Touchscreens are now an integral part of any smartphone or tablet experience. And while interaction with them is getting better, they still present a problem due to one simple fact: in order to use them you have to cover part of the display.
Masters student Christian Loclair may have a solution to that problem, but his main concern is minimizing the distraction caused by having to interact directly with a device. His research into this area of interaction for a thesis at the Hasso Plattner Institute has resulted in the development of alternative system based on single-hand thumb gestures.
This new system is made possible by mounting a depth camera on a user’s chest that is capable of detecting both hand and finger movement. The user can use a thumb on the palm of their hand as if it is a touchscreen. Alternatively, a number of pinch gestures are supported for functionality such as scrolling a page or pressing a button.
Such a system has both advnatages and disadvantages. It does keep a device’s display viewable during interaction, and it means you can hold your device in many different positions because you don’t need to interact with it directly. The disadvantages come in the form of the need for a depth camera, being forced to learn a whole new gesture system to use it, and the fact it won’t work in all situations, e.g. there’s no way this would be suitable for every game on the App Store.
For the moment this remains an interesting, if complex alternative to the touchscreen. If it can be refined, or even act as a complimentary interaction technique to touchscreens, then it may make its way into a device. However, the big sticking point is going to be the requirement of having to wear a depth camera on your chest.