Microsoft Research brings mid-air multitouch to Kinect (video)

Microsoft research project shows hand gesture control

Shortly after the Kinect SDK first launched, it spawned a number of inspired efforts from researchers to make it do more than just track your body. Microsoft Research finally seems to be catching up to its own tech, as it just flaunted a recent project that allows fine-tuned gesture control, thanks to a newly developed talent for the motion sensing device to read whether your hand is open or closed. That let the team simulate multitouch-like capability on a PC as they air-painted basic images and manipulated Bing maps by varying their hand states. The hardware used doesn’t appear to be stock, so whether such new capability entails a rumored new version of the Kinect that may or may not appear on a (rumored) future Xbox, we’ll leave for you to decide.

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Via: NeoWin

Source: Microsoft Research

Zorro Macsk review: instantly add touchscreen functionality to your 21.5-inch iMac

DNP Zorro Macsk review instantly add touchscreen functionality to your 215inch iMac

Over the years we’ve come across a few signs that pointed to the possibility of touchscreen-enabled iMacs, but Steve Jobs had already dismissed this as a possibility for current Mac form factors. Quoting the man at the “Back to the Mac” keynote from two years ago: “It gives great demo, but after a while your arm feels like it’s going to fall off. Touch surfaces want to be horizontal.”

So perhaps our fantasy’s still stuck in the “research project” phase.

Luckily, the more adventurous touchscreen lovers can look to third-party solutions. For MacBooks you have Axiotron’s Modbook, except you lose the keyboard and you can’t perform the modification yourself. As for iMacs and Cinema Displays, we’ve been following Troll Touch for its resistive touchscreen replacement panels, but they aren’t exactly affordable and most of them have to be installed by the company. Even its user-installable SlipCover series starts from $899, anyway.

This leaves us with the Zorro Macsk, a cheekily named iMac accessory hailing from TMDtouch of Shenzhen, China. The 21.5-inch model is priced at just $199 on Amazon with no modifications required. Plus, it supports multitouch — a glaring omission from Troll Touch’s Mac lineup. So is this truly a bargain? Or is it just a case of “you get what you pay for?” Follow past the break to see how we got on with the Zorro Macsk.

Continue reading Zorro Macsk review: instantly add touchscreen functionality to your 21.5-inch iMac

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Zorro Macsk review: instantly add touchscreen functionality to your 21.5-inch iMac originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 17 Sep 2012 15:51:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple patent application details method for detecting and displaying hand position on screen

Apple patent application details sensors for adjusting onscreen keys, backside controls

We’ve had a glimpse at Apple’s conception of a sensor-based keyless layout, and the latest patent application from Cupertino shows the company looking to further refine the input experience — this time using a camera and other sensors to detect hand position and overlay that hand position on a device’s screen. The filing details three methods to this end. The first shows a user’s hands on a traditional hardware keyboard projected in an on-screen representation (as background, Apple mentions the ergonomic strain of looking down to check your hand placement, so perhaps that’s the thinking behind this one). A second scenario involves a laptop with unlabeled keys, where the marked keyboard is displayed on the screen, and the final, most intriguing, setup shows backside controls on a tablet a la the PS Vita, with a user’s fingers projected as if the device was transparent. Of course, this is just a patent application at this point, so don’t expect to see this tech make its debut September 12th.

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Apple patent application details method for detecting and displaying hand position on screen originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 06 Sep 2012 10:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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