I recently read an RSS news article about gesture control for television. It made me think. The feature discussed how gesture control could be used to control and engage with smart TVs. I must confess I don’t get it. There are many applications which can and most definitely will benefit from gesture control. Domestic TV? I’m not so sure.
I can just about remember the days when you had to get up from the comfort of the sofa, walk across the room and physically press a button on the TV to change channel or to adjust the volume. I can even remember a next door neighbour who had an amazing new fangled remote control that was attached to the TV with a long cable.
Admittedly the ‘remote’ has moved on since then but what we have now seems to do the job very adequately: it sits comfortably in the palm of the hand and with the minimal amount of effort from a thumb or finger I can control the TV, DVD player, Sky+, AV amp. etc. It works. Simple.
So gesture control for the smart TV? I’m not sure why would I want to wave a hand, digit or arm in the air to do this. Tech for tech sake? Perhaps. Sitting down, standing up, answering the phone, small felines moving about on the sofa could play havoc with the choice of TV channel or Sky+ planner!
I do believe there is more to it (see Gesture Control: Part 2) but for now I’ll stick with trying to hunt down the remote from the hidden depths of the sofa.