Gesture Technology

Imagine being able to control your computer or other household appliances with a wave of your hand…well, that technology is already here and if you didn’t realize it, it’s probably just because it is not widespread just yet.

A couple weeks ago my Interactive Multimedia class at Sheridan College went on a field trip to Gesture Tek a company who are pioneers in the field of gesture technology. Gesture Tek was co-founded in 1984 by Vincent John Vincent who was a travelling musician/performer at the time and used cameras as interfaces to generate a multimedia experience for his audience. He would play virtual instruments on a big screen as part of his performance. His first prototypes were made on my personal favorite computer of the 1980’s – the Amiga!

Over the years, Gesture Tek have expanded their product line to include the following:

Gestpoint – which includes surfaces where you can point and control images with simple hand movements which are detected by a camera and then processed by a computer in a similar manner to mouse control. Similar technology has been used by Microsoft in their new product Microsoft Surface

Multimedia Pioneering guru Dan Zen using Gestpoint technology – photo taken by Dwight Brown

Gesture FX – interactive walls and floors that the user can wave at or step on to make things happen, this technology is useful for marketing/advertising because it engages the user more than a print or tv ad would.

Above is an example of a running race game using gesture fx, players wiggle their feet, the camera captures their motions and the computer translates this information so that their animated character is running.

Gesture Health – Gesture Tek has used their technology to help patients with physical disabilities rehabilitate using interactive environments tailored to their specific needs and range of motion.

ScreenXtreme – This was my personal favourite, you can stand against a green background facing a camera that captures your image and places it into a virtual environment and your movements are displayed in real-time within the virtual environment. I tried a game similar to Harry Potter where I could shoot sparks from my hands and even fly around – it was hilarious!

Gesture technology is often used in museums in interactive displays – at the Boston Children’s museum, users can pretend to be the conductor of an orchestra using a device that resembles a Wii and gesturing as if holding a baton. The faster their movements, the faster the tempo of the music.

Overall, the trip to Gesture Tek was really interesting and super fun. I really think the clubs in Toronto should start incorporating the interactive walls and floors, it would make for a really great dance party! I guess the only downside to this technology is that it is not really affordable for the average person, but since Gesture Tek is moving into the mobile phone realm now, I expect it will become widely accessible in the very near future.