back to article Hitachi highlights gesture-controlled HD TV

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  1. joe K
    Coat

    Hit or miss?

    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.

  2. Random Noise
    Alert

    Only 1 problem..

    .. now you can't stop the missus from watching whatever shite she wants by hiding the remote (unless you cut her hands off).

  3. Anonymous John

    Gesture

    This isn't the channel you're looking for.

  4. Richard Cartledge
    Thumb Down

    Why?

    Why would anyone want to go to such a great effort to do something you can do with the nudge of a finger tip? Gimmick. Touch-less gesture technology is largely a technology that has no real use looking for a use.

  5. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Cat-Powered TV?

    I see this coming on at 2AM...

  6. Anonymous John

    Gesture

    This isn't the channel I'm looking for.

  7. TimBiller
    Alien

    HHGTTG

    They already tried this on the "Heart of Gold". It meant sitting infuriatingly still....

    Tim

  8. Bad Beaver
    Coat

    These are not the droids you're looking for

    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...

  9. Paul Murphy

    So no more watching porn then I guess

    Unless you want the volume (or whatever) going up and down I guess.

    ttfn

  10. James Bryant

    Wii Games

    What happens when i start trying to play wii games on this thing, it'll send it crazy.

  11. Max

    Warning!

    Not to be used by any family who under normal circumstances fights for control of the remote.

  12. smashIt

    one question

    is it wii-compatible?

  13. Martin Lyne

    That..

    ..is the sort of stuff that will sell.

    I'm just wondering what tech it uses to track, what the range will be and how susceptible it is to accidental activation. If they sort all that out hen it's goodbye remote.

  14. Piggy and Tazzy

    Erm..

    Sod all that waving the hands around crap. It's easier just to use the remote.

  15. Chris
    Boffin

    Universal Remotes

    How do you program that into, say, a Harmony One?

  16. Gareth Irwin

    yea

    can't help but think that one wants a bunch of wank gesture as well.

  17. Anonymous Coward
    Thumb Down

    Let me be the first to ask:

    ...what does it do if you're watching porn?

  18. Paul Synnott
    Joke

    The kids will love this...

    How many times have your parents said "I have the controls, so I choose the channel" and put on something crap. Now, anyone can control (or interfer with) the TV. Can you imagine the all-out family arguments now?

  19. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Great...

    ...until it detects unwanted gestures.

    Good luck using it while playing Wii.

  20. Anonymous Coward
    Alien

    been there...

    "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."

  21. Anonymous Coward
    Paris Hilton

    Gimmick

    I sometimes wonder what they think...

    "What can we design today?"

    "I know, what about a less intuitive, complicated control system that will be easy to activate by mistake (probably at the crucial moment)"

    "Great!"

  22. Herby

    What happens when you...

    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!".

  23. pctechxp

    Better if

    It was voice controlled

  24. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    I did something like this

    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.

  25. Graham Lockley

    Bloody Great Idea

    For most of the couch potatoes I know it would double the calories burned in a day waving their arms like that ! Which is why it wont take off until they develop the 'slight twitching of the finger' version :)

  26. Andy Worth

    Re:Only 1 problem..

    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'.....

  27. Danny

    Damn

    Beaten to the Hitchhikers reference!

  28. D@v3
    Thumb Down

    telescreen

    I am 'assuming' that this uses some kind of camera to detect the movements, and it makes me wonder what else it can 'detect' especially if you can wave to turn it on. (kinda means it wasnt off in the first place..........)

  29. Anonymous Coward
    Black Helicopters

    Do vans with blacked out windows.......................

    Turn up if I flick the V's at Gordon Brown when he comes on telly or Boy George arrive when I moon at the Queens Speech

  30. Dan Makovec
    Alert

    Italian families?

    Imagine an Italian family sitting in front of the TV having a conversation. All that hand gesturing would confuse the poor thing!

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