Designing Gestural Interfaces

Not sure exactly what’s going on here, but it sure looks interesting. To whit:

Not only Nokia has found a way around most of the things that Apple may get IP protection on, they seem to be on the way to develop user interface technology that goes well beyond touch.

How about the multi-touch like mobile handset UI that does not actually require touch, can track your hand movements in three dimensional space, and even recognize 3D hand gestures?

…

Different finger combinations can be used also as a shortcuts to various applications. Make a letter C with you fingers and your calendar application launches, use a “V” sign to launch an address book. And if the operation of the device grinds to a halt and starts to really piss you off, just give him a “finger” and it resets to start anew.

Nifty. I’ve done some projects with Nokia and never caught a whiff of this. Cool.

If you haven’t seen this, take a look at this interactive store window brought to you by Orange and The Alternative. “UK based agency ‘The Alternative’ has developed a gesture based interaction screen for Orange. It is for the first time that such a technology is showcased to the general public says a spokesman for the agency. The large projected image has a touch free interface and provides users a new way to activate news, film clips and music videos.”

As I write the book, I’m also preparing an introductory talk about interactive gestures that I am pleased to be presenting in a number of awesome venue. With touchscreen interfaces exploding at CES and everywhere else, this information should get out sooner rather than later!

I’m presenting Tap is the New Click at:

• O’Reilly’s ETech on March 4. Use my discount code of et08fds and get 20% off.
• Indiana University School of Informatics on April 2
• The always-fun WebVisions on May 22-23
• Design IT in Tokyo in June

If you’d like me to speak at your event, contact me and we’ll try to arrange it.

From BusinessWeek: A Touching Story at CES

The consumer electronics industry came unbuttoned in Las Vegas this week. At the annual Consumer Electronics Show, which kicked off Jan. 7, companies from around the world unveiled myriad devices boasting touch-sensitive technology, rather than traditional push-button controls.

Motorola (MOT), Sony (SNE), and LG Electronics all showed off touch-screen phones this week. Microsoft (MSFT) Chairman Bill Gates touted a touch-screen computer, the Surface, akin to a flat panel TV for a tabletop. Even camera makers, such as Kodak (EK), included touch-screen LCDs in their devices. Touch-screen tech has been in use for years, but the impetus to develop and weave it into consumer electronics gathered steam with the June introduction of Apple’s (AAPL) iPhone. “The touch-screen industry is really getting hot,” says Jennifer Colegrove, a senior analyst at iSuppli. “Since the iPhone came out, there are a lot of companies that did not have a relationship with touch screens before that decided, ‘O.K., I want to make a touch screen, too.’”