Since the entry of the Kinect system into the videogame scene, the idea of 'understanding each other with gestures' with an electronic device has taken hold in the market and in the collective imagination. Without a keyboard, without direct contact between the hands and a computer, a mobile phone, a household appliance, we will be free to integrate the presence of technology into daily activities.
A new patent introduces a change that can be decisive in the diffusion of controller gestures: it is the first system based on electric fields.
[highlight]What is it about? – [/highlight] Developed by Microchip Inc, the system (called gestic) does not use a video camera to track the movements of our hands, but creates a 'map' of our gestures through the diffusion of an electric field. The dynamics (you will see it from the video) appears quite precise for this stage of development, and allows the current state to 'turn the page' when reading an ebook, to give simple commands with circular gestures or to turn off a device by creating a wave with the hand.
I ask myself and say: but won't yet another magnetic or electric field stationed within our range of action hurt? While waiting for important confirmations (or denials) from science, I note that GestIC is a rather weak field, 'only widespread' within a radius of 16 centimetres. For this reason it consumes much less energy than current systems, and is preparing to be an excellent solution for mobile devices, which are always hungry for energy.
When?
Microchip say this controller will find wide application in a wide range of products already starting from the last months of 2013.
Do I say 'bye bye' with my hand and close this article automatically without touching the keyboard?
It's still early. It's still early :)
Here is the press release (in English): https://www.microchip.com/pagehandler/en-us/press-release/microchips-new-gestic-technolo.html
