See-Through 3D Computer With Gesture Controls Gives Us a Glimpse of the Future 63
silentbrad writes with this excerpt from Boy Genius Report:
"Some believe a future full of massive, gesture-controlled computer displays like the ones seen in Twentieth Century Fox's Minority Report are an inevitability, and a prototype PC designed by an intern with the Microsoft Applied Sciences Group may be among the first steps in making that future a reality. Massachusetts Institute of Technology Ph.D student and MIT Media Lab research assistant Jinha Lee recently set out to change the way we interact with desktop computers. While progress has been made with 3D display technology, 3D has not yet proliferated in the personal computing space and Lee wants to change that. The end result of his work is a fascinating desktop computer with a transparent 3D display and a unique gesture-based interface that could change the way we use computers."
Gesture Computing Will Never Last (Score:5, Insightful)
Stick your arms out. Now hold them there, for as long as you can. I'll wait.
.
.
How long did you last? Two minutes?
My hands sometimes get tired just using the iPad, at an angle.
Re:Gesture Computing Will Never Last (Score:5, Insightful)
Gesture based input is lousy for coding, managing systems, writing books and pretty much anything that depends on the accuracy and specificity of a keyboard. But that doesn't mean that a display like this doesn't have its uses. Rendering and manipulating objects through this sort of interface would be amazing! Also, think about how clunky and absolutely STUPID touch screens were just ten years ago. Heck, you can still find the same old crap displays at airport checkin kiosks. Now think about how a good implementation in iOS/Android devices has totally changed the world of touch interface. The inovations of Apple, Android and others have given us totally novel ways of interacting with our data. I would have never voluntarily brought one of those old touch screens into my home, but I cary one around in my pocket every day now.
This implementation might not be perfect, but it's a step in the right direction for novel forms of input. Once someone cracks an awesome 3D/Gesture interface that works well and doesn't make you feel like your stomach is going to push out through your eyes, it will quietly creep into ubiquity just like the (good) touch screens today.
Re:Gesture Computing Will Never Last (Score:5, Insightful)
Now that they are here...it was not worth the wait.
I downloaded BlueStacks yesterday, installed my favorite Android games, and they are ten times better with a mouse!
My fingers do not get in the way!
Now if I only had a dual mice pointer I could do multi-touch
I admit there is something innately pleasurable about a touch screen and feeling you are really interacting directly with the items on screen, but in the end it is mostly imprecise and frustrating.
Sure some advances have been made allowing it to be tolerable, but occlusion of the screen by your fingers and the lack of tactile feedback mess it all up by design.
As a result the iPhone has made it harder than ever to make a phone call and only slightly less frustrating to send text messages compared to a feature phone given that we used to have physical keyboards with a Blackberry.
Touchscreens have their place and uses, they are not going away; but I look forward to the day we get our buttons back.
Case in point is the Kindle Fire, who thought it was a good idea to exclude the external volume buttons?
I am with chrismcb on this one, gesture computing only works really well in imaginary worlds like Minority Report.
I mean why steal a concept from a movie that does not even properly justify the main character ripping his eye balls out? The real future is EEG and muscle computer control and muscle/nerve sensing control.
Why bother making the gesture, when I can just think it?
Re:Pointless... (Score:5, Insightful)
Heaven forbid someone try and use their arms constantly. I mean what would happen if suddenly someone were to have to hold a flute, conduct an orchestra, or even swing a hammer for more than 2 minutes.