Gestural Interfaces – Science Fiction Becomes Science Fact – Part 1
This is part 1 of a 3 part article about the future of gesture based interface interaction and it’s impact on society.
Anyone who’s seen Steven Spielberg’s 2002 sci-fi movie Minority Report surely walked away from the theatre with their heads spinning. If not for the fantastic action sequences or mind bending story, then for the amazing glimpse into the future that Spielberg masterfully weaves into so many of his films with Minority Report being right at the top of that list.
The first time Tom Cruise put on the gloves to interact with that amazing holographic interface I’m sure had many of us wide eyed geeks frothing from the mouth. It was a tantalizing look into what could be with regards to the way we might interact with machines, in particular graphical interfaces. That movie was set in 2054, I surely don’t want to wait that long for my Mac to be able to see into the future with a few waives of my arms. But here we are just 7 years later and much of the science fiction of the time is already a reality. And most surprisingly it’s not that much different then what was depicted way back in 2002.
For better or worse, there is little doubt that we are rapidly moving towards a more natural way of interacting with digital solutions via gestural based interfaces (GUI). As an interface developer myself, I see unbelievable potential in this way of interaction. It seems that many companies are also progressing rapidly to be potential leaders in this space. Microsoft has MS Surface and Natal for the XBOX 360 on the horizon. Apple, although they deny it, could have a touch sensitive Netbook by the end of the year to go along with their current entry, a little known device called the iPhone. (Apple has also apparently recently filed many patents to rapidly progress in this space.) But a surprise entry and arguably the current market leader in GUI’s is Nintendo’s Wii and it’s beautiful user experience.
As we move towards gesture-based computing and gaming, creative’s and software developers have to think about completely new interaction models. And as more and more vendors continue to roll out more advanced gesture based devices (anyone search for a book at Indigo or Chapters lately or been to the Royal Ontario Museum?) a complete paradigm shift is on the horizon for the general public. Just as developers will have to think in a new way, so too will the everyday person when doing previously simple things as checking out at the grocery store or taking money out of an ATM.