sleipnir214
Programmer
This sounded to me too cool to not share.
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Interesting computer input technology 2
- Thread starter sleipnir214
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CajunCenturion
Programmer
Oh great, now in addition to spelling errors, typographical errors, we can now have Canesta errors. But I promise you Mr. Help Desk person, that I spelled it correctly and typed in correctly. The machine is broke, it misread my finger(s).
All kidding aside, this does look interesting.
Good Luck
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As a circle of light increases so does the circumference of darkness around it. - Albert Einstein
All kidding aside, this does look interesting.
Good Luck
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As a circle of light increases so does the circumference of darkness around it. - Albert Einstein
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sleipnir214
Programmer
I agree that it will never replace a tactile keyboard on a workstation or laptop. But as an input device for a PDA?
Want the best answers? Ask the best questions: TANSTAAFL!!
Want the best answers? Ask the best questions: TANSTAAFL!!
lionelhill
Technical User
(Smugly) Glad someone else thinks tactile feedback is important!
Actually I don't think touch-typists would get used to it without a blip or two on their desk to keep them located. The point about a touch typist is they don't need to look at the keyboard, so the laser projection is only necessary to locate their fingers for the first time. Thereafter I personally find the physical location of the keys necessary to keep my hands from moving off.
Maybe if it came with a couple of drawing pins I can stick in the desk?
Actually I don't think touch-typists would get used to it without a blip or two on their desk to keep them located. The point about a touch typist is they don't need to look at the keyboard, so the laser projection is only necessary to locate their fingers for the first time. Thereafter I personally find the physical location of the keys necessary to keep my hands from moving off.
Maybe if it came with a couple of drawing pins I can stick in the desk?
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sleipnir214
Programmer
You could reproduce the Minority Report computer interface today, provided you were willing to don a special pair of gloves, don a special pair of glasses, and stand inside a specific area to use it. It would just be ¢o$tly.
Have someone manufacture a piece of polycarbonate sheeting, about a meter and a half from top to bottom, as long as and curved to fit a 45° chord of a circle perhaps 3 meters in radius.
At the center point of that circle, draw a 1/2-meter circle on the floor, concentric with the larger circle. From the ceiling above the circle's center point, suspend a projection TV system. Modify the optics of the projection screen TV to project onto a curved rather than a flat surface.
You then put on a pair of gloves that provide to the computer the positions of your fingers and tell the computer where in 3-space your hands are.
You then put on a pair of glasses that tell the computer where in 3-space your head it and what direction your head is facing. The glasses will also have low-power lasers to detect where your eyes are pointing.
The computer projects the user interface graphics onto the polycarbonate screen. The glasses tell the computer where you're looking. The gloves tell the computer what you're going with your hands and where you're doing it.
Throw some programmable digital signal processors or programmable gate arrays at calculating all the parallaxes involved, and it's just a matter of writing the the software to actually manipulate the UI.
The only part of the system that isn't commonly available is the head and hand position systems. The head point system is available, but it's military technology and might be classified. But similar things to what our UI needs are used on the Apache and Comanche helicopters for their chain gun aiming systems.
The looking-point system is used for UIs for people who can't manipulate a mouse, such as quadriplegics. I don't know one way or the other, but the Comanche reticle systems may have that technology already built in.
The gloves are available -- I've seen them used in computer labs. Although they're not necessarily off-the shelf, it shouldn't be too hard to find someone who could produce you a pair.
Want the best answers? Ask the best questions: TANSTAAFL!!
Have someone manufacture a piece of polycarbonate sheeting, about a meter and a half from top to bottom, as long as and curved to fit a 45° chord of a circle perhaps 3 meters in radius.
At the center point of that circle, draw a 1/2-meter circle on the floor, concentric with the larger circle. From the ceiling above the circle's center point, suspend a projection TV system. Modify the optics of the projection screen TV to project onto a curved rather than a flat surface.
You then put on a pair of gloves that provide to the computer the positions of your fingers and tell the computer where in 3-space your hands are.
You then put on a pair of glasses that tell the computer where in 3-space your head it and what direction your head is facing. The glasses will also have low-power lasers to detect where your eyes are pointing.
The computer projects the user interface graphics onto the polycarbonate screen. The glasses tell the computer where you're looking. The gloves tell the computer what you're going with your hands and where you're doing it.
Throw some programmable digital signal processors or programmable gate arrays at calculating all the parallaxes involved, and it's just a matter of writing the the software to actually manipulate the UI.
The only part of the system that isn't commonly available is the head and hand position systems. The head point system is available, but it's military technology and might be classified. But similar things to what our UI needs are used on the Apache and Comanche helicopters for their chain gun aiming systems.
The looking-point system is used for UIs for people who can't manipulate a mouse, such as quadriplegics. I don't know one way or the other, but the Comanche reticle systems may have that technology already built in.
The gloves are available -- I've seen them used in computer labs. Although they're not necessarily off-the shelf, it shouldn't be too hard to find someone who could produce you a pair.
Want the best answers? Ask the best questions: TANSTAAFL!!
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- #11
sleipnir214
Programmer
Nah. I just don't think there's enough of a market for the thing.
Here's a technology that might be adapted to the Minority Report idea:
Want the best answers? Ask the best questions: TANSTAAFL!!
Here's a technology that might be adapted to the Minority Report idea:
Want the best answers? Ask the best questions: TANSTAAFL!!
the projected keyboard technology does have some neat uses.. for a PDA on a train/plane's pull out table it would probably be pretty decent - certainly speedier than using a pen and a touch-screen display keyboard.
Posting code? Wrap it with code tags: [ignore]
[ignore][/code][/ignore].
Posting code? Wrap it with code tags: [ignore]
Code:
[/ignore][code]CodeHereHead and eye tracking already exists in the consumer market. We used it for a while in the web usability lab I started. The downsides were a bit much, unfortunately: it was very expensive, the initial synchronization took a little too long (about 5 minutes, about 10% to 20% of your time if you don't want to keep your subjects too long), and subjects felt somewhat uncomfortable with the headband/glasses on.
Still, that was nearly 5 years ago so it may be better and cheaper now.
Still, that was nearly 5 years ago so it may be better and cheaper now.
Nah. I just don't think there's enough of a market for the thing
That's what the Wright brothers thought about the airplane too.
And I think someone thought the same about the computer (some IBM CEO once stated that there would be a market for maybe 5 computers in the USA by the year 2000)
That's what the Wright brothers thought about the airplane too.
And I think someone thought the same about the computer (some IBM CEO once stated that there would be a market for maybe 5 computers in the USA by the year 2000)
oh right, foist the problems off on us software developers now 
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