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Lose The Remote Again? Just Clap

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By PETER SVENSSON, The Associated Press

Published: January 10, 2008

LAS VEGAS - Nintendo Corp.'s Wii game console is a breakout hit in large part because users control the play by waving around a motion-sensing wireless controller.

Many new gadgets are taking the idea of such an intuitive interface several steps further. Soon, you may be able to control computers, television sets, even cell phones with hand gestures alone.

In a demonstration by 3DV Systems at the International Consumer Electronics Show here this week, users stood in front of a large screen and controlled a Windows computer with hand gestures: thumb left to go left, index finger right to go right, victory sign for Enter.

JVC, also known as Victor Company of Japan Ltd., demonstrated a prototype TV with controls based on the same idea: gestures and sounds like snaps and claps turn the set on or off, control volume or change the channel.

The prospect of never again having to search the sofa for a remote is sure to be welcome in many homes, but the traditional fight over the remote could become worse: imagine two kids engaged in a sign-language duel to control the set, with the picture and sound changing frantically to keep up.

In another demo, as a 3DV employee did boxing moves an avatar on the screen in front of him mimicked the motion of his entire upper body.

Some Verizon Wireless cell phones now contain a game were the user can roll a ball through a maze by tilting the phone, courtesy of technology from GestureTek, a Sunnyvale, Calif., company.

Although the Wii's remote uses a combination of tiny mechanical springs and a camera to sense motion, GestureTek uses only cameras - quite conveniently, since most cell phones and quite a few laptops already have them.

Another application is the EyeToy for Sony Corp.'s PlayStation 2, which lets you play simple games by moving in front of the camera.

To take these relatively simple applications further, GestureTek and 3DV are looking at adding a third dimension: depth. A regular camera produces a two-dimensional picture. Two cameras together can sense how far away an object is, just like two eyes enable humans to perceive depth.

"We think the interactivity of all this stuff improves with depth," MacDougall said.

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