New
technology is showing up
all the
time, and some of it is really
out there.
First, remote controls replaced knobs so we can change
channels without getting up from the couch. In the
future,
we will dispense with the remote controls (which are always
getting lost under the couch cushions anyway) and simply
control our TVs, stereos, DVD players and
video
games with hand movements.
Softkinetic, based in Belgium, is one of the leaders in
the "gesture-control" field. They have teamed up with Texas
Instruments and hope to have this technology ready by
next Christmas, which certainly will help the
recession. In
Physorg.com, Chris Lefkow quotes researcher Roger Kay as
saying, "We're in that transition to a time when gestural input
will be quite natural. From what I've seen of the demos
they're pretty close."
Meanwhile, we'll have to practice talking by our TV sets
without gesticulating, or we'll end up turning them on by
mistake. This will be harder for Mediterranean people (such as
Italians), who often gesture when they speak. This isn't just
part of their culture, it actually helps improve communication.
Volunteers were shown videos of common actions. In some
cases, these videos were followed by a one-second video of
a spoken word and gesture (such as a "chopping" motion
after a video of someone chopping vegetables). While the
word used was always the same, in some cases, the gestures
matched the action in the longer videos and in some they did
not. When the volunteers had to decide whether the speech
and gestures were related to the first video they watched,
their replies came more quickly (and were more often correct)
when the correct gesture had been used.
This has implications for everyday communicative situations,
especially in emergency situations. PhysOrg.com quotes
researchers Spencer Kelly, Asli Ozyurek and Eric Maris as
saying, "If you really want to make your point clear and
readily understood, let your words AND hands do the talking."
We're too polite to describe the kind of gestures we'd like to
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