Firms Develop Gesture-Operable Digital Home Electronic Devices
From: NE Asia Online - 01/26/2004
By: Shiro Tachimoto

Development of gesture-operable input devices for home electronics is
accelerating in a variety of industries, including gaming and automotive. The
Remote Controller for Wearable Home Electronics Appliance developed by
Toshiba's Human Centric Laboratory allows users to activate and deactivate
lighting and air conditioning equipment by pointing at the appliance or
waving up and down while wearing an acceleration sensor and a Bluetooth unit.
Hitachi, meanwhile, is working on several advanced devices: One touchless
input device linked to a PC through a universal serial bus recognizes nine
different gesture commands, though recognition varies according to location
and sensor directivity; another Hitachi innovation, the NEXTRAX touch panel
display, can be controlled by hand gestures and finger inputs, and employs
infrared radiation to facilitate triangular surveying. Hitachi expects
NEXTRAX to become particularly useful as a 3D presentation tool for real
estate agents or museums. A soon-to-be-released game from Sony Computer
Entertainment will also be outfitted with gesture controls so that users can
make menu selections as well as manipulate their on-screen counterparts
through body movements. Force feedback and other tactile interface
technologies are being incorporated into products such as Sony's UCP-8060
video editor, and BMW's iDrive vehicular environment integration system.
Hitachi's Tactile Driver allows users to feel display panel buttons either by
physically warping the display panel or by simulating the buttons' concave or
convex shape. 

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http://neasia.nikkeibp.com/wcs/leaf?CID=onair/asabt/fw/287415