WiSee - Whole House Gesture Detection via WiFi

Gesture recognition isn't new. Today we have smart TVs that can react to your waving hands, not to mention things like Kinect, capable of detecting 3D gestures with precision. But... what if you could get rid of cameras, and have a system that can recognize your gestures no matter where you are: in the living room, in the bedroom, at the office, and even multiple people at the same? That's precisely what WiSee aims to do, and it looks like it can a revolutionary step forward in the way we interact with our devices.

Remember the iPhone 4 antenna-gate incident, where half the world was "shocked" to find out that the human body has an effect on radio signals? Well, WiSee uses the same concept, but in a much more advanced way.

With our home filled with WiFi radio waves bouncing back and forth, we also "interfere" with it with every tiny gesture we make. These researchers were able to detect the tiny variations our gestures cause on the radio signals, using but a slightly modified router. The system was able to track five people in a 2 bed apartment, with 94% correctly identified gestures in over 900.

Just imagine the possibilities...



Can you imagine that with such a system, whole house control would no longer be a "pain" requiring you to use some kind of remote control or install cameras everywhere? You could even say goodbye to motion sensors, as this system would more accurately know where someone might be and what kind of gestures they may be doing. You could switch radio stations while in the shower with a simple gesture; or turn out the lights in the living room by simply doing a gesture before going to bed (or it could automatically detect you were lying down)... the possibilities are endless!

Well... there will also be privacy issues I'm sure: what's to stop you from "tuning in" to your neighbors, and "see" what kind of gestures they are doing?... I guess this is a good time to invest in companies that make WiFi reflective wallpaper and paint! :)

Myo Muscle Reader Armband

Movies like Minority Report have made us all dream about interacting with computers using nothing but gestures in the air. Today, such things are possible, but not often in a "simple" enough manner. Devices like the Nintendo Wii and Microsoft's Kinect showed us it is possible to do those kinds of things, but they're still relegated to specific tasks (mostly entertainment and games) and not "real work". Now, there's a new contender in 3D gesture detection, and it uses quite a different method. This Myo armband doesn't rely on 3D cameras, but on the electric impulses that your body sends to control your muscles.

They say the device is actually capable of detecting what you're about to make (with your hands and fingers) even before the muscles start moving; and by looking at the demo video, it certainly looks impressive. The system also relies on accelerometers and gyroscopes for added motion sensing, and it comes with a price that is reasonable ($149).

Let's see if they can live up to the expectations (and I can't stop wondering if this same technique couldn't be put to use in case of people who have lost their hands, to control electronic prosthetic hands).

3D Gesture Recognition from MIT

It's not the first time I've talked about 3D gesture recognition systems and once again this one comes from MIT as well. Ever since the Minority Report people have been looking for new ways to interact with computers using nothing but gestures.

This time, some colored gloves are the key for 3D gesture recognition.
Instead of having to do complex image analysis, the system simply compares the captures imaged to a vast database of images in all known and possible positions -which migh be a bit "brute force" but gets the job done very quickly.

See it in action in the following video:

Pin Zoom in xScope

With Apple enforcing their multitouch patents, nothing like a fresh and original idea that does away with the pinch-to-zoom method used on the iPhone.

I present you xScope's Pin Zoom.

Although xScope also supports pinch to zoom in multitouch android devices, this Pin Zoom function looks a lot better: not only working even without multitouch support, but also allowing for single hand operation - something that's almost impossible to do with the pinch to zoom (just try it out, go on.)

It's quite simple:

1. Tap on the screen
2. Tap and hold on the same place
3. Slide your finger to zoom in/out

You can see it in action in the following video:


If you aren't ready for a touch screen mobile phone, then you'll better start worrying, as these type of devices are becoming harder and harder to find..

Written Gesture Search in Android

Tired of looking down to your Android screen whenever you want to find something? Too noisy to use the voice search?
How about using written gestures to search in your Android device?

Though it is still an experimental Google Labs feature, I hope they'll soon make it standard for everyone.

3D Gesture Recognition from MIT

The MIT is a place where we can find lots of interesting projects, and today I'll show you a revolutionary 3D gesture recognition system.

To solve the problems associated with existing technologies, which are either too bulky or have problematic work areas, this project from MIT uses the LCD screen itself as a 3D camera to capture your gestures.

The screen toggles working modes at high frequency, making it look just like any other LCD screen to the user - but allowing snapshots to be captured simultaneously for fractions of a second.

This type of technology is so new that there isn't any such screen yet. They had to build their prototype using regular video cameras for now - just to prove it will work.

When this device becomes real, it will be the holy grail in gesture and motion capture: a thin screen that can detect your gestures in the 3D space in front of it without any drawback.

Apple readying Gestures for iPhone

It looks like Apple is finally understanding there's still a lot to be done to make iPhone's touch keyboard even better - and the trick is... it just requires a software update.

No matter how good it may be (although some people will never get used to it) there are still lots of things that slow you down considerably: things like deleting an entire word, or phrase, etc.

But there are rumours that indicate that Apple may be about to introduce multi-touch gestures to the iPhone in a coming update.

These gestures wouldn't affect anyone not enabling it - but they would sure be appreciated by all those that spend a lot of time typing on their iPhones.
With its multitouch capabilities there would be a lot of different gestures you could use... maybe a couple of them could even implement the much needed/desired copy-paste!

Also, I would suggest Apple to do something about the annoying lag that makes the keyboard take a couple of seconds to show up sometimes. As they're bound to know, user experience is all about "instant feedback", and for something as important as a keyboard - that thing better show up instantly whenever we're expecting to type something. Even 1 or 2 seconds feel like an eternity when waiting for it...

Sixense TrueMotion 3D

Just because Nintendo Wii is currently the reference in motion based entertainment - and not only, their Wiimote is curretnly used in countless other projects - it doesn't mean other companies can't try to improve this kind of technology.

Just check this TrueMotion 3D system from Sixense. It uses a magnetic system allowing to track both hands with millimeter precision and a reponse time of just 10ms.

Minority Report Interface

Is there anyone who saw Minority Report without being amazed by the futuristic gesture based interface used by Tom Cruise?

Well, once again what began as a science-fiction concept has turned real...

Just watch this G-Speak, from Oblong, in motion:


g-speak overview 1828121108 from john underkoffler on Vimeo.

Mgestik - Gesture Recognition System

If you liked Minority Report, then you'll be pleased to know that you'll soon be able to gesture your computer around. Meet Mgestik - a gesture recognition system that may soon replace our trusted old mouses in the way we interact with computers.