Researchers are recognizing the potential of position sensors to help them overcome the limitations of traditional user interfaces.
When Johnny chUng Lee started hacking his Nintendo Wiimote to explore whether the infrared sensors could detect simple finger movements, he scarcely expected the project to catapult him to YouTube microstardom. Yet within a few months, his four-minute demonstration video had garnered nearly two million views, earning him a loyal fan base of fellow DIY hackers, and helping him secure a plum job at Microsoft and a flattering profile in The New York Times. The Wiimote demo did more than boost Lee’s job prospects, however. It also helped spark a surge of public interest in the possibilities of position sensors and gestural interfaces.
While position sensors have been around for years, dating at least as far back as the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign’s early “dataglove” prototype in the 1970s, they have largely failed to penetrate the consumer mainstream despite periodic waves of hype. That may be starting to change, however, as evidenced by the popularity of CNN’s presidential election night coverage featuring ubiquitous—some would say gratuitous—images of newscasters poking, pulling, and prodding interactive graphics on a giant “Magic Wall” (which was memorably parodied in a Saturday Night Live skit with Fred Armisen twiddling a map of the United States while declaring, “Check out Michigan—I can make it bounce!”).
The CNN Magic Wall originated with Jeff Han’s groundbreaking work in multitouch interaction (which also caused a You Tube splash when the first demos appeared online in 2006). In the age of the iPhone, however, multitouch screens have quickly become so commonplace as to seem almost banal. But researchers are now starting to explore
Johnny Chung Lee discussing creative uses of the Wiimote at Creativity World forum 2008.
more provocative visions for sensor-based applications that stretch far beyond the relatively simple manipulation of images on a two-dimensional screen. (For more about multitouch devices, see Ted Selker’s article “ Touching the Future” in the Dec. 2008 issue of Communications.)
At Philips Research Labs, researcher
Mark Mertens recently filed a patent for a “throwable display” that updates itself based on the unit’s position and trajectory. Envisioned primarily as a gaming device, the system employs a combination of an accelerometer and a triangulation system based on GHz radiation that measures flight time and location in relation to a set of fixed beacons and/or human actors. For example, the display could show a humanoid image sticking out its tongue to a player from a distance; then, when the display gets closer to the player, it might change its expression to a please-don’t-hit-me smile. Once the sensors can deliver accurate data about the unit’s location, orientation, and speed, says Mertens, “the rest is mathematics.”
In this case, sensors are only part of the story. To stretch beyond traditional t wo-dimensional interactions, Mertens wants to explore new possibilities in display technology, incorporating Philips’ innovative pillow-shaped display. Mertens thinks the combination
Photogra Ph by Pieter baert
14 CommunICatIons of the aCm | feBRuaRY 2009 | vol. 52 | No. 2
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