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Next Evolution in Mobiles: Hand-Waving Cell Phone Controls?

by Terrence O'Brien on January 4, 2010 at 11:03 AM

Researchers Demo Hand Waving Cell Phone Controls

It's bad enough that we've got a generation of cell phone users parading around, shouting into nearly invisible Bluetooth headsets and looking like they're having conversations with themselves. Soon, if Japanese researchers have their way, mobile phone users will add frantically waving hands to the list of traits they share with schizophrenics.

Professors Masatoshi Ishikawa and Takashi Komuro, from Tokyo University, have developed a new cell phone input method that uses a front facing camera to track hand and finger movement in three-dimensional space. Such cameras are common on Asian and European handsets, but current camera tech is not fast enough to accurately track hand movements. The demo (seen in the video below) features a specially designed camera that captures 154 frames-per-second, converts finger motion into cursor movements and clicks, and even allows for 3-D painting and photo zooming.

The concept is interesting, but doesn't seem intuitive. We'll stick with our multi-touch, capacitive touchscreens, thank you very much. [From: IntoMobile, via: Ubergizmo]


Tags: 3-D, cellphone, concept, gesture, japanese, motionsensing, research, top, weird

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