I look forward to Monday's edition of the Arkansas Democrat Gazette. It has the Restaurant Inspection notices, important if you want to eat out and be certain that you won't end up at the emergency room! It also has the Bankruptcy Watch section that might save you from doing business with a less than stable business. But by far my favorite section is the News in Technology. A New York Times article reported the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas earlier this month had devices that will replace remotes and mouses with simple hand gestures. Reading it I was transported back to the Jetson cartoons that I loved as a child! Jane would be preparing breakfast with little or no effort with high tech appliances that cooked the meal in the blink of an eye! Those appliances have already came to fruition, it's called a microwave and a Kerug!
Almost unbelievable is technology that will allow us to flip through the channels with a simple twist of the hand. Want to raise the volume...just an upward pat. Or a photo on the screen can be enlarged by holding our hand out and spreading apart. Where have you seen this? The 2002 film Minority Report had Tom Cruise moving images around effortlessly on futuristic computer screens with just a few sweeping gestures. This year companies like Microsoft, Hitachi and others will begin selling devices that will make us think we are the Jetsons!
Microsoft has a new video game system called Project Natal that will use nothing more than the human body to play the games. They hope to one-up Nintendo's WII with this technology. In the months ahead Hitachi will offer TV's that will let people turn them on, adjust the volume and change the channels with simple hand motions. Laptops and other computers will follow. The companies behind this technology are GestureTek, Canesta and PrimeSense.
How much larger can they go???
Sharp's 108 inch flat screen for home use
Sharp's 108 inch flat screen for home use
How much smaller can they go???
Nokia N97 mobile computer
I think this all sounds too good to be true! No longer will we set unable to change the channel or adjust the volume because we have lost the remote...Again!
Nokia N97 mobile computer
I think this all sounds too good to be true! No longer will we set unable to change the channel or adjust the volume because we have lost the remote...Again!
Just wonder how these hand gesture controls will know that you're really trying to change the channel or raise the volume and not just waving to someone.
ReplyDeleteAmasing, itsn't it? 100 yrs ago, these things were not even thought of as a possibility!
ReplyDeleteOne of my greatest wishes is a single controller to handle everything on the TV. We have 3 right now. None of them can be be done without and of course the one we need is almost always never where it shoulb be. I'm ready for a "Play" command. Sign me up :-).
ReplyDeleteYES, WE ARE LIVING IN AN AWESOME WORLD AREN'T WE?! I REMEMBER THE JETSONS TOO AND WE ARE THERE AND BEYOND..AMAZING! I WONDER WHAT GOD WANTS THIS ALL USE FOR? COME SAY HI :D
ReplyDeleteThat won't be fun if you have kids! You know how kids run around and things while you are watching tv!
ReplyDeleteAmazing invention, isn't it!
ReplyDelete