology which is a chipset that incoporates the sensing technology.

There are a number of related publications which describe the technology in greater detail and can be found at

http://www.3dvsystems.com/technology/tech.html

Creating an intuitive mechanism to replace the keyboard and/or mouse has been an aspiration for many people ever since Tom Cruise in “Minority Report” looked so cool moving files around with his fingers.

Perhaps this technology can be used in helping to achieve those aims.  

A touch screen with tactile feedback.

Optimus Upravlator is an input device which features a 10.8 inch color LCD (800 ×600 pixels resolution) with 12 see-through buttons occupying its surface. Each of them has five contact points—center, top, bottom, left and right—freely assignable to user interface elements in the software of your choice.

Upravlator uses open standards and protocols and is compatible with Windows and Mac OS X, allowing for the use of many different applications.

Details at

http://www.artlebedev.com/everything/optimus-upravlator/

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As with the previous article, I also noted this device recently - Mobile NoteTaker is a portable handwriting capture device that enables you to write in comfort on ordinary paper and then upload your handwritten notes and diagrams to a PC.

Developed by Pegasus, a leader in Digital Pen Technology more details can be found at

https://www.pegatech.com/

who also provide a Software Development Kit (SDK) which enables any software developer to use the Pegasus digital Pen as an input device to his own application.

Available in the UK as Digiscribble - The mobile digital note taker, it’s distributed via Apcom Ltd, UK

http://www.apcom.ltd.uk/

The WowPen Digi is a multi-purpose wireless device which can operate either as a digital pen or, simply at the flick of a switch, it can provide mouse functionality. It seems to have been around for a while but it’s something I’ve only come across recently.

The pen comes with a USB receiver which is attached to the side or corner of an ordinary piece of paper or notepad. This is used to detect movement of the pen and enables, for example, written notes to be converted to text files using handwriting recognition software.

More details of the device can be found here

http://www.wow-pen.com/new/downloads/downloads_digi_e02.htm

or at the home web-site at

http://www.wow-pen.com/

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Super Cilia Skin is a tactile and visual system inspired by grass blowing in the wind.

It has the ability to record and playback dynamic gestures over time which could provide a valuable tool for haptic communication - the gesture can be seen or felt (by the movement of the membrane).

More details are available from the web-site at

http://www.rafelandia.com/mas834/scs1.html

and an in-depth paper available at

http://tangible.media.mit.edu/content/papers/pdf/SCS_Textile_053.pdf

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