[Kolgena]

http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2012/05/gesture-controls-get-a-huge-boost-with-new-leap-interaction-system/

This looks pretty cool. Not only do you get to pretend that you're Tony Stark, but you can use things that need touch screen inputs without owning a touchscreen or leaving fingerprints everywhere.

Since windows 8 is supposed to support touch, this might work especially well with the upcoming OS.

[z64555]

It might be a big boon for 3D model creation/editing.

[Scourge of Ages]

That looks really cool. However, I'll wait until there are some real-world tests and reviews before going and getting one. I'm not sure if precise work will be all that precise without physical feedback and resistance, like you get with a mouse.

Honestly, I think they might be going the wrong way in terms of interface philosophy, that perhaps what we need is a more tactile interface, instead of less.

[z64555]

For tactile feedback, you could get a pen-like device hooked up to the computer that will gently vibrate when resistance is felt.

[Aardwolf]

Nah, they already got this ultrasound thing that can make it feel like something's resisting at a specific point. Not sure how much pressure though.

[Dilmah G]

Honestly, I think they might be going the wrong way in terms of interface philosophy, that perhaps what we need is a more tactile interface, instead of less.

Why do you think so? I reckon Tony Starking it would be ****ing cool.

[Scourge of Ages]

Why do you think so? I reckon Tony Starking it would be ****ing cool.

Cool, certainly, but until we have holographic displays like he did, we won't be able to actually touch the things you're interacting with. You're just waving your fingers in the air, fighting gravity to try to keep your hand steady while you try to hit something that's inches or feet away from your fingers, with only your eyes to guide you.
Like operating a marionette, but you don't even get to pull on the strings to feel the weight.

EDIT: HAHA! Found it! This explains it better than I could, and is the reason I was able to explain it even that well: http://worrydream.com/ABriefRantOnTheFutureOfInteractionDesign/

[Mikes]

EDIT: HAHA! Found it! This explains it better than I could, and is the reason I was able to explain it even that well: http://worrydream.com/ABriefRantOnTheFutureOfInteractionDesign/

He makes some very good points.... but as to where he is ultimately going, i.e. his closing remark: "With an entire body at your command, do you seriously think the Future Of Interaction should be a single finger?", he's quite a bit off imho.

The answer to his question is rather simply: Because people are lazy.

I.e. he is dreaming about interfaces that take all "human capabilities" into account... but he neglects what most people want: "convenience" / "least effort" / etc.
He does have a point about the fallacies of the current technolody, i.e.: Touching pictures behind glass with a finger is just very limiting. What he misses is that waggling a finger does take little effort.

As to the OP... waggling a finger in front of a big screen (without touching) does take quite a bit of effort as your hands/arms are not supported. Hence... it will propably be a niche technology at best.

[Dragon]

Well, for some purposes (mostly gaming), whole body "gestures" might indeed be the future. On the other hand (ba-dum-tish), handling basic interface would rather be done with a finger or, for complex operations, the entire palm. I don't use my HOTAS to move the mouse pointer and click on desktop icons, I use it to control simulators which can take adventage of it's various functions. I have yet to find a game that would use about 300 independent bindings this set can offer, so I think that full body control would only be useful for motion capture.

[Ghostavo]

EDIT: HAHA! Found it! This explains it better than I could, and is the reason I was able to explain it even that well: http://worrydream.com/ABriefRantOnTheFutureOfInteractionDesign/

He makes some very good points.... but as to where he is ultimately going, i.e. his closing remark: "With an entire body at your command, do you seriously think the Future Of Interaction should be a single finger?", he's quite a bit off imho.

The answer to his question is rather simply: Because people are lazy.

I.e. he is dreaming about interfaces that take all "human capabilities" into account... but he neglects what most people want: "convenience" / "least effort" / etc.
He does have a point about the fallacies of the current technolody, i.e.: Touching pictures behind glass with a finger is just very limiting. What he misses is that waggling a finger does take little effort.

As to the OP... waggling a finger in front of a big screen (without touching) does take quite a bit of effort as your hands/arms are not supported. Hence... it will propably be a niche technology at best.

There are other ways people could interact with a computer with little effort besides waving their finger around.

You could have minor functions distributed throughout your body. For instance, your head (specifically your eyes) could be used to focus screen objects for interaction. There is already research and prototypes about using eyes as an interface input for people with disabilities, so this is not farfetched.

What could be farfetched, or just blatant speculation (but really really cool), would be to use body cues to interact with your computer. The computer would try to guess what you want based on what appears to be basically nothing. There has been research on computers detecting mood so maybe someday...

Finger wagging while nice is limited. That's his point.

[redsniper]

What could be farfetched, or just blatant speculation (but really really cool), would be to use body cues to interact with your computer. The computer would try to guess what you want based on what appears to be basically nothing. There has been research on computers detecting mood so maybe someday...

WOULD YOU LIKE A KITTEN PICTURE?

[BloodEagle]

HAVE SOME PORNOGRAPHY MEATY HUMAN

Kids: "What's that lady doing?"

[Aardwolf]

Nobody responding to my ultrasound comment

[Klaustrophobia]

it didn't really call for a response.

[Aardwolf]

But it's awesome! They make the peaks of the ultrasound from multiple sources meet at a specific point, so that it feels like there's something there!

Or is that what this article is about? I didn't actually read it 

[Scourge of Ages]

But it's awesome! They make the peaks of the ultrasound from multiple sources meet at a specific point, so that it feels like there's something there!

Or is that what this article is about? I didn't actually read it 

OK, that does seem like it could be pretty cool. Do you have a link or something?

[Kolgena]

It should just feel like a small point of air that vibrates (which is pretty cool). I don't see how it could generate a catching/resisting sensation though.

[Aardwolf]

Ok, this isn't the article I remembered seeing before, but here's a link with a video:

http://www.alab.t.u-tokyo.ac.jp/~siggraph/08/Tactile/SIGGRAPH08-Tactile.html

[Scourge of Ages]

Ah, yes, that does look very interesting.

Ultrasonic pressure waves + the Leap thing would be a huge step in the right direction. Then you add in VR goggles or whatever we can do for holograms, and you would actually start to be able to touch and manipulate virtual things in the real world.

[Mikes]

For tactile feedback, you could get a pen-like device hooked up to the computer that will gently vibrate when resistance is felt.

A pen like device already gives you very good tacticle feedback and allows you to manipulate not just where you write, but what pressure you want to apply.

In addition, it allows you to quickly change input modes either by the press of a button on the pen or by simply flipping the pen (for example, to use the eraser function).


Ever used a proper WACOM "penabled" Tablet running Win7 with One Note for taking notes or with a graphics program to draw? The technology is quite advanced. (offering several thousand levels of pressure detection while touching the screen and a "floating cursor" while hovering above the screen, while being incredibly responsive, i.e. completely "lag" free.) It pretty much feels "just right", which is - I guess - the highest praise an input technology can get.

As someone who is used to working with an active digitizer tablet.... the whole "finger tablet craze" really has me shaking my head...   the finger as an input method is so clumsy in comparison to an active digitizer pen that trying to use those "finger tablets" for work, i.e. productive activities, is just completely out of the question. For work, i.e. for content creation,.... seeing a tablet that is limited to finger input is pretty much just as ridiculous as trying to get any work done with crayons or fingerpainting colors. It's in every way inferior to both: active pens or keyboard+mouse.

The only thing that the "finger" has going for it is the convenience of a completely integrated solution. A subpar solution for tasks that do not require any precision or speed. It's a solution suited for content consumption devices that require only limited user input and completely fails (in comparison to mouse+kb or active digitizers) as soon as you do any content creation / work.