Now, use your fingers as remote control to perform variety of tasks

Washington, Feb 21 (ANI): Touch screens could soon be history, for scientists have developed a new communication platform, called the 'iPoint 3D', that just requires users to mover their hands in the air to do a variety of tasks-such as switching on the light, turning the stove on/off, and viewing any image from all angles.

Using the iPoint 3D, people can communicate with a 3-D display through simple gestures, and that too without touching it and without 3-D glasses or a data glove.

What makes the iPoint 3D work is a recognition device- not much larger than a keyboard, it can be suspended from the ceiling above the user or integrated in a coffee table.

"Its two built-in cameras detect hands and fingers in real time and transmit the information to a computer," said Paul Chojecki, a research scientist at the Fraunhofer Institute for Telecommunications, Heinrich-Hertz-Institut, HHI, explaining the technology.

The moment someone in front of the screen moves his or her hands, the system responds instantly without any physical contact or special markers.

The device is also equipped with two FireWire cameras, which are inexpensive. The off-the-shelf video cameras that are easy to install.

Other than hitting the chord with video gamers, the iPoint 3D can also be useful in a living room or office, or even in a hospital operating room, or as part of an interactive information system.

"Since the interaction is entirely contactless, the system is ideal for scenarios where contact between the user and the system is not possible or not allowed, such as in an operating room," said Chojecki.

Thus, the platform could not only be used to control a display but also as a means of controlling other devices or appliances.

So, when someone is kneading pastry in the kitchen, and has his or her hands covered in dough, can turn down the boiling potatoes by waving a finger without leaving sticky marks on the stove.

Also, in an office, an architect can examine the latest set of construction drawings and view them from all angles by gesture control.

According to the researchers, the finger is the remote control of the future.

The Berlin researchers will be presenting the iPoint 3D at CeBIT, the trade fair for information and communication technologies, in Hanover from March 3-8. (ANI)