Finger is ‘remote control of the future’

The Fraunhofer Institute for Telecommunications, Heinrich-Hertz-Institut, HHI, has developed a suspended recognition device which can also be integrated into a table. Its two built in cameras detect hands and fingers in real time and transmit the information to a computer. The system responds instantly to movement in front of the screen, so no physical contact or special markers are required. The small device is equipped with two FireWire cameras and, since the interaction is entirely contactless, is suitable for scenarios where contact between the user and the system is not possible or not allowed, such as an operating room. Paul Chojecki, research scientist at the HHI said: “The HHI invention can be used not only to control a display but also as a means of controlling other devices or appliances. Someone kneading pastry in the kitchen, whose hands are covered in dough, can turn down the boiling potatoes by waving a finger without leaving sticky marks on the stove. In an office, for example, an architect can peruse the latest set of construction drawings and view them from all angles by gesture control. The finger is the remote control of the future.” The researchers from Berlin will be presenting iPoint 3D at CeBIT, the trade fair for information and communication technologies, in Hanover from March 3-8 2009.