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gestures

GDC 2010: PlayStation Move vs. Project Natal, we go hands-on with both

As we predicted before the start of the annual Game Developers Conference in San Francisco, Sony used its press conference to formally announce the PS3 motion controller. Officially called the PlayStation Move, this wand-and-cam system, briefly demoed at the Electronic Entertainment Expo last year, is the latest move by a video game console maker into the realm of motion control.

While the Nintendo Wii has had this segment of the market cornered for some time, Microsoft is developing a camera-only motion control system for the Xbox 360 called Project Natal (still a working title), and is now officially joined by Sony in the console gesture control arms race.

As Microsoft demoed Project Natal for us in New York recently, and we've just had a chance to play with the PlayStation Move, we can now bring you our initial hands-on impressions of both systems.

PlayStation Move The PlayStation Move requires a combination of a Sony PlayStation Eye Web cam (an existing peripheral), plus one or more PlayStation Move wands. A secondary controller similar to the Nintendo Wii nunchuck, with the unfortunate name of the "subcontroller," is an optional accessory for some games.

We tried several games using the main Move controller (see the video above), and the experience was generally very close to what we're used to from the Nintendo Wii, albeit with a much greater sense of precision--even better than using the Wii Motion Plus. There was much less of the jittery movement to the onscreen cursor we're used to from the Wii.

At the same time, the experience was clearly a work in progress. We played a rail shooter called The Shoot, and while the aiming and shooting worked fairly well, we kept accidentally resetting the level because of overly sensitive pop-up menus. We also played Move Party, a collection of competitive mini-games for up to four players. Most of the mini-games worked well, from swatting flies to painting shapes on the screen, but the entire package felt too much like a retread of the original PlayStation EyeToy Webcam peripheral and games. A fighting game, using two Move controllers, had just enough input lag to feel sluggish.

Of course, these were all early demo versions of games, and they can be expected to undergo additional polishing before release. Our biggest concern is actually the hardware and how it will be sold.… Read more

Gesture Search launched for Android

Google is giving Android users another method for searching their smartphones: finger-drawn letters.

The company has launched a new app called Gesture Search, which lets Android 2.0 users find items by drawing a letter on the screen. Draw an "A," for example, and all contacts, bookmarks, applications, and songs that begin with an "A" appear on the screen.

Neatness doesn't count. If your handwriting is sloppy, and your "A" looks like an "H," Gesture Search will bring up items that start with "A" and "H," according … Read more

Apple to give next-gen iPhone the finger?

AllThingsD

Now that rumors of an Apple tablet have manifested themselves in the iPad, speculation about the next iteration of the iPhone can begin in earnest. In a research note published today, Morgan Stanley analyst Katy Huberty offers a few thoughts on what a successor to the iPhone 3GS might look like.

"We expect Apple to launch new iPhones in June that offer both a lower total cost of ownership and new functionality, potentially including gesture-based technology," she wrote in a note to clients today. "As we've highlighted in the past, the cost of device-plus-service plan is … Read more

G-Speak could bring 'Minority Report' tech soon

With gesture control the next big thing in the interface race, sneeze and you might just reboot the entire server system. That scenario may not be too far off, since Oblong Industries, the guys behind the technological whizbang "Minority Report," is behind this. Company co-founder John Underkoffler has unveiled what's been coined G-Speak.

It all sounds rather similar to MIT's Sixth Sense device, though G-Speak takes on a more spatial operating environment (SOE) that lets users manipulate the space around to move 3D objects or zoom in and out. Think Tom Cruise's character using the interactive wall in the sci-fi flick.

To crunch down the technobabble, the gesture technology tracks hand movements using special displays and surfaces that can work with videos and images. Like Cruise in "MR," you'll need to don a pair of special gloves to act as "conductors" to do your thang.

With augmented reality, multitouch, and motion control already in the picture, it won't be too long before gesture-based interfaces take us to a whole new mouse-less realm. If Underkoffler is to be believed, G-Speak should be ready for consumer use in the next five years. Check in on the two following videos for a glimpse at the future. … Read more

Linja Zax 2.0 brings 3D scrolling to your pocket

Remember Linja Zax? Probably not, but the technology, which emerged around this time last year as a gesture-based alternative to multitouch can now be found on Nokia's N900 browser. It can also be found within the specifications of Mozilla's mobile Fennec browser, although it has not yet been implemented.

Linja Zax's latest trick is to re-imagine how users scroll around a page. Where most touch-based browsers simply move the Web page, map tile, or image around as if it were a piece of paper on a table, Linja Zax now gives your screen a 3D tilt.

This ever so slight change in perspective gives users a much farther field of view to see both how much more room there is to go in any one direction, as well as a broader view on a small screen. Linja Design, the makers of Linja Zax promise that it's 50 percent better than viewing the content with the current standard.

Here's what it looks like:… Read more

Dial a phone number using in-air gestures

Gesture-recognition interfaces for cell phones are closer to reality with technology from the University of Tokyo that lets you operate your phone or mobile device without laying a finger on it.

Researchers at the Ishikawa Komuro Laboratory have created a "vision-based input interface for mobile devices" through which users can type words by pointing in the air. There's no dialing demo in the video below, though that would presumably be just as simple.

Unlike gestural interfaces such as MIT's SixthSense, the system does not require special colored finger markings to track gestures.

A single high-speed camera … Read more

Quanta takes stake in gesture control maker

While Panasonic, Sony, and other heavy hitters in the consumer electronics world are working hard to bring 3D to TVs, a far less recognizable name is working to bring 3D to computer interfaces.

You might never have heard of Canesta--and that's OK--but the largest contract manufacturer of notebook PCs, Quanta Computer, has. On Wednesday, Canesta will announce that it's raised another $16 million in funding, from new investors Quanta, chipmaker SMSC, and returning backers Carlyle Growth Partners, Hotung Venture Group, and Venrock. The new round of capital brings Canesta's total raised since 2001 to $70 million.

Quanta … Read more

Preview Email Without Opening

When your on the go and you hit the tail end of a streetlight you don't have much time to check that email you just received. Well for the important emails this can be a hassle, not any longer. You can easily preview the beginning of the message without opening the email! This is great for me since in most emails I receive the important stuff is at the beginning of the message. To achieve this "gesture" go to one of your email accounts and than select a message, on that message position two fingers in the … Read more