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Remember those scenes in Minority Report where Tom Cruise was navigating around a fancy computer by waving his arms around. Well scenes like that could come true sooner than we think as Clusta has created the first commercial website controlled by hand gestures.
The technique-dubbed ‘virtual navigation’ by tech-heads is possible thanks to a Flash video technology and a webcam outline in the corner of the screen mapping user movements. It’s being hailed as a “breakthrough in web design”.
Instead of pointing and clicking on what you want, you simply just reach out for what you want as if it were physically in front of you, kind of.
The technology is being unveiled in a new site for leading US advertising agency Publicis & Hal Riney. But does it actually work?
"Enabling the site to be navigable by webcam created fantastic challenges for us,” explained Matthew Clugston, creative director at Clusta, waving his arms about in the air.
“It was essential that the webcam version worked as well as the mouse version and we have managed to harness the technology in such a way that it is now possible to incorporate it into a commercial website."
Clugston even thinks we could one day do our grocery shopping, or purchase the latest films this way.
"Very soon we'll be able to virtually grab and move stuff around the screen, from there we're moving into the realms of virtual shopping where consumers will conceivably be able to virtually walk around a fully functioning digitally created music store to pick up their latest 3D movies,” he said.
“Such technology is closer than many people think and we're working hard to make that day a not-too-distant reality."
While we wouldn’t ditch our mouse and keyboard just yet, we look forward to the day the Absolute Gadget office is full of hacks frantically waving their arms at screens.
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