Hand gesture sensing TV sets to make remote controls history

London, Sept 5 : The days of arguing over who will have TV's remote control are numbered, all thanks to British scientists, who have invented a ground-breaking gesture-sensing television.

The revolutionary technology will enable people to switch channels, change volume and pause films by gesture alone, just like the way Tom Cruise did in the film 'Minority Report'.

A small camera built onto the television senses when someone enters its field of vision and searches for their hand.

"Gesture interface technology" inside the machine then interprets the hand's signals; waving up and down could alter the volume, while a raised hand would pause a DVD.

Viewers would also be able to direct a cursor on the screen, raising their thumbs to "click" the options they wanted.

Dr Kate Knill, part of the Toshiba team researching the technology, said it could be adapted for use on PCs and other gadgets, and could one day make the computer mouse redundant as well.

"As soon as you can get a camera onto a TV there is a lot you can do. It could be used anywhere you want it to be easier to interact with things," Telegraph quoted her, as saying.

The system could be programmed to detect and interpret any number of gestures, and could even be used to recognise regular viewers as they walk into a room and switch automatically to their favourite channels.

"Gesture interface could remove the need for touch screen technology, which always breaks down anyway," Kate said.

"Imagine you are watching TV when the phone rings. You want to pause the film you are watching but can never find the remote quickly enough.

"By just putting your hand up you could pause the film instantly. Our aim is to make the interfaces as easy and efficient as possible," she added.

The technology has been developed at a laboratory in Cambridge under German scientist Dr Bjorn Stenger.

It was unveiled for the first time at the Internationale Funkausstellung (IFA), in Berlin this week.

ANI