Waving Arms About Interfaces have almost hit Minority Report levels of coolness with this…
Which I still think is the stupidest idea in the world, but then I thought iPads were a pretty stupid idea as well, so what do I know?
People will want this… oh yes, they will want it a lot – mainly because it’s appeared in a Scifi movie so is the future etc… even if it does make you look daft, and is a lot more tiring to use than any of the more traditional means of computer/human communication…
… however:
The thing about this approach, is it untethers interface-size from finger-size… well, for input anyway. Voice-control has always been hit and miss (not sure why)… (probably because people talk bollocks)… and for some reason, you can’t talk and think at the same time. With typing you can kindof think ahead. Mind you, waving your arms around could be a bit of a tricky text interface – though the Swype (waving your finger about, while touching screen) on my phone works pretty well.
A combination of this and retina displays could mean that computers/phones (whatever) can shrink a lot more than they’re currently shrunk.
Far out – turns out it only costs $70 http://www.adafruit.com/blog/2012/05/21/startup-leap-motion-announces-new-rival-to-the-kinect/
And has micrometer-level accuracy, and looks as though they’re releasing it to developers… although right now the “developers” link on their site goes to a 404
Still… whatever. I’ve just bought one on pre-order. Putting my money where my mouth isn’t, as it were.