Tag Archives: Gesture Control

Meta Wearable AR Computer Dev Kits: How Many Glasses Are We Supposed to Wear in the Future?

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Earlier this year we heard about the Meta, an augmented reality computer in the shape of a pair of glasses. The company behind the computer took a page from the Oculus Rift team and also launched a Kickstarter for the Meta developer’s kit.

meta 1 augmented reality glasses developer kit

The fundraiser may not be aimed at end users, but it does reveal a bit more about the Meta. In the video below you’ll see that the consumer version of the glasses should be much more compact and much less dorky than the current prototype. The Meta projects its display up to 16 ft. away from the user at 960×540 resolution. Developers will initially use Unity 3D on Windows to write software for the Meta. They’ll be able to make use of the Meta’s gesture, finger and surface tracking as well as its depth and color data.

You’ll need to pledge at least $695(USD) on Kickstarter to get a Meta 1 dev kit as a reward. I’m really intrigued by the possibilities of this device, partly because I’m into card and board games right now. It would be nice to have more interactive board game. And also to not have to clean up the tokens and other pieces after each game.

Google launches New version of Google Earth Pro 7.1 Today

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Today is Earth Day fully celebrated by Google as offers not only an animated Google Doodle but also its new version of Google Earth. This new premium version of Google Earth  allows users to see...
    


DIY Iron Man Muscle-Controlled Repulsor Glove: Jedi Muscle Trick

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To promote his company’s muscle sensor, Brian Kaminski of Advancer Technologies built a toy replica of Iron Man’s repulsor glove. All you have to do is curl your fingers to charge it up and then spread them to unleash devastating… tiny flashes of light. It does play a recording of JARVIS spewing polite technobabble, so that’s kind of empowering.

iron man muscle controlled repulsor glove by advancer technologies

But before you get Tony Stark’s gloves, you have to have a bit of his smarts. This project involves a fair bit of improvising and soldering to complete, including making an Arduino shield that controls the muscle sensor.

I imagine hacks like this will be a lot easier and complex when the MYO arm band is released. But for now head to Instructables if you want to know how to make Advancer Tech’s repulsor glove.

[via Fashionably Geek]

AMD Richland APU launched

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AMD tries to dazzle with value-add CPUs that support Face Login and Gesture Control. The first AMD A-Series APU based laptops are still expected to go on sale this month. The high performance...

MYO Gesture Control Armband: The Force is with Us

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The Leap motion sensor was one of the most talked about devices last year and rightly so. But until the device itself gets in the hands of ordinary folks, I think MYO just might steal the Leap’s thunder. MYO is also a gesture-based controller, but instead of using cameras, it senses the electrical activity in your muscles to help detect gestures.

myo gesture control armband

Aside from its proprietary muscle activity sensors, the MYO also has a six-axis intertial measurement unit, an ARM processor and rechargeable Li-ion batteries. It uses Bluetooth 4.0 to pair with devices. All of these hardware lead to a portable form, giving it a significant advantage over the Leap or the Kinect.

Thalmic Labs, the company behind MYO, claims that their device is accurate enough to recognize the movements of individual fingers. It also supposedly responds so quickly that sometimes “it even looks like the gesture is recognized before your hand starts moving”, thanks to the fact that it detects muscle movement and not just the actual gesture itself.

Amazingly, we can already pre-order this telekinesis-bestowing gadget. Head to MYO’s website and pay $149 (USD) (plus $10 shipping) to reserve your own unit. Thalmic Labs claims that orders will ship later this year, with out of the box support for PC and Mac computers as well as APIs for iOS and Android developers. I’m particularly interested in seeing how the MYO will work with home automation systems, electronic prosthetics and of course, cosplay.

[MYO via Man of Many & VentureBeat]

Mauz Transmogrifies iPhones into a 3-in-1 Pointing Device

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There are already a variety of apps that turn iOS and Android devices into wireless mice or trackpads or both. Some of them are even free. But a company called Spicebox thinks you’ll want to pay for a peripheral that does just about the exact same thing. Will you want to spend some dollarz for its Mauz?

mauz iphone mouse accessory

As shown in the image above, Mauz plugs into the dock connector of an iPhone 4, 4S or 5. It has three main modes, the first of which turns an iPhone into a mouse-cum-touchpad that has virtual left- and right-click buttons as well as a scroll wheel. Its second mode turns iPhones into a motion-sensitive controller, akin to a Wii controller. Spicebox says users will be able to map commands from various programs into gestures, from controlling your browser to your videogame character.

mauz iphone mouse accessory 2

Finally there’s the visual gestures, a Kinect-like control mode that lets you execute commands just by waving your hand above your iPhone’s camera.

Pledge at least $49 (USD) on Kickstarter to reserve a 30-pin Mauz and at least $59 for the Lightning-compatible Mauz. I’m quite intrigued at the possibilities of this so-called “appcessory”, but this is one of those gadgets that needs great complementary software to succeed.

[Mauz via Gadgetell]

Meta Wearable Augmented Reality Computer: Project Glass Meets Leap

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Google made a lot of people excited about the future when the company showed off a concept video for the Project Glass computer. A month after that, a some of us wet our already wet pants some more when the Leap controller was unveiled. And now we have the Meta, which as far as I can tell is a combination of those two products.

meta wearable augmented reality computer with gesture tracking

According to its press release[PDF], Meta was founded by Meron Gribetz in December 2012 with help from Columbia University Professor Steven Feiner, a computer scientist who specializes in wearable computing, 3D user interfaces and augmented reality, among other things. Most of the company’s 15 employees are also from Columbia University, including Gribetz himself. Whereas Google seems to prefer the use of voice commands for their wearable computer, Meta is putting its money on gesture control, hence the need for a 3D camera.

Like Google, Meta has yet to reveal concrete details about their product. So which future would you rather have? The one where everyone’s talking to the air or the one where we’re all waggling our arms about? Just kidding. The future will obviously contain a lot of both. And people bumping into things.

[via Meta via Geeky Gadgets]