gesture recognition technology

“Have you seen the remote?” “I left it on the table after watching my matinee show”. “It is not here, I will miss the news again because of you!!!” In the near future, such heated discussions over remote control won’t disturb the harmony of the house. Not because they will place it correctly but because soon remote controls will be the objects of the past. Technology has finally reached that dimension when our hands will take over the job and replace them by directly communicating with the computer or television. For instance, in order to delete a folder or file from the computer, place your palm on it, and throw it like a paper in a dustbin. Even while using the microwave oven to bake a cake, waving our hands in the air like a magician would serve as a command for the oven. While some of us might be thinking of it being a futuristic vision, some of us have already experienced it through what we call “Gesture Recognition Technology”

 

Since the time that the computer revolution started, human computer interaction has always been attempted to improve. Computers have now become an integral part of our lives and hence their usage should be as trouble-free as talking to someone is. Earlier the way humans interacted with this smart machine was either through keyboard or a mouse. But now attempts are being made to make the man-machine interaction as natural as possible. Fulfilling this requirement is the popular touch screen technology which is soon expected to be replaced by the gesture recognition technology.

ARDUINO

I was surprised to see a twelve year old boy giving life to his electronic gadgets. He was trying his hands on building his own creative toys which involved hard electronics and software skills. My zeal was on its peak to know the magical power inside the young chap. How did he understand the concepts of electronics so early? How did he develop the software? Anxiously I went down and asked him about the magic he was doing. The answer was “ARDUINO” 

 

Arduino is an open source electronics platform accompanied with a hardware and software to design, develop and test complex electronics prototypes and products. The hardware consists of a microcontroller with other electronic components which can be programmed using the software to do almost any task. The simplicity of the Arduino language makes it very easy for almost everyone who has an interest in electronics to write programs without the understanding of complex algorithms or codes.

 

Arduino is intended for an artist, tinker, designer or anyone, interested in playing with electronics without the knowhow of complex electronics and programming skills. Arduino is an excellent designed open source platform. It has specially designed boards which can be programmed using the Ardunio Programming Language (APL).

The presence of Arduino is not only spreading between hobbyists, but it has also expanded its roots in industries and used by experts for making prototypes of commercial products. Arduino takes off the efforts required in complex coding and designing hardware.

 

The open source nature of Arduino has been the main reason for its rapid horizontal growth. Since it is an Open Source project, all the files related to hardware and software is available for personal or commercial use. The development cost of the hardware is very small as against the costly similar proprietary products by the industrial giants. The open source nature doesn’t require any licenses to develop, use, redistribute or even sell the product. But the Arduino name is trade mark protected (Arduino™) i.e., you are free to sell the Arduino board under any other name however in order to sell it under the name “Arduino” you need to take permission from the founders and follow their quality terms.

 

The Software files which includes all the source code library are also open sourced. A user can modify them to make the project more versatile and improve its capabilities. This provides a strong online community support.

Multi-touch Screen Technology

While we are all fascinated by the touchscreen-market gimmick cajoling us with its ‘Touch away’ tagline, are we actually only at an inch’s distance? This ‘no-distance’ de facto makes sense at the front end only. When given a hawk’s eye, there is another world inside waiting to be discovered, waiting to satiate your knowledge for technology. Well, for the smart gadgets with smart people in the smart world, it’s an uncanny missing out a discussion on Touchscreen Technology, specifically undertaking the Multitouch Technology.

 

The multi-touch or the plural touch is an interactive technique which allows users to interact with the digital environment inside the gadget, directly or indirectly with his fingers or palm. Multi-touch devices include smart phones, touch tables, computer tables, public kiosks, walls, and ‘touchpad’. Well these inverts in touchpad bring us to a minute line of demarcation between touchscreen and touchpad. While in a touchscreen, the screen being manipulated lies directly underneath the user-interactive surface, in a touchpad the touch surface does not overlays the screen.