Cool stuff
Published on June 25, 2008 By Island Dog In Personal Computing

This video from Network World takes a look at the Toshiba Qosmio laptop.  Now it might look like an ordinary laptop, but watch the video and see how it uses hand gestures.  Is this where Windows 7 is headed?

Thanks to ShelbyGT for the tip!


Comments
on Jun 25, 2008
Nice.........Want one !!!!!   
on Jun 25, 2008
I can just imagine it working rather half ass'edly... call me cynical... they barely have speech recognition down.

cool vid tho, cheers ID, do u ever sleep?
on Jun 25, 2008
If you sell an organ you might be able to get it Prices from Japan don't usually stay the same across the rest of the world...
on Jun 25, 2008

Cool. Gestures seem to be all the rage lately.

on Jun 26, 2008
Hmm lazy mousing without lifting my hand or cool gestures program?

Mousing wins hands down.

Plus glossy monitor?? UGGGH... view may be better.. if you manage to find an angle that doesn't reflect a light.
on Jun 26, 2008
Plus glossy monitor?? UGGGH... view may be better.. if you manage to find an angle that doesn't reflect a light.

I agree, my laptop has a glossy screen, the view isn't that much better, but the reflections kill it. The display on my matte monitor is definitely better. Was looking at the glossy 24" HP monitor and comparing it to my 24" Samsung, the sharpness and brightness of colors was better on the HP, but since there's a window to my left, the glare would totally ruin any improvement in clarity.
on Jun 26, 2008
Meh. A dual core laptop with decent integrated graphics for 3 grand? Pass. AMD/ATI are working on a solution that will leave this thing in the dust, and at a better pricepoint.

Facial recognition software for video indexing. Hmm. I suppose this could be useful if you are looking for the exact moment that the drummer makes a funny face, but otherwise, the slider is still a better idea.

Gestures may have some small use in certain situations. Say you're in a business or advertising meeting, standing in front of a big projection screen doing a powerpoint presentation; those big gestures may help you to get your point across, and make the sale. But at home, or in the office? No way. Nobody that I can think of will be setting at their desk conducting Beethoven's ninth symphony to do a task, when a simple twitch and click of the mouse will do the same thing. And did you see how awful their system was anyway? Severe quadriplegics can control a computer with only slight movements of their eyes, and have been able to do so for some time. But their guy had to do some sort of ultra slow motion version of Tai Chi to get it to respond.

Toshiba makes some pretty solid laptops, and if they keep it simple, focus on the integrated graphics, drop all of their whiz-bang software, and sell this at a competitive price, then they may have a winner. Otherwise, it will just go flop.



on Jun 26, 2008
setting at their desk conducting Beethoven's ninth symphony to do a task,


on Jun 26, 2008
Is this where Windows 7 is headed?


Didn't Windows 7 involve actually touching the screen for hand gesture control?...either way,operating the laptop by standing a yard away and waving our hands won't be a reliable way of input, and as Mistralok said, these gestures aren't needed at home and offices. I don't even get it why these companies even include hand gesture, face recognition, and such accessibility features...when was the last time we complained about the mouse?
on Jun 26, 2008
Pricey isn't it? The hand gestures looked clumsy to me, I could have done all those movements and in half the time or better with a plain old mouse. I hate glossy too, so I'll definitely pass on this one.
on Jun 26, 2008

cool vid tho, cheers ID, do u ever sleep?

Lately, not much. 

on Jun 26, 2008
I can just imagine it working rather half ass'edly... call me cynical... they barely have speech recognition down.cool vid tho, cheers ID, do u ever sleep?


agreed. though it is getting better, i don't think that kind of technology is going to work very well. atleast not within my budgets. i have a laptop with a fingerprint scanner, and only about 50% of the prints actually work. Its normally like this:
1) Slide Finger
2) Failed, slide again
3) Slide Finger (In the same exact manner)
4) Success!

If that barely works, I doubt the hand gestures will work. And after all, is the computer going to be able to recognize the finger, and shut down?
on Jun 26, 2008
1) Slide Finger
2) Failed, slide again
3) Slide Finger (In the same exact manner)
4) Success!


It used to be double clicking...now we have double sliding
on Jun 26, 2008
....mmmmm, might be a good way to do some exercising.....combine this with a diet and I might be able to get back in shape.