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: human
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Wave in Head is a one-man synthpop project from Germany. Unlike many acts in this genre Wave in Head always had it’s own unique sound. You won’t hear an Access Virus preset bassline and a four to the floor beat for the hundredth time. If you’re into this kind of music and don’t own any Wave in Head CDs yet, hush hush 😉
Did you know?
The first known use of the term robot was by Czech playwright Karel ÄŒapek, who in 1920 wrote a play
called R.U.R.: Rossums Universal Robots. ÄŒapek used the Czech word robot, which means worker or laborer, to describe the mechanical slaves that were portrayed in his play. The first publicly-displayed robots were Elektro and his trusty mechanical dog, Sparko, who were highlighted at the 1939 Worlds Fair Exhibition in New York City. Elektro could dance, smoke and recite a handful of words, while Sparko would happily bark alongside him. Apparently, it is rumored that Sparky was a real babe magnet for Elektro. 😉I’m sorry for the rather bad video quality, I was already glad I found those free japanese promo videos for creepy female robots. Despite the quality issues, and even though I did not have the patience nor the software for sample-synchron edits, the video works… YAY! 😉
Hmmm, this video made me think: To what extent can modern rock stars, like Madonna, Spears, or Jackson, be considered to be entertainment robots? Most videoclips are better synched but synched nevertheless, there is very little ‘real’ about the average music clip on MTV.
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 🙂