A sort-of startup unveils ultrasound technology to enable gestures in the air, and hopes to get it into consumer electronic devices within the next year.
Elliptic Labs wants to bring the touchless gesture controls seen in the science-fiction film "Minority Report" to everyday consumer electronic devices, starting with Windows 8.
The company -- a Norwegian university spinout with offices in Oslo and Silicon Valley -- unveiled a set of tools to help consumer electronic companies enable touchless controls in their products. These would be similar to the kind of gesture controls seen with the Xbox 360 Kinect and in certain smart televisions like a few models from Samsung Electronics, but presumably would work more smoothly.
That's because the Elliptic device won't use a camera like the Kinect or Samsung television. Instead, Elliptic's technology is based on ultrasound and employs multiple microphones in the device. The ultrasound technique has a much wider field of view, doesn't require lights, and is more responsive, according to Morhan Kjolebakken, product manager for the company.
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Bringing 'Minority Report' touchless gestures to Windows 8 | Cutting Edge - CNET News
