Virtual touchpad lets you scroll in thin air

Read more: http://technology.newscientist.com/channel/tech/dn15044?DCMP=youtube
This new Microsoft interface could soon allow you to use the area around a phone to control it.

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• Microsoft
• interface
• touchpad
• around
• SideSight
• new
• scientist
• newscientist

[eltorten]

What? do I have to carry a table with me so I can use my phone then? or balance it on my leg or maybe on the back of the guy sitting in front of me in the tube every time i want to send a sms? what a seriously useless invention..

[part2themovie]

And yet there will be 10000000 other phones that will own the Iphone.

And technically they havent been making phones since the late 90s. These are multimedia devices with communications capabilities. They call them phones to get gullable suckers such as yourself to replace it every 6 months to be chic.. or is it suave? what do you say slick?

[Disneythievesrock]

@eltorten You remember those Wright Brothers who figured out that they could move a person in the air 30 meters? Completely useless. The one thing about humanity, is if they like it and it doesn't have a use, they'll make one.

[jmattdai]

@eltorten actually, this could be the precursor to Tony Stark's hologram stuff from the Ironman movie.

[eltorten]

@Jon21xx21 jumping to conclusions, much?

[Jon21xx21]

@eltorten you just cant appreciate new technology can you?

[roguerock22]

I think microsoft is ACTUALLY being intelligent here. That is IF they are producing a thousand weird things and then watching public reaction to see if it will be worth producing. If they are NOT doing this, then we are doomed to regress back to the stone-age, yet again....

[sagittariusbaby0750]

thats to much work to be doin on a damn phone...

[eyeh2809]

@chesterngiamzhenghao it uses infrared technology it doesnt mater how big the wind is

[lesco543]

@part2themovie NO DEAD ENDS!!! yes i think its close to worthless. But think of all the things you can put this technology in. You can innovate and find a way to to move the motion sensing to in front of the scene so that you can-control large screens from a distance with the swipe of a hand or by automatically making ur desk a touch pad. Dont you think that's cool?

[part2themovie]

@lesco543

there was nothing to "disagree" with

there is no puzzle piece. this is a dead end implementation of a technology, same as a virtua boy was a dead end even though the 3d immersive technology is what is being revamped today. this implementation here is not practical and the manufacturers know this. but marketing will always allow for a segment willing to purchase

[lesco543]

@part2themovie well i disagree. There are no dead ends in technology. Technology is a big alley oop which is probably spontaneous. I see potential in this innovation. Its not the physical aspect of it, rather the idea of controlling without pressing or touching. This is a huge field that so many companies are investing a lot of time and work into. A prototype is a flame starter. A piece of a puzzle that nvr ends. There are no dead ends in spontaneous puzzles, just one less blank space