ACM TechNews

Toshiba Shows Advanced Image Detection Prototypes

IDG News Service (08/30/08) Williams, Martyn

Toshiba has developed gesture control technology that could potentially enable people to control a TV with the movement of their hands. The gesture control system is designed to track the person in its field of view, and a cursor appears on the TV screen to mirror the way the individual has waved his or her fist around, as if controlling a mouse. The gesture control prototype was just one of several image-detection systems from Toshiba that were on display at this week's IFA electronics show in Berlin. Toshiba's new Qosmio laptops make use of an earlier version of the gesture control system to enable users to move the cursor on their screen with their fist and to perform a mouse click by raising a thumb. "The major difference with the Qosmio is that it's just smoother and more advanced tracking technology," says Kate Knill, manager of interaction technology at Toshiba's laboratory in Cambridge. Toshiba also has developed a pattern-recognition system that would work with a video camera mounted above a TV screen to recognize viewers, and Knill says it could be potentially used to provide personalized information or switch to a favorite channel when they enter the room.

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Toshiba_Shows_Advanced_Image_Detection_Prototypes

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