The local BestBuy had one set up & I played with it for a few minutes. Really Interesting, but not all that applicable to how I use a computer on a daily basis.
I think it's greatest potential will be in gaming. Imagine casting a spell by using the appropriate arcane hand gestures. Or swinging a sword - it can tell the difference between an overhand and a side cut, and a blocking move.
> I think it's greatest potential will be in gaming. Imagine casting a spell by using the appropriate arcane hand gestures. Or swinging a sword - it can tell the difference between an overhand and a side cut, and a blocking move.
I've had a Wii, and a Kinect, and gesturing as input got annoying very quickly with both. It's something that just sounds fun, but isn't.
Even with the Nintendo DS, when you'd use a stylus to trace a certain shape to trigger an action, it didn't translate well to sustained gameplay. Though it remained workable longer than with Wii/Kinect gaming. Simple swipes with a stylus or finger (on a screen) continue to work well, whereas even simple arm or hand gestures quickly become annoying and fatiguing.
It turns out that pressing buttons works just fine, and is actually ideal, even if other input methods sound sexier.
Your comment reminds me of something pointed out during a boxing match many moons ago. Which was essentially a comment about how hard it actually is to simply hold up one's arms and fists over quite small periods of time, let alone constantly move them around, then start punching. Its actually quite draining.
Current input schemes involve a lot of support of the hands and arms. This waving hands around in the air offers no physical support.
So, I think that its use will be limited to a subset of tasks, where it will be revolutionary, but much harder to integrate in to general use. Simply because of fatigue.
Yes. Millions of years of evolution led us to manual dexterity with our fingers, and with it we have (in an intellectual sense at least) taken over the planet.
I have grave doubts about devices that ask us to give all of that up. The medical apps talked about above seem like a pretty good use, if you need infrequent medium-to-gross motor control of something in a sterile environment.
This was my experience - it's cool because it's novel, but playing a game for longer than 5 minutes really hurts my hands from holding them in awkward positions. At the end of the day I'll always want to stick with my mouse and keyboard.
I think it's greatest potential will be in gaming. Imagine casting a spell by using the appropriate arcane hand gestures. Or swinging a sword - it can tell the difference between an overhand and a side cut, and a blocking move.