Staying Connected
control unit reads the movement’s
distance from the different lights
on the bar, and then that motion
is calculated through triangulation. Industry experts say it is the
accelerometer that contributes
most to the Wii’s $250 price tag,
which while costly is not as
expensive as other gaming
systems.
Likewise, even in an unstable
economy, another high-priced
gadget that caught consumers’
interests and landed on their wish
motion of his fingers, moving
over delegate territory with a
wave of his hand, making the
colored map come to life. CNN
might have called it “The Magic
Wall” when it debuted in January
during the Iowa caucuses, but
readers of this magazine know it
as multi-touch, which is credited
to Jeff Han and a handful of
companies for its development
and evolution.
The influence of innovative
interfaces on the wireless industry
of the video gesture technology.
“People see it once, and they get
it.” Fowler says that since wireless
operators are drooling at opportunities to keep customers connected more, downloading more
bits, the lure of fusing gaming
components and smooth interfaces with mobility is enticing.
With its technology inside,
Gesture Tek sees the phone of the
near future being shaken or rolled
slightly, like a gaming console, so
users can quickly bring up infor-
SUCH INNOVATIVE INTERFACES, LIKE THE WII’S MOTION-SENSITIVE CONTROLLER,
HELP TO BREAK DOWN THE BARRIERS BETWEEN MAN AND MACHINE, SAY ANALYSTS,
AND HELP TO FIRE UP APPLICATION DEVELOPERS.
lists this past holiday season was
Apple’s i Touch. The mobile
device’s multi-touch technology
had consumers buzzing and willing to spend nearly $500 before a
price cut was announced.
These two devices are just two
examples of renewed enthusiasm
being pumped back into the consumer tech sector. Why? It’s in the
interface.
GAMES PEOPLE PLAY
Even venerable cable news channel CNN is not immune to the
charms of an innovative interface. Watching “The Situation
Room” during election coverage
you’d think star reporter John
King was as enamored of the
multi-touch presentation screen
as my family has been of the Wii.
King could be seen narrowing in
on a graphic with a pinching
has been increasing for a while.
Consider Gesture Tek, for
instance. The Sunnyvale, CA-based company has taken its video
gesture recognition patents and
partnerships with gaming—
Microsoft and Sony licensed their
technology for Xbox and PlaySta-tion respectively—and applied the
technology to mobile devices and
applications. The bridge between
gaming and mobile devices comes
because Gesture Tek’s technology
works with cameras, and most
mobile devices have cameras
installed. Deals with NTT
DoCoMo and Verizon have
helped to put Gesture Tek on the
mobile map two years ago, even
though they’ve been around for
20 years.
“It’s disruptive technology,”
says Ed Fowler, director of busi-
ness development at Gesture Tek,
mation needed. There are also
commercial applications that
make sense, like navigation. But
the ease of use of this type of
interface could have social uses as
well, says Fowler. An elderly person living alone, for instance,
could shake their mobile phone
once to dial 911, or could do
physical therapy for their arms
using their mobile device, Fowler
says. The technology is also
enabling digital signage, or interactive billboards.
CAN’T TOUCH THIS
Apple’s aggressive acceptance of
multi-touch shows no signs of
waning. In fact, recent reports
say a next generation of the
iPhone, bigger in size but still
smaller than a laptop, will come
out next year with even more
multi-touch functionality. Fowler