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Not a bad concept, but perhaps not too functional. Imagine a family of four sat watching TV, imagine the squabble it would create! They might say in that case a backup conventional remote would be available but that would mean this gesture control is simply an expensive inefficient add-on, rather than the real deal. Watching TV aside, gesture control for computer input, gaming etc.. could really take off.
Gawd, teh h0tz0r! So I will be able to control my TV by wildly flailing my arms in front of it, as if I was performing some rad Jedi-mind-trick on it? That's just great. And stupid me hoped developers would spend their time on making TVs more energy-efficient while producing a better picture...
"For years radios had been operated by means of pressing buttons and turning dials; then as the technology became more sophisticated the controls were made touch-sensitive - you merely had to brush the panels with your fingers; now all you had to do was wave your hand in the general direction of the components and hope. It saved a lot of muscular expenditure of course, but meant that you had to sit infuriatingly still if you wanted to keep listening to the same programme."
Flip off the TV by being disgusted with the content? The only assumption is that the gestures are deemed obscene by some culture somewhere in the world.
Now if it would transmit the gestures back to the originating studio so I can get involved in the events of the day (or those of next Tuesday [USA only]).
Another thought: What happens when you stick your tongue at it, giving it your personal "raspberry"?
Another solution: Get a "Clapper!".
My honours project at uni was a gesture controlled television (okay, the television bit was a fake in vlc running starwars fanfilms, film trailers and red vs blue episodes but never mind that bit)
After a short while playing with it it became very intuitive to use. I was lazy and just after the marks so it used a menu with four directions as controls. Assuming you were wearing sleeves and sitting in the designated chair (lazy remember?) you could channel hop, control the volume and torture people with the bee gees with ease.
Well, slightly more than one problem really. I make all sorts of "gestures" in the direction of the TV when I'm losing at various console games, and I don't even want to think about what would happen if you tried to play a Wii game.
Ok, so they could allow you to turn the feature off when you didn't want accidental, or other peoples, or gaming gestures changing the channel for you. Then you'd have to reach for the remote to re-enable it, which kind of makes it completely pointless.
Factor in to that the TV changing channels when you're simply trying to explain the plot of a film to your other half for the hundredth time and this feature seems to be the most pointless inclusion since Britney's underwear drawer.
Techies can be great at inventing stuff but this is one of the cases where someone needed to go, 'err....hang on a sec'.....
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