May 17

KDDI announces Android-based INFOBAR A01 smartphone with glanceable iida UI

Posted in: Android, interface, Japan, Today's Chili, ui, video
There’s been a few smartphones exclusive to Japan as of late that we’d like to see available over here, but perhaps none more so than KDDI’s just-announced INFOBAR A01, which is set to hit the country in July. It runs Android 2.3, but you wouldn’t know it from the interface: a completely custom UI designed by Yugo Nakamura that follows some similar glanceable design principles to Windows Phone 7, or what KDDI describes as a “single band of information.” The phone is no slouch hardware-wise either — it boasts a 3.7-inch qHD display (that’s about 300 ppi), an 8 megapixel camera, a 1Seg TV tuner, and dual-mode GSM / CDMA connectivity (no word on the processor, unfortunately). As you can see, it also has some tile-like buttons — a common theme with previous INFOBAR phones — and it’s available in your choice of four different color schemes, no less, along with some optional silicone and leather cases designed to match the phone (by the phone’s designer, Naoto Fukasawa, incidentally). Hit up the gallery below for a closer look, and head on past the break for a pair of videos showing the interface in action.

Gallery: KDDI INFOBAR A01

Continue reading KDDI announces Android-based INFOBAR A01 smartphone with glanceable iida UI

KDDI announces Android-based INFOBAR A01 smartphone with glanceable iida UI originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 17 May 2011 15:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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May 12

ZeroTouch ‘optical multi-touch force field’ makes a touchscreen out of just about anything

Posted in: interface, LED, screen, Today's Chili, touch, video

The rise of tablets and smartphones has made the touchscreen a rather ubiquitous interface, but they aren’t everywhere quite yet. A group of students from Texas A&M intend to change that, however, with the invention of ZeroTouch: a seemingly empty picture frame that lets you turn any surface into an interactive touchscreen. It might not look like much, but ZeroTouch is packing a series of pulsing LEDs and infrared sensors that turn that blank space into a highly sensitive surface. Basically, the strategically placed LEDs cover the open area in a sheet of invisible light. When a hand or stylus enters the picture (or lack there of), those beams are interrupted, providing cues to a piece of software that tracks the object’s movement — and boom! You’ve got a touchscreen. Of course, this isn’t the sort of thing that’s going to make it to market anytime soon, but you can check out ZeroTouch rocking the rippling water effect in the video below.

Continue reading ZeroTouch ‘optical multi-touch force field’ makes a touchscreen out of just about anything

ZeroTouch ‘optical multi-touch force field’ makes a touchscreen out of just about anything originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 12 May 2011 17:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink NewScientist  |  sourceInterface Ecology Lab  | Email this | Comments

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May 10

Microsoft’s Rock and Rails touchscreen lets you massage your photos with both hands

Posted in: interface, Microsoft, research, screen, Today's Chili, touchscreen, ui
If you ever get tired of poking away at your smartphone’s screen like a doorbell, you’re not alone. The forward-looking folks over at Microsoft Research have been working away at a new touchscreen system designed pick up on more natural, whole-hand movements, effectively allowing users to break free from the finger-based paradigm that governs most tactile devices. Developed in coordination with engineers at Microsoft Surface, the company’s Rock and Rails interface can detect three basic hand gestures: a balled fist, which holds items on the screen, an extended hand that can align objects (see the cell marked “d,” on the right) and a curved paw, around which users can pivot images (see cell b). This taxonomy opens up new ways for users to crop, re-size or generally play around with their UI elements, though it remains unclear whether the display will trickle down to the consumer level anytime soon. For now, it appears to operate exclusively on the Surface, but more details should surface when the system’s developers release a paper on their project, later this year. Hit the source links to see a video of the thing in action.

Microsoft’s Rock and Rails touchscreen lets you massage your photos with both hands originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 11 May 2011 00:58:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink CrunchGear  |  sourceMicrosoft Research (1), (2)  | Email this | Comments

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May 07

Microsoft patent details a 3D desktop interface with a room for your windows

Posted in: desktop, interface, Microsoft, os, patent, Today's Chili

Many have tried and failed to bring a 3D desktop interface to an otherwise 2D operating system, but that certainly hasn’t stopped others from trying. The latest example to crop up comes courtesy of none other than Microsoft, which recently received a patent for what it describes as a “method and apparatus for providing a three-dimensional task gallery computer interface.” In other words, it’s an interface intended to help you better manage multiple tasks, which the patent suggests could be done in a 3D environment with a floor, walls and a ceiling. Apparently, you’d be able to group multiple windows at various spots in the “room,” which would let you rely on your spatial memory to easily find a given task — with the room getting deeper and deeper to accommodate more tasks. In the patent’s claims, the only means described for navigating around that room is a set of icons that would adjust to suit the 3D environment, although it certainly seems like it could easily be adapted to accommodate gesture controls as well. Hit up the source link below for plenty more line drawings where this one came from.

Microsoft patent details a 3D desktop interface with a room for your windows originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 07 May 2011 12:51:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Technology Review  |  sourceGoogle Patents  | Email this | Comments

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Apr 15

Kinect-driven ‘Jellybean’ armchair hands-on (video)

Posted in: hack, hands-on, interface, kinect, mod, robot, Today's Chili, video

Yes, this is what happens when you combine Kinect with a recliner on a motorized platform — perfectly normal people doing awesome zombie impersonations! This week at Microsoft’s MIX 11 web developer conference, the enterprising Clint Rutkas of Coding4Fun / Channel 9 fame showed off his Kinect-driven “Jellybean” armchair on stage during the keynote, and later let our very own Sean Hollister take it for a spin. Sadly, we missed our chance to capture this special occasion on video for posterity when the laptop used to control this armchair overlord ran out of juice in the final stages of our practice run. The motorized platform uses eight batteries, four omnidirectional wheels each with its own motor, and a pair of motor controllers connected to a laptop which interprets the input from Kinect (using the new SDK for Windows) and provides visual feedback to the driver. A gesture interface brings the entire contraption to life and even includes a hand signal to recline the armchair. Take a look at some closeup shots in our gallery below and watch our video of the recliner in action after the break.

Gallery: Kinect-driven armchair hands-on

Continue reading Kinect-driven ‘Jellybean’ armchair hands-on (video)

Kinect-driven ‘Jellybean’ armchair hands-on (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 15 Apr 2011 11:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apr 13

Intel Thunderbolt dev kits coming this quarter, hopefully ushering in more 10Gbps-capable devices

Posted in: intel, interface, plans, roadmap, schedule, thunderbolt, Today's Chili, video

Intel has just announced it will soon be making development kits available for its new Thunderbolt interconnect. The cable that can carry 10Gbps (in both directions!) has so far only seen itself installed in Apple’s MacBook Pro computers, but storage and other peripheral manufacturers are starting to unveil their lightning-scorched offerings this week at NAB and this announcement is sure to give Thunderbolt an extra spur of momentum. What’s going to be intriguing going forward is to see whether manufacturers take it up instead of USB 3.0 or install the DisplayPort lookalike alongside the latest and greatest from the USB camp. If you ask us, we can never have enough high-speed interconnects… how does SuperSpeed Thunderbolt sound?

Continue reading Intel Thunderbolt dev kits coming this quarter, hopefully ushering in more 10Gbps-capable devices

Intel Thunderbolt dev kits coming this quarter, hopefully ushering in more 10Gbps-capable devices originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 13 Apr 2011 04:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apr 08

The Awesome button is…

Posted in: arduino, awesome, hack, hacking, interface, mod, modding, Today's Chili, usb

Ever struggled to find the perfect adjective to articulate your admiration for a given article of awesomeness? Matt Richardson over at Make felt exactly the same way, so he perfected himself an Awesome button, designed specifically to spit out synonyms for his favorite descriptive word. To accomplish the task, he had to gut a Staples “easy” button and arrange a Teensy USB microcontroller inside it, before making the resulting mini-thesaurus compatible with his computer. Don’t worry, full instructions are contained in the video above. Just mash the play button.

The Awesome button is… originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 08 Apr 2011 09:14:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apr 04

Evoluce releases Kinect-based ‘Win & I’ gesture interface for Windows 7

Posted in: interface, Today's Chili, video, Windows, windows 7, Windows7

We’ve already seen Evoluce toy around with using a Kinect to control Windows, but it’s now taken things one step further with its new “Win & I” software, which promises to let anyone do the same with minimal effort. That comes in both a home edition that offers gesture controls for Windows 7 itself, plus Media Center and other applications (which could be particularly handy for a home theater), as well as a business edition that apparently adds some extra controls specifically tailored to Microsoft Office, and PowerPoint in particular. Head on past the break for a quick video demonstration, and hit up the link below to snag the software if you’re interested — the home edition runs €20, or just under $30 (Kinect not included, obviously).

Update: Well, it looks like Evoluce already has a bit of competition. Upstart company So Touch has now also released its Air Presenter software that will let you liven up your next presentation with more gesturing and hand-waving than usual.

Continue reading Evoluce releases Kinect-based ‘Win & I’ gesture interface for Windows 7

Evoluce releases Kinect-based ‘Win & I’ gesture interface for Windows 7 originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 04 Apr 2011 09:38:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Download Squad  |  sourceEvoluce  | Email this | Comments

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Mar 30

MakerBot’s Interface Board Kit does PC-less 3D printing, turns your superhero fantasies into reality

Posted in: interface, printer, Today's Chili

If you’re like us — that is to say, wildly popular and devastatingly good looking — then you’re probably wondering why someone hasn’t produced an action figure in your likeness yet. Well wonder no longer, for the folks over at MakerBot just announced yet another handy tool to make at home 3D printing even easier. An addition to the aptly titled Thing-O-Matic, the Gen 4 Interface Board Kit v1.1 is billed as a DIY interface that lets you operate your thingy printer without having to attach it to a PC. The kit comes equipped with an SD card slot for easy independent operation, and because the board’s fully hackable, you can use it to control your robots or homebrew CNC devices, too. It sports nine programmable buttons and an LCD screen for feedback, and allows you to set and read temperatures, view build progress, or start a new project stored on the SD card. So what are you waiting for? Your self-aggrandizing bobblehead isn’t going to make itself.

MakerBot’s Interface Board Kit does PC-less 3D printing, turns your superhero fantasies into reality originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 30 Mar 2011 22:36:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mar 30

Researchers show off ‘flex’ interface for touchscreens

Posted in: interface, Today's Chili, touchscreen, video
No, it’s not an actual flexible touchscreen, but this so-called “flex” interface developed by some researchers at Osaka University is still pretty novel. Rather than simply moving content off the screen when you’re browsing something like Google Maps, it treats what’s on the screen as an elastic, flexible material and squishes the content as it gets closer to the edge of the screen, which still lets you see it while you focus on a different area. That, the researchers say, would be just as effective on phones and other devices in addition to large touchscreens, and it would obviously be fairly easy to implement. Check it out in action in the video above.

Researchers show off ‘flex’ interface for touchscreens originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 30 Mar 2011 18:09:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceDigInfo TV  | Email this | Comments

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