More info: http://chrisharrison.net/projects/scratchinput
Scratch Input: Creating Large, Inexpensive, Unpowered and Mobile Finger Input Surfaces
We present Scratch Input, an acoustic-based input technique that relies on the unique sound produced when a fingernail is dragged over the surface of a textured material, such as wood, fabric, or wall paint. We employ a simple sensor that can be easily coupled with existing surfaces, such as walls and tables, turning them into large, unpowered and ad hoc finger input surfaces. Our sensor is sufficiently small that it could be incorporated into a mobile device, allowing any suitable surface on which it rests to be appropriated as a gestural input surface. Several example applications were developed to demonstrate possible interactions. We conclude with a study that shows users can perform six Scratch Input gestures at about 90% accuracy with less than five minutes of training and on wide variety of surfaces.
Tag: computer
BERTI, a fully automated Robotic Torso, goes through his paces prior to appearing at the Science Museum during February 2009. More details at http://budurl.com/berti.
Video credit: BERTI is a joint project between Elumotion (hardware and low level control) and BRL (movement/high level control).
Having achieved this level of rock-paper-scissors, with three gestures, perhaps they could move on to the more complicated versions of rock-paper-scissors involving anywhere from 5 to a 100 gestures (see here).
A Computer Vision based hand gesture recognition system that replaces the mouse with simple hand movements. It’s done at the School of Computing, Dublin City University, Ireland.
Sometimes the future of gesture recognition can become clearer by examining an application that will definitely NOT hit the market running. Why on earth would anyone prefer to wave their hands in the air and click on empty space with their index finger instead of feeling a solid mouse underneath your hands? I just don’t get it. If it’s supposed to be a technology showcase, then okay, they managed to get something up and running, bravo!
I think that generally speaking, people are enthusiastic about human-computer interaction if it feels good , because it’s usable (effective, efficient, economic), pleasing to the senses, or in some other way beneficial to their concerns. I imagine that this virtual ‘mousing’ is none of the above. Maybe if they changed it to a pistol gesture, where you shoot with your thumb, it would get slightly better. But I would have to be able to launch a quick barrage of shots, say 4 or 5 per second, for this to be of any use in a first person shooter game. There’s a nice challenge for you, guys 🙂