Hand Gestures As an Input Device

Well, most of us already talk to our computers but usually our pleadings about "What the #%*@ is Msgsvr32 and why isn't it responding?" tend to go unanswered by our computing devices. Those of us who have gone as far as slapping the machine around a little can also assure you that it generally doesn't do any good. Nope, if you want to get a response, you generally have to use a more appropriate input device like a touchpad, a keyboard, or a mouse. However, a company called JesterTek would like to see you controlling your computer with hand gestures instead of traditional input devices and has announced that it will demonstrate its JestPoint gesture control and JestXtreme immersive interactive game products at Siggraph 2001 in Los Angeles this week. JesterTek says its technology allows users to control a computer display using gestures to command and manipulate 3D content. JeterTek's JestPoint is intended to replace a computer mouse in many applications. It is capable of X, Y and Z (depth) axis control, which means that users can grab a 3D display object and rotate it. The company's JestXtreme product allows video gamers to interact with the environment and other characters as video images of themselves or avatars. I'm not sure that I'm ready to sit in front of my computer waving my arms around like a symphony conductor, but I can tell you that I have been known to use some hand gestures to let it know how I feel about its behavior.