Body Mnemonics

Media Lab just had an Open House and my adviser offered me to present in the auditorium my latest research! I was so thrilled. I also demoed Picture This! during the Open House.

I had fascinating discussions with sponsors, very engaging, challenging and all of it relevant to our common explorations for new interactions design with current technologies. Researching on gesture interfaces, and new meaning for gesture interaction, i.e gestures that have a meaning to retrieve or interact with data, I regularly refer to Body Mnemonics project by Jussi Angesleva, who was researcher with me at the mythical Media Lab Europe in Ireland.



I realized I never blogged about this work; it is a really cool project, and pioneer in its vision.

Body mnemonics is a meta tool for portable devices that enhances their usability, shifts the interaction to the periphery of our concentration and makes them more responsive to our cultural background on the basis of three principles: proprioceptic sense, body image, and the "method of loci" mnemonic device.

Joelle Bitton (also MLE ex-fellow) showing her data storage locations!

Using inertial sensing a portable device's movements in 3D space can be tracked, analysed and referenced to the posture of the user. This enables a user to store and access information on his or her own body space. For example, online banking information could be accessed by moving the device to your back pocket. Similarly, your music archive could be located at your ear.

More on the web site !


Posted by Cati Vaucelle @ Architectradure
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Hand-eye coordination at 22 months?

Researching on hand-eye coordination, around 5-7 they still are supposed to develop it. I found this 22 month old toddler pretty good at playing Wii-Tennis!



Hand-eye coordination - Definition
Hand-eye coordination is the ability of the vision system to coordinate the information received through the eyes to control, guide, and direct the hands in the accomplishment of a given task, such as handwriting or catching a ball. Hand-eye coordination uses the eyes to direct attention and the hands to execute a task.
Description
Vision is the process of understanding what is seen by the eyes. It involves more than simple visual acuity (ability to distinguish fine details). Vision also involves fixation and eye movement abilities, accommodation (focusing), convergence (eye aiming), binocularity (eye teaming), and the control of hand-eye coordination. Most hand movements require visual input to be carried out effectively. For example, when children are learning to draw, they follow the position of the hand holding the pencil visually as they make lines on the paper.

From "Hand-Eye Coordination." Encyclopedia of Children's Health. Ed. Kristine Krapp and Jeffrey Wilson. Gale Group, Inc., 2005. eNotes.com. 2006. 8 Sep, 2007
More description here
.pdf of the paper

The hand free controller by nintendo

In 1989, Nintendo invents the hand free controller. A player controls the video game without the use of the hands, by using his/her neck muscles. Found on nesplayer. Exploration of physical limitations in game design is interesting, especially when in 2006 Nintendo invents the hand necessity controller, the popular Nintendo Wii.

Gesture recognition to control home appliances

Interaction design through gesture recognition can be a bit tricky when it means interacting with a full set of home appliances. Distinguishing between intentional and unintentional gestures is probably the challenge as well as creating an artificial-gestural language strong enough to rely on.
I read a lot on the fact that using gesture is for "TV potatoes" while actually I find using gestures more "sporty". Indeed, one moves the entire hand and arm to control devices whereas a remote only works by pressing a button. The wii is a good example of semi-sport action while playing video games!

Now, seven simple hand gestures to switch your TV on

(...) The controller's built-in camera can recognize seven simple hand gestures and work with up to eight different gadgets around the home, reports The Daily Mail.

The all-seeing wave controller is the brainchild of Australian engineers Dr Prashan Premaratne and Quang Nguyen, who predict its availability on the market within three years.(...)

Its software recognises simple, deliberate hand gestures and then sends the appropriate signal to a universal remote control, designed to work with most makes of television, video recorder, DVD player, hi-fi and digital set-top box.
(...)

A clenched fist means "start", an outstretched hand with closed fingers means "power on", a thumbs-up sign means "up" and a sideways victory sign means "channel".

Crucially for anyone with small children, pets or gesticulating family members, the software can distinguish between real commands and unintentional gestures.

Excerpt of article by International reporter, July 2007.


Image from the Daily Mail

Don't click!

I discovered a nicely designed web site about human navigation on a computer screen through mouse clics. It proposes the another branch of the alternative: the site explores the control of the mouse clic through gestures.