Controlling Some Devices Will Be a Snap
Various HP products will soon be controllable by hand gestures. Larry Greenemeier reports
SUBSCRIBE TO 60-Second Tech
The future will likely bring two main ways of telling our computers, tablets and smartphones what to do: voice commands and hand gestures. Voice is already off and running with technology like Apple’s Siri. Now HP says that within a few months you’ll be able to control its gadgets using hand signals.
Beginning in mid May, HP customers will be able to buy an $80 USB plug-in controller made by a company called Leap Motion. The company says it can track individual finger movements with one one-hundreth of a millimeter precision. HP plans to eventually embed Leap Motion’s controllers in its products.
Leap Motion will also have an app store called Airspace where HP users can buy gesture-controlled games and other software.
On supporting science journalism
If you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.
Other companies, including Microsoft with its wrist-worn “Digits” prototype, want to make scrolling through screens, playing games and watching video a snap—sometimes literally. The bad news: once your computer learns hand signals, it will know when you’re flipping it off.
—Larry Greenemeier
[The above text is a transcript of this podcast.]
It’s Time to Stand Up for Science
If you enjoyed this article, I’d like to ask for your support. Scientific American has served as an advocate for science and industry for 180 years, and right now may be the most critical moment in that two-century history.
I’ve been a Scientific American subscriber since I was 12 years old, and it helped shape the way I look at the world. SciAm always educates and delights me, and inspires a sense of awe for our vast, beautiful universe. I hope it does that for you, too.
If you subscribe to Scientific American, you help ensure that our coverage is centered on meaningful research and discovery; that we have the resources to report on the decisions that threaten labs across the U.S.; and that we support both budding and working scientists at a time when the value of science itself too often goes unrecognized.
In return, you get essential news, captivating podcasts, brilliant infographics, can't-miss newsletters, must-watch videos, challenging games, and the science world's best writing and reporting. You can even gift someone a subscription.
There has never been a more important time for us to stand up and show why science matters. I hope you’ll support us in that mission.
