Will Gesture-Recognition Technology Point the Way? From: Computer - 10/2004 - Vol. 37, No. 10, P. 20 By: David Geer Gesture recognition offers potential benefits to fields that include surgery, automotive technology, prosthetics, gaming, security, and surveillance, but the technology needs significant refinement in order to be commercially viable. "Gesture recognition must prove it can yield results that existing peripherals can't already achieve, or users won't see the point in spending the time and money on the technology," notes Gartner Fellow Jackie Fenn. Gesture recognition systems collate gesture data through image- or device-based hardware approaches: The former technique involves the image capture of a user's motions while in the process of gesturing, and the latter uses position trackers whose movements are translated into commands. Some systems have started to integrate these two techniques to collect more gesture data and facilitate more precise recognition. Meanwhile, the practicality of gesture recognition for widespread use is increasing thanks to declining costs for hardware and processing, according to Sony's Richard Marks. Cybernet has rolled out or is planning to roll out an array of gesture recognition products, such as UseYourHead 2, a game controller that translates head movements into commands by studying changes in facial color and hue saturation; and NaviGaze, a similar system that lets disabled people navigate online via head movements and eyeblinks. Among the obstacles gesture recognition must overcome in order to be widely accepted is the intrusiveness of input devices such as motion-tracking gloves, the lack of a universal gesture language, distortion of input due to busy or confusing backgrounds or variant lighting, and slow, resource-intensive image processing. Fenn expects gesture recognition technology to be limited to niche categories for the next few years because of the considerable investment required to create mainstream applications. Read the entire article at: http://csdl.computer.org/comp/mags/co/2004/10/rx020.pdf UseYourHead links: http://www.gamesfirst.com/articles/al/2peripherals/uyh_rfx.htm http://www.gesturecentral.com/useyourhead/index.html http://www.gamasutra.com/newswire/bit_blasts/20001115/index4.htm NaviGaze links: http://www.cybernet.com/products/about.html http://www.asc2004.com/23rdASC/summaries/m/MP-05.pdf http://www.gcn.com/23_22/cover/26868-1.html